Schools

$12.5M Referendum Needed for Critical Repairs, Watchung Hills Officials Say

School business administrator says necessary projects such as roof and steam pipe replacement will only cost more in the future.

A week and a day before voters in Warren Township, Watchung and Long Hill Township are asked to approve a $12.5-million bond ordinance to replace, repave and otherwise improve building infrastructure at Warren Hills Regional High School, school officials invited residents of those towns to a forum about the proposal.

The presentation on Monday night at the high school began with a Vimeo, available on the school website, touring what are described as critical items needing to be addressed, such as 50-plus year old steam pipes that are malfunctioning, a soggy roof; a dirt emergency access road that can't be accessed by emergency or maintenance vehicles, and more.

Voters are scheduled to go to the polls in those three towns next Tuesday to consider a ballot question seeking approval of funding for those projects, with the state having promised to contribute about $5 million. That would leave taxpayers in the sending towns to share just over $7.5 million to be paid for by selling 15-year bonds.

WHRHS Business Administrator Tim Stys told the audience, with a few dozen members of the public, that if the referendum doesn't pass, the problems still will need to be fixed — and at a higher cost.

"It's guaranteed later [they] will cost more," Stys said. "You have the state aid; in the future you don't know."

Right now, he said, the state has a current construction fund which has committed to fund $5 million of the repair costs.  He said the projects listed in the referendum, which also include the replacement or repairs of two-thirds of exhaust fans that bring fresh air in and out of the building, are listed by the state as "tier one" — meaning they affect health and safety.

One parent who said she will vote in favor of the referendum was Tammi McLaughlin of Warren, who agreed with the assessment that the building repairs are critical. As part of a previous job, she said she handled a case where a business suffered burst steam pipes — a disaster she said created a situation that was incredibly disruptive and expensive to handle.

School officials said that replacing the steam pipes would be top priority if the referendum passes. 

Answering a public's questions, the panel, which included the school district's bond counsel and architect, said that most of the work would be done in the summer and after hours, with specifications for sturdy materials that would not create fumes for those in the building to breathe.

Stys said specifications for the project would be tightly written in order to avoid a repeat of a situation from eight years ago, before he said he and the architect were working with the school district, in which the public had to be asked to contribute another $3-million-plus to finish a previous referendum.

Bond advisor Mary Lyons said the school district anticipates raising the funds by selling 15-year bonds carrying an interest rate of about 3 percent. She said all of the bonds would be sold at once since interest rates have been rising.

If the referendum fails on Sept. 24, the regional school board will take a hard look at projects and see which ones were most essential, Stys said.

According to school district figures, if the referendum passes, the impact on sending districts would be: Long Hill Township, another annual $46 in property tax on a home valued at $383,929; in Warren Township, another annual $53 on a home valued at $643,250; and in Watchung Borough, another $48 in a home valued at $628,724. Green Brook sends students to the high school on a tuition-paying basis.


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