June 17, 2024

• Board has decided to not pursue a ballot issue for the November 2024 election. It anticipates the earliest a ballot issue may be attempted is November of 2025.

• Board seeks to form a stakeholder representative facility committee. It will be co-chaired by Board members Dr. Beth Laffay and Stacy Hinners. Individuals interested in serving on this committee should email their interest to the co-chairs.

  • [email protected] & [email protected] 

• Architect Firm AVG presented the programming options desired by the Board and created with staff input. Programmed cost assumptions for three possible projects.

  • A new PK-12. $94,508,301.35

  • Woodlands improvements and a new 6-12. $67,918.836.59

  • Renovation of Woodlands’ 2002 addition incorporated into a new PK-12. $90,501,308.13

• Architect Firm AVG presented conceptual design of building footprint and egress of a project at Woodlands. 

• The Municipal Advisor provided the linked millage summary records. He vetted these with the county auditor and bond council. Page one is the assessed millage at the anticipated 2025 valuation rate. Page two is the COPs funding options through earned income. Page three is the assessed millage using the 2024 real valuation rate. The interest rate is lowered to result in the same millage as page one. ORC requires the district to use the current valuation rate, not a future projection. The county auditor and bond council accept the lower interest cost for the purposes of reporting a millage that is more accurate to the rate that will be assessed in 2025. Residents will get their new assessed value this summer and use that information when calculating their cost so providing an accurate 2025 millage is important for transparency.

June Items

• Wetland study was completed. The Woodlands property does not have any wetlands. It only has a small creek in the southeast corner. Linked here is the full report. 

• AVG arranged a meeting with the traffic study firm that assisted ODOT with the development of the route 6 roundabout project coming to Huron. The firm provided general information about what a traffic study can provide and how it considered multiple data points beyond just car counting to make projections of traffic impact of a project. The firm considers Huron as a low traffic area. Operational decisions, like staggered start/end times of grade levels at the same campus, can improve traffic impact. The firm did not suspect a control device (traffic light) being needed at the Erie Parkway/Cleveland Rd. W. intersection. A study would confirm that suspicion. The firm did note that a mini roundabout could facilitate better flow directing all traffic to turn right exiting Erie Parkway onto Cleveland Rd. W. to then circle for a westbound direction. Here is a resource for a mini roundabout shared by the firm.Here is an example in use. Linked here is a proposal summary.

May items

• AVG provided three building footprint/plot sketches. Options One and Two are contained to our existing property. Option Three includes the use of the 7-acre property owned by the City. AVG encourages exploring options to obtain that property as it will help with the overall project regardless of how the building is situated.

• The Request for Qualifications for Construction Manager At-Risk closed Monday. Three will then be invited to provide cost/billing information. The district then must select the most qualified and competitively priced firm.

May 20, 2024 - Dr. Tatman shared several highlights relating to facilities. 

• According to the Director of the Erie county Board of Election, Presidential elections are the lowest cost elections for issues on the ballot. In comparison, a ballot issue in the May 2025 special election will cost $12,000-$15,000 more than the November 2024 election. 

• The district posted a request for qualifications for a construction manager at risk (CMR). A CMR can assist the district with pricing in pre-bond and design steps of the process. The CMR then leads the subcontracts during the construction process. The district has short listed firms that submitted, will interview then select a provider for the pending project. 

• Municipal Advisor services - much like a retirement advisor supports sound financial decisions with investing, a municipal advisor has fiduciary obligation to serve in the best interest of the client/district when selling bonds on the market. Through consultation with the bond council, some districts utilize a municipal advisor, others do not, and there are various reasons to or to not use such an advisor. Those include previous relationship with an established underwriter, confidence and experience in the process and understanding the market to make informed decisions. The linked presentation was delivered by Mr. Sudsina to the Board. 

• Mrs. Hartley shared a facility process research she conducted for three districts. Two had failed ballot issues. The third passed. Reflecting on our facility process so far and what’s ahead. Linked here is an extension of the record Mrs. Hartley shared with our process included.

• Staff are invited to participate in the programming design process to help better define the scope of the project for each of the three scopes of work requested by the Board, A new PK-12, improve Woodlands and new 6-12, Renovate the 2002 Woodlands addition and build new for the remaining PK-12 facility need. With an initial draft of these programmes AVG will provide more specific cost estimates. I will deliver these to the Board at the June 17th regular meeting.

May 13, 2024 - [meeting recording] Special Board meeting to review land/site survey and design programming for calculating more precise cost assumptions for the scope of work. At a cost of $59,666.708.62 the scope of the project includes improvements at Woodlands and a new 6-12 building.

Slide deck and notes from the meeting - linked here. 

After discussion, the Board seeks programmed cost assumptions for three possible projects.

1. A new PK-12.

2. Woodlands improvements and a new 6-12.

3. Renovation of Woodlands’ 2002 addition incorporated into a new PK-12. 

April 15, 2024—The April regular Board meeting reviews community facility survey results. The meeting discusses alternative options for improving Woodlands to address elements of safety, warmth, and dryness. The focus is on a new build project on a single 6-12 grade building. 

The land survey of Woodlands property is still being processed. A gas line easement is being further explored. 

March 22 - April 8, 2024 - Community facility survey open for submission. Promoted through direct communication to the community, website and social media, community fliers and Sandusky Register, ARTICLE. 

March 18, 2024 - March regular Board meeting in-depth debrief of community engagement activities. Decision to open a community facility survey and engage the community at public venues like religious institutions and homeowner meetings. 

March 7, 9, and 11 - The board conducted community engagement meetings for building facility options. Written summaries were presented at the Huron Public Library March 12 - 18.