Pembroke proposal squeaks by

On December 15, Pembroke residents, by a vote of 60 to 54, supported a proposal to borrow $190,000 for a four-classroom/two bathroom modular building at the Pembroke Elementary School. Only 114 of Pembroke's 678 registered voters went to the polls.
Union 104 Superintendent Arthur Wittine has now placed the order for the modular building. He points out that there is a lead time of several months involved in the completion of the project. Occupancy of the building will be fall of 2006.

Since 2003, the Pembroke School Committee has sought a way to finance additional space for the Pembroke Elementary School. An earlier proposal presented to the voters last year with a price tag of $2.2 million was defeated by a vote of 329B44. The reduction in the cost of this year's proposed structure met with taxpayers approval.

The approved $400,000 stand-alone structure will be financed by a five-year bond issue, as well as funding from the state, the school's capital improvement account and a surplus generated in the 2004-05 school year. With the offsets, the net annual cost to taxpayers over the five-year repayment period will be about $30,000. The lease on the present rented modular building with no water or bathroom facilities expires in September 2006.

School administrators have pointed to the need for additional space for the school for several years. The Pembroke school's enrollment presently stands at 114, a stable level for the past six years.