The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - A committee of school staff and interested citizens has been meeting for more than a year to consider potential renovation and changes to Dayton's School facilities. On October 2, the group was presented with a series of options by consul­tants from BLRB Architects for major renovations to the high school and elementary school buildings, as well as adding some new construc­tion.

The projected costs for the six options presented ranged from approximately $17 million to just over $27 million. Of those amounts, local taxpayers would be asked to cover about 85 percent through a voter- approved property tax bond levy.

The last major renova­tions at Dayton's schools were completed in 1984. Superintendent Doug John­son said that the work done then was intended to meet the schools' needs for a minimum of 20 years. John­son also said that a recent facilities assessment done on behalf of the Dayton School Board showed that major changes are needed, par­ticularly in the high school building.

A number of deficien­cies in school facilities were cited, including: Poor entry supervision and transparency, with Mul­tiple exterior entrances and limited door and hardware access control No security system and no fire sprinkler system or smoke detection. Handicap accessibility minimal and not code com­pliant Limited integrated technol­ogy Mechanical/plumbing sys­tems and equipment cam­pus wide are aged and past their useful lives Electrical panel capacities have been reached Classrooms do not have enough power and/or data outlets Intercom system does not function well

Projects under consid­eration by the committee include: Complete renovation of the Pietrzycki high school building. The exterior structure of the building would be maintained but the interior would be com­pletely gutted and rebuilt. Classrooms would be made larger and the build­ing would be made fully ADA accessible. Currently there is no elevator and there are no restrooms on the upper level. Construction of a new building between the high school and the elementary school, which would serve as a commons area and include a new kitchen, cafeteria and performing arts space. This could also include removal of the existing administration building and incorporating those offices into the new building. Johnson said this would allow much better access to the commons building for delivery and other vehicles. - Rebuilding of the existing multipurpose room and kitchen area in the elementary school into a more usable gymnasium, with a small amount of seating for middle school athletics. - Installation of new heating, cooling electrical systems in the elementary/middle school.

The scenarios presented to the committee included several combinations of the four project areas listed above.

Johnson said the consultants also considered the possibility of razing the high school building and replac- ing it with a new one. The cost of that option is likely to be slightly over $30 million, he said.

According to the consultants, if all four of the projects listed were undertaken, the total cost would be ap- proximately $27.6 million, with a bond levy measure of about $23 million.

Financial analysts with D.A. Davidson & Co. told the board that, based on cur- rent assessed property values within the school district boundaries, the initial levy rate for a $23 million 20- year bond would be approxi- mately $3.69 per thousand dollar valuation.

Based on that rate, the owner of a $100,000 home would pay an additional $369 per year in property taxes to cover construction bond payments, or about $31 per month. That tax levy would last for 20 years, though if overall values in the district increased, the levy rate would decrease accordingly, since the bond payment dollar amount would remain constant.

Davidson representatives also told the school board that the total assessed value within the district is current- ly about $570 million. That value has nearly doubled since 2006, when the first wind generation projects in Columbia County were be- ing built.

The least expensive sce- nario presented to the committee was for renovation of the high school building only, with a cost of about $17.5 million and a bond amount of about $14 million. The initial tax levy rate for that bond is estimated to be about $2.20 per thousand.

The school renovation committee scheduled a meeting on Tuesday, after The Times went to press. John- son said the group might make a recommendation to the School Board during the meeting, or they may choose to study their options further.

He said the School Board would then make a final decision on which option to proceed with. The board hopes to put a bond levy bal- lot measure before voters in February of next year. If it passed, construction at the school would begin in the spring of 2015 and last for about 1 ½ years.