July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Property owners file remonstrance (04/06/07)
By By JENNIFER TARTER-
BERNE - A remonstrance may delay a proposed $25 million building and renovation project at South Adams High School.
Three petitions signed by property owners against the project were submitted to the county auditor's office Thursday afternoon, South Adams Superintendent Cathy Egolf said this morning. The auditor is currently verifying the more than 100 signatures on the petitions.
The proposed project would construct a new kindergarten through grade 8 facility at the high school in Berne and renovate the current 35-year-old high school building. This will result in the closing of the elementary school in Berne and the middle school in Geneva.
"It's not like we're doing this for the fun of spending money. I don't like spending money. ... Our buildings are falling apart," Egolf said this morning.
She added that the head cook at the middle school, Sandy Mertz, was struck on the neck by falling pieces of ceiling Feb. 26.
After these petitions, submitted by Mark Lehmann, Richard Sprunger and Ed Dunmoyer, are verified a 30-day waiting period begins before a petition drive is launched.
Calls to Lehmann, Sprunger and Dunmoyer were not returned this morning.
The petitions, using yellow paper for the project and blue paper against the project, will be turned in to the county auditor's office by the state.
School district residents will have 30 days to sign one of the petitions. Following that 30-day period, the auditor will again verify each signature on the petitions.
If a majority of property owners vote against the project, it will be pushed back a year.
"This will change the whole (project)... The taxpayers will pay more," Egolf said adding that the corporation will again have to pay "soft costs" for land acquisition, soil borings, and legal fees and construction costs will inflate. "We would have liked to see our kids in the new building by August of 2008. Now it will likely be August 2009."
The school board is scheduled to meet with a representative of the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance on May 17, Egolf said today. The petition drive will likely push this meeting back to August.
School district residents have had a chance to see the schools during tours and open houses in July, Egolf said adding that there have also had numerous meetings about the renovations and private tours of the buildings.[[In-content Ad]]
Three petitions signed by property owners against the project were submitted to the county auditor's office Thursday afternoon, South Adams Superintendent Cathy Egolf said this morning. The auditor is currently verifying the more than 100 signatures on the petitions.
The proposed project would construct a new kindergarten through grade 8 facility at the high school in Berne and renovate the current 35-year-old high school building. This will result in the closing of the elementary school in Berne and the middle school in Geneva.
"It's not like we're doing this for the fun of spending money. I don't like spending money. ... Our buildings are falling apart," Egolf said this morning.
She added that the head cook at the middle school, Sandy Mertz, was struck on the neck by falling pieces of ceiling Feb. 26.
After these petitions, submitted by Mark Lehmann, Richard Sprunger and Ed Dunmoyer, are verified a 30-day waiting period begins before a petition drive is launched.
Calls to Lehmann, Sprunger and Dunmoyer were not returned this morning.
The petitions, using yellow paper for the project and blue paper against the project, will be turned in to the county auditor's office by the state.
School district residents will have 30 days to sign one of the petitions. Following that 30-day period, the auditor will again verify each signature on the petitions.
If a majority of property owners vote against the project, it will be pushed back a year.
"This will change the whole (project)... The taxpayers will pay more," Egolf said adding that the corporation will again have to pay "soft costs" for land acquisition, soil borings, and legal fees and construction costs will inflate. "We would have liked to see our kids in the new building by August of 2008. Now it will likely be August 2009."
The school board is scheduled to meet with a representative of the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance on May 17, Egolf said today. The petition drive will likely push this meeting back to August.
School district residents have had a chance to see the schools during tours and open houses in July, Egolf said adding that there have also had numerous meetings about the renovations and private tours of the buildings.[[In-content Ad]]
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