Maine news, sports, weather from Waterville Morning Sentinel

City officials disagree on Waterville High School renovations

By Scott Monroe smonroe@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

WATERVILLE -- It's a $10.4 million dilemma.

School and city officials are debating whether to borrow some or all the money under a federal loan program, at a low interest rate, toward completion of some $15 million in remaining renovation projects to Waterville Senior High School.

They'll need to decide in the next couple of months whether to tap into the Qualified School Construction Bond, a loan offered through federal stimulus funding.

Some officials think the loan opportunity shouldn't be passed up, noting also that construction bids are coming in 20 to 30 percent lower than in previous years because of the struggling economy.

Other officials warn that the city is already burdened with a lot of debt from other project bonds, such as those at the public library and opera house, and adding even more could send the property taxes skyrocketing.

Those arguments played out when school Superintendent Eric Haley met with members of the City Council on Tuesday.

"The time to do it is now," Councilor John O'Donnell said.

But, coupled with the potential for millions of dollars of cuts in state revenue-sharing, the additional debt could be too much for the city to weather without taxes increasing to unaffordable "historical highs," said Mayor Paul LePage, who is also the Republican nominee for governor.

"It would not be prudent," LePage said. " ... You want to see 'welfare city'? It will be welfare city next year."

The high school renovations, which are being handled by Oak Point Associates, of Biddeford, have been broken up into five phases. The second phase, a new library, is currently wrapping up before school starts early next month.

High school students Maddy Minot, a sophomore, and Meghan Drummond, a junior, were at the school Wednesday and saw the nearly-finished new library for the first time.

"It looks so much different," Minot said, as she and Drummond stood by the new circulation desk. "The old library was a lot smaller. This is so open -- it's pretty. This is like a new school."

The first two phases of work started two years ago and have cost about $2.5 million combined. They are paid for through another federal loan program, called Qualified Zone Academy Bond.

The next couple of phases are more involved and costly. Phase 3, which involves renovating the academic wings, will cost nearly $6.5 million and is considered by school officials to be the highest priority project remaining. The fourth phase is nearly $6 million for renovations to administrative offices, the front lobby, cafeteria, auditorium and more. The fifth and final phase, costing $2.3 million, involves work in the gymnasium and locker and fitness areas.

The $10.4 million federal loan "offer" comes with a current interest rate of half of 1 percent, which Haley said is "the best borrowing rate we're probably ever going to see" -- and would need to be entirely repaid in 17 years.

Although school officials have until Dec. 31 to make a decision on the federal loan, they will need to decide before then so construction bids can go out before the year's end. That way, preliminary project work could take place in the short windows of opportunity while students are away: during the upcoming winter vacation and during the summer.

"If we do phase 3, we need to hit the ground running," Haley said.

School officials can accept any portion of the $10.4 million loan, Haley said, so one option could be borrowing enough money just for the third phase.

Jim Reny, facilities manager for Waterville schools, said the work to the academic wings would involve new floors, ceilings, electrical wiring, and energy-efficient windows, and will probably save the schools some money on operational costs such as heating. "They are brand-new classrooms," he said.

Haley invited city councilors and other officials to attend a supper meeting on Sept. 23 at 5 p.m. at the Mid-Maine Technical Center's Mid-Day Cafe for a tour of renovations to the center and high school. Haley said councilors could then discuss the loan further and "hopefully make a decision" then if the schools should seek none, some or all of the money.

Scott Monroe -- 861-9239

smonroe@centralmaine.com