by Superintendent Mitch Wainwright
I have good news to share with everyone about the elementary building referendum. At last month’s school board meeting, our architect (HSR) and a structural engineer (raSmith) reported to the board what they believe to be the main issue under the building foundation. By digging a series of holes inside and outside the building, they discovered what was described as a ribbon of clay. After the addition to the building back in the early ’90s, water has slowly been seeping under the older section of the building. The clay has been absorbing the water, and as it does, it begins to expand. This has been slowly happening for at least the last 10 years. The good news is that HSR believes they have an accurate budget calculation that will fix the problem and not negatively impact the budget.
The second piece of good news deals with the financing of the referendum. R.W. Baird is the company that was responsible for selling the bonds. During the referendum meetings, we were working off a conservative interest rate of 4.0%. Due to the sound financial audit and rating, conducted by Moody’s, Baird sold the bonds at an interest rate of 2.88%. Because of the lower interest rate, the school district taxpayers will save over one million dollars in interest paid on the loan.
Design plans continue to be refined and will soon be finalized. Later this fall, the district will be going out to bid for a general contractor, and we are planning to break ground in the spring of 2020. It will be an exciting time to see the addition to the building begin. Thank you for all the support that you continue to give to the Mineral Point Unified School District.