By Stephanie Mariel Petrellese

Decision time is drawing near for the Garden City Board of Education after an architect presented a timeline revealing they will have to act soon if they want the public to vote on a bond to fund capital improvements by October.

"There are a number of decisions. One: Is there a bond? Two: When is it? Three: What's in it?" said architect Roger P. Smith from Burton, Behrendt and Smith, a Long Island-based, multi-discipline architectural and engineering firm specializing in educational design at the March 10th work session of the Garden City Board of Education. "Once you can establish all three of those answers, it starts to set this timeline in motion."

Smith set a tentative bond referendum vote date of October 13, which he said is the month when many districts prefer to hold such a vote because it gives them time to educate the public and allow for schools to settle down after opening in September.

Ideally, Smith would like to see the Board develop a bond scope by April 21, which would determine the appropriate review path to follow under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. In January, BBS representatives presented several bond totals and the accompanying projects they would cover.

They originally presented the district's ad hoc facilities committee with a total of $45.19 million for all facility and program-driven projects. The committee, which was formed almost one year ago to study the possibility of issuing a bond to fund capital improvements in the district, told BBS that the district would not be able to accomplish all of the recommended projects and asked that they develop a plan that focused solely on building needs that would require the public to vote on a bond that totaled no more than $20 million.

BBS came back with a revised total of $19,755,900. An "average homeowner," who is defined as someone with a home assessed at $2,330, would be required to pay an additional $163.85 if the bond is approved. The original bond of $45.19 million would cost the average homeowner $210.84.

Administrators met with Smith to determine what smaller-scale projects could be included in the annual capital budget as opposed to a bond initiative. The district was able to reduce the recommendations of the ad hoc Committee on Facilities by $837,000. The bond amount was therefore lowered to $18,918,800.

The district is looking to fund some of the projects with $1,354,584 million in New York State EXCEL funds. The EXCEL (Expanding our Children's Education and Learning) grant allows districts to make improvements to education technology, health and safety areas, energy and physical capacity expansion or school construction. The public must vote on whether or not to opt into the program to be eligible for the funds. The district can only take advantage of the grant once.

A bond is usually paid over 20 years, according to Albert Chase, the district's assistant superintendent for business and finance. Currently the district is paying $3.7 million in debt service. According to Chase, in nine years, the district's debt service will be reduced to $700,000.

If the Board decides to move forward with the approximately $19 million bond by April 21, the SEQRA process for infrastructure projects only will be completed by May 1. From April 22 through July 1st, an environmental consultant would also conduct an environmental review since the project would cover less than 10,000 square feet. If the Board wants a larger bond scope that includes projects which total more than 10,000 square feet, the environmental review will be completed by August 1st.

One month, from July 1st through Aug. 1st, would be specially designated for public comment on the environmental aspects of the proposed projects, which is part of the environmental review process.

Smith tentatively set August 18th as the date the Board should, if they choose to do so, adopt a bond resolution and set a referendum date. The referendum date must be set at least 45 days ahead of time.

Essentially, the Board essentially has until Aug. 18th to decide if they want to move forward with a bond referendum. Until then, Smith suggested the Board authorize the firm to get the ball rolling on the SEQRA review. The environmental consultant, who is hired by the Board but is overseen by BBS, will conduct an environmental review costing between $10,000 and $12,500. The Board can decide after the smaller project review is completed in July and the larger project review is completed in August that they don't want to move forward with the bond. However, they should make that decision by Aug. 18th.

If they follow Smith's timeline, and the bond is voted on and approved by residents in October, construction will not begin until January 2011 at the earliest. If the Board decides to put the $19.76 million bond up for a vote, the projects will be split into two phases of work, roughly totaling $10 million and $9.76 million. Architects would begin their drawings on Oct. 14, and the first permit request would be sent to the New York State Education Dept. in June 2010. The permit process takes three to four months. Smith expects the bidding process to follow in the fall of 2010 and construction in Jan. 2011.

Phase 2 would enter the design phase in October 2010. Permits would be requested in June 2011 and construction would begin in January 2012. All construction involved with the $19.76 million bond should be completed by Jan. 1, 2013.

It is possible for some projects that involve health and safety to be expedited. An example provided by Smith is replacement of the roof at the high school. Construction could begin in the summer of 2010 and be funded through a bond anticipation note. An energy performance contract that is recommended by BBS at a cost of $6,063,900 has a quicker approval process and would be one of the first projects to begin. Energy performance contracting is a way for school districts to implement energy saving procedures.

The last time the school district sought public approval for a capital improvement bond was in 1998. The bond totaled $37,856,000. Jim Kearney, who serves as chairperson of the district's ad hoc Committee on Facilities, emphasized that nothing that was included in the last bond is being proposed to be redone in the current bond being discussed. The roof at the high school was repaired in the 1998 bond, and the roofs at Stratford and Stewart were replaced, along with the majority of the roof at the Middle School.