The study session on March 19 was broken into two sections

  The first part was a presentation by Syrette Dim from Saccardi and Schiff and both Anthony Catalano and Steven Lauria  from Woodard and Curran regarding our SEQRA application to the State Education Department.They discussed material covered in the draft environmental assessment  report prepared by Saccardi and Schiff.   This presentation was required by the state as a prerequisite and was followed by a public hearing on April 1.   I won’t go over the presentation because it is now on the website.  

The second part of the evening was another look at the capital items being considered for an upcoming bond. We were presented with revised cost estimates for a number of items that are being considered for inclusion in the capital project.  We also got  answers to questions we had asked previously.  In an effort to reduce the overall cost of the project and to focus on the highest priority needs, a number of items were removed from the original proposal including the metal structure attached to Central, renovations of concrete and railings at Central and repointing at Central, Chatsworth and the high school.  Repointing at Mamk Ave School remains since this is presently in the worst shape. The architects relooked at every bathroom and fire door in order to focus on those most in need of repair and renovations, thus reducing the cost for these items.  Additionally, a harder number has been included for replacing the to the high school auditorium seating. 

Finally, the board continued a discussion about the timing of the bond and whether or not there would be one bond or two bonds.  No consensus was reached. We were presented with the issues related to the timing of the bonds and educated in the lengthy process that the SEQRA application and State Ed approval could take.  It was decided to delay the final decision until we had more information.

 Nancy Pierson