Ballot issues: generator bond issue, FIT reserve

Voters will head to the polls on May 17 to decide a range of school district issues: the proposed 2011-12 budget, bond issues to fund capital improvements and a new emergency power generator, and whether or not to create a capital reserve fund for Project FIT. There are also three school board positions to fill.

The Reporter will review each choice that voters are facing in the weeks before the May 17 balloting. This week, we’ll explain the emergency generator bond and Project FIT capital reserve proposals.

EMERGENCY GENERATOR BOND

A “yes” vote on the generator bond proposition will allow the Shelter Island School District to borrow up to $600,000 through the sale of 10-year bonds to install a new emergency generator in the school. With the school’s current Korean War-era generator no longer reliable, according to district officials, the building cannot remain an official Red Cross shelter.

The current generator can provide only 20 to 30 percent of the building’s power needs, according to Marty Weber of Mosaic Architects, the school’s architectural consultant. That wouldn’t be enough to keep the heat on in the event of an emergency. The district is under no legal obligation to function as the town’s Red Cross shelter, but there is an understanding among the town, the school and the Red Cross that the school will serve as a shelter, Superintendent Parry confirmed. No practical alternative to the school has been publicly proposed.

Unlike many modern power generators, the device does not have an automatic transfer switch, so someone has to manually turn the generator on in the event of a power loss. Retrofitted batteries are used to start the generator. If it actually does start, officials say it releases poisonous carbon monoxide that could leak into the adjacent gymnasium if there were a problem with its venting.

The bond would cover $420,000 for a new generator and the labor required to install it and its related wiring; $85,000 to install an emergency battery-powered lighting and backup fire alarm system, as required by New York State Education Department rules; and $95,000 in contingencies and fees.

Repaying the bond would cost the district an estimated $729,938, or an average of about $73,000 a year for 10 years starting with the 2012-2013 school year. District officials expect to finish paying back the bond during the 2021-2022 school year.

The School Board was reluctant to ask voters for money to pay for a new generator unless the town or the Red Cross offered to help with its cost, Mr. Parry said, but after some discussions, neither the town or Red Cross offered any money. The town has already set its budget for 2011 and Jim Parker, American Red Cross Mission Program Officer for the New York metropolitan area, told the Reporter its funds are raised to help people in need of relief during a disaster, not for ongoing infrastructure that has multiple uses. The generator would be used primarily as the school’s back-up power supply.

Mr. Parker said that, in the event of an emergency, the Red Cross would rent a generator to “ensure that the capability is in place.” That wouldn’t work, Mr. Parry said, because “it couldn’t be plugged in to power up the building” as a shelter.

FIT CENTER RESERVE

The Project FIT capital reserve essentially would be a savings account, according to the district’s business leader, Sam Schneider. The reserve would be funded through Project FIT member fees, with any money left on hand after operational expenses are covered.

A “yes” vote will not result in any additional tax levy. Voters must approve the FIT proposal because state law prohibits school districts from building up cash reserves year by year through its annual operating budgets.

The money would fund improvements to Project FIT facilities: the workout center, ball fields and tennis courts. A number of improvements have been suggested, such as fixing the fencing and some net posts at the tennis courts on Duvall Avenue and the backstops at the ball fields at Fiske Field. Voters would have to approve any specific uses of the money.

State Education Department rules require voter approval for expenditures from the fund. The proposition was drafted to be as broad as possible, according to Mr. Schneider. The district has no plans to make all the improvements listed in the proposition, he said, but he and maintenance chief Mike Dunning came up with every possibility so the district would not have to go back to the voters to approve each improvement one by one.

The district ran into a snag in 2008 when it planned to spend capital reserve funds on a new playground and plumbing, water valves and piping renovations. Those expenses had not been approved by voters when the fund was established. The district held a vote in May 2009, asking residents to approve the expenses as an acceptable use of the funds. They approved them and the money was spent in May 2010.

Renovations planned for this summer will bring the FIT Center up to code; a vote on whether to establish the Project FIT capital reserve will have no impact on those renovations. It was learned in 2008 that the Project FIT addition to the school was built in 1998-1999 without a building permit and it has no certificate of occupancy.

School voter registration day is May 4 from 2 to 8 p.m. in the school library. The vote will be on May 17 from 12 to 9 p.m. in the gym. An absentee ballot application is available on the school website at shelterisland.k12.ny.us under the “Board of Education” tab.

Additional reporting by Cara Loriz