NOVEMEBER IS THE MONTH FOR BOND ISSUE VOTE

The Quillayute Valley School District (QVSD) board has approved placing the second-phase of construction at Forks High School bond before voters in the November general election.

The approval came after QVSD Superintendent Diana Reaume and the school board discussed the bond issue at the board’s May 14 meeting.

On May 28 a citizens advisory committee is being gathered to begin work on making final decisions on the scope of the construction and to get the word on the project out to the community.

The community is being invited to an open house meeting on Thursday, May 29 at 6 p.m. in the QVSD board room located in the automotive instruction building on South Forks Avenue. Reaume said at the meeting a presentation will be given by the committee, and the public will be invited to comment on the proposed multimillion bond, plus be able to give their input on the planned new phase of the high school.

There is a Sept. 13 filing deadline for the general election, which is set for Tuesday, Nov. 4.

At the QVSD meeting Reaume said there is a distinct difference between a bond and a levy. Bonds, which carry considerably less interest than construction loans, are sold to raise funds for large capital improvement projects, like the proposed modernization of Forks High School, and are backed by projected income from timber sales, the value of major assets owned by the school district and other items. A levy pays for ongoing operations and maintenance costs. The QVSD four-year levy will be on election ballots in Feb. 2009. The state matches levy taxes paid by property owners. Without the levy and matching funds athletic programs, extra curricular activities and a number of other areas at the school would hurt for funds.

The bond issue will take a super-majority of 60 percent plus one vote, while the levy now only requires a majority vote of 50 percent plus one vote.

Reaume said the funding for full-day kindergarten classes will be fully state funded in the upcoming school year, an area now funded by levy funds.

The QVSD superintendent also discussed how the Forks biomass project would be complimentary to the high school construction at the board meeting and the following morning at the weekly meeting of the West End Business and Professional Association.

She said the BLRB architecture firm working on plans for the school expansion, have told her that “green products” requirements planned for future public school projects, will drive up costs if the project is delayed.
She said representatives of the firm recently visited the school, and are also looking at integrating the wood-fired, biomass project currently being planned by the school district with the City of Forks, the Port of Port Angeles and the Clallam County Economic Development Council.

Reaume announced the creation of a leadership team for the biomass project that will included herself, City of Forks Attorney/Planner Rod Fleck, Port Angeles Port Commissioner John Calhoun, a QVSD board member Dave Dickson, Bill Henderson who is the director of maintenance at the public schools in Forks, and Patti Morris, president of the Clallam County Economic Development Council.

The deadline for completion of the biomass project is 2010.

Fleck gave an update at the WEBPA meeting, and provided a hand-out listing details on the project and how it is moving along.

He listed several areas where federal funds are being sought to build on the biomass project.

One would be funding for micro-turbines that would generate electricity through the steam heat created by burning wood waste from cedar mills. The power generated would be sold to the PUD to boost school district coffers. Another area would be replacement of aging pipes that distribute steam heat to classrooms at Forks Middle School.

Fleck also listed funding for a “lessons learned” booklet to be written once the project is completed. He said a similar booklet written on Forks’ experience in being wired with high-speed telecommunications capabilities has proven popularity with communities from across the nation and the world.

He said the next steps in the project are to sign an “Energy Freedom Project” contract with CTED, solicit bids from an engineering firm for the project’s design phase and to begin to seek the additional funding.

Reaume said biomass projects in operation at schools in rural logging towns in Montana and Idaho are being contacted for advice on the Forks project. Some of these schools have benefited from the National Forest Service’s Fuels for Schools federal funding, but that program isn’t in operation in western Washington. The program cuts down the danger of forest fires by removing wood waste from forests.

The Forks biomass project is a pilot one for schools in the state, she said.

A curriculum on using wood waste generated by local mills to heat the schools and create electricity would be created for use in the Forks schools.