Lubec board moves forward on school roof replacement process

School roof issues dominated the discussion during the May 4 meeting of the Lubec school board, with two members of the town select board and the full town budget committee in attendance, as well as many other townspeople. AOS 77 Superintendent Kenneth Johnson pointed out that if there is any chance the roof replacement can be completed by the time school opens this fall, the process of soliciting bids must get under way promptly. For planning purposes, an estimate of $961,000 has been used; however, Johnson observed that, until formal bids are received from contractors, the actual cost remains unknown. To make matters even trickier, the FY 2021-22 audit has not yet been completed, so the available fund balance forward is an estimate, not a formal figure.
"If the audit is not complete by the June meeting," Johnson said, "I'm going to have a kitten." Completion had been expected last December and has often been received earlier.
The meeting began with the second of three budget workshops opening at 4:30 p.m., preceding the 5:30 p.m. board meeting. Johnson opened by reviewing the FY 2023-24 budget's third draft, which shows the amount needed to be raised by local taxes at $2,016,785, which is an increase of $193,471 over the current FY 2022-23 budget. "This equates to a mill rate increase of 1.2 to the taxpayers," he said. The total includes a $250,000 withdrawal from the fund balance forward and also a payment of $100,000 against a projected loan for the roof replacement.
One question about the roof replacement is whether it should be all of the roof or just the highly damaged west end -- the portion under lease to the Lubec Community Outreach Center. Johnson pointed out that if only half of the roof is replaced, the cost would likely be 60% of the cost of doing the entire roof. However, the east end, which houses the elementary school, was also damaged and is equally as old as the western part, suggesting that delaying that work would ultimately cost more than doing it all at the same time. Select board Chair Carol Dennison urged that the best approach would be "to do it all, and to do it right."
Johnson again repeated a statement that has been made many times over the last two years, including during the boiler discussions: "As an RSU, you can borrow your own money. You are your own fiscal agent." The Lubec school is the only regional school unit (RSU) and also the only school administrative district (SAD) within AOS 77. Both were created during earlier consolidation efforts and are typically used when several towns pool resources; in both cases Lubec stands alone. These designations provide a measure of independence from normal town governance procedures.
School board members Joseph Swain and Wanda Reed both insisted that the public be consulted prior to borrowing the funds needed for the roof replacement, due to the size of the loan. Johnson pointed out that including "pending public approval" may have the effect of restricting the number of bids and delaying the process, at which point Swain moved that the bid process be initiated for replacing the entire roof and including the public review requirement. The motion passed 4-1, with board member Richard Huntley voting by telephone and Reed dissenting. Johnson pointed out that by law such bid solicitations must be listed in Augusta's Kennebec Journal, which charges $2,500 for a five-day posting. "All the large contractors watch that paper," he said, so it provides the best opportunity to get a low bid.
In other business, the board heard comments by Jennifer Bristol, LCOC executive director. She pointed out that a recent inspection by the state's fire marshall's office found that 384 ceiling tiles were missing, creating "an extreme fire hazard" and jeopardizing their daycare license. Most came down when the roof damage occurred, leading to an expensive cleanup by LCOC personnel, she said. The board agreed to pay for the needed tiles, which Bristol said they could install. The board concluded the meeting by going into executive session.