Although it did not promise to fund anything, the Carroll County Board of Supervisors voted Oct. 13 to allow the Carroll County School Board to apply for funding for Phase III construction/renovation.

Carroll County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Greg Smith told the board in September that the county could save $30.3 million by acting now toward Option II of Phase III Construction. Because of the soft construction market, Smith told the board the cost of new construction could drop from $62.7 million to $47.6 million by moving forward with the construction of a new high school, the renovation of Carroll County Intermediate School and the closure of Woodlawn School. The original price tag for that plan was $94 million a couple of years ago.

At the September meeting, Smith asked the supervisors for permission for the school board to seek funding from the literary loan fund through the Virginia Public School Authority. The board tabled the matter after the September meeting, however, saying it needed time to discuss it.

Pine Creek District Supervisor Wes Hurst invited Smith to rejoin county supervisors to discuss the topic at the board’s Oct. 13 meeting. Hurst said he and fellow supervisor Andy Jackson were both involved in the planning for Phase III.

“While we have a very strong feeling about this and we’ve also conveyed that to other members of the board, we also are still very concerned with the economic times in which we are in and also as far as looking at extra burdens on the county,” Hurst said. “But after going through quite a bit of this and looking over a lot of it with my chairman...I would like to take this opportunity to express to my other members on the board that I would like to see the school board to go forward for the application of the literary (loan) fund.”

Hurst said the board has made a commitment to improve Carroll County’s infrastructure, which includes schools.

“I want to make everyone understand right now that going forward with this does not obligate us 100 percent with the actual loan money. But if we do not put this in progress now then we are only penalizing our young people many years down the road,” Hurst said. “This process will take many years to go through. And while it is approved at some date and time, it doesn’t mean you have to do it then. You have to go through the proper steps and have a plan in place. And I would join my colleagues now in making a motion to push forward.”

Carroll County Board of Supervisors’ Chairman David Hutchins said the motion to go forward in getting on the literary loan fund list included “the explicit caveat that there is no guarantee or promise from this board that we will actually fund anything, but we will support you moving forward to see if funds are available.”

Smith noted that if Carroll were to apply that evening, it would sit at number 33 on the literary loan funding list.

“It is a lengthy list,” Smith said. “It is not one that is certain to be culled very, very soon. So it is a process, believe me.”

Hutchins asked Smith if he could make an estimation of how long it might be before Carroll’s number is called.

“I really have no way to truly estimate what the that time frame might be,” Smith said. “You may move up and down on the list based on your school construction needs also, so that is a factor to be considered.”

Supervisor Sam Dickson asked if Smith had any information about possible stimulus money for schools. Smith said the stimulus funds currently don’t include money for school construction.

“There are conversations taking place currently that there will be funds available for school construction as there is a tremendous need in that regard at a future date,” Smith said. “Currently there are stimulus funds that are in the realm of bond bills and construction bond bills, America bonds, various categories of bonds that came as a result of stimulus funds being used for school construction. So those are some of the funds we would be trying to be considered for.”

Hutchins wanted to know what Carroll’s annual payment would be for new school construction, assuming it didn’t receive any grants. Smith said the secondary option alone, which would include the renovation of the current high school and intermediate school, as well as the closure of Woodlawn School, would cost $35,126,058.

“And that is just the renovation option without any savings we might see to pursue it in this market. If we were to bid it out let’s say within the next 3 to 6 months and possibly see a discount, right now the experts we are speaking with say we could possibly see a 30 percent savings,” Smith said. “That would place the cost of the project at $26,695,804. The annual payoff for that would be basically $2,087,348 per year.”

Hutchins said the deferred payment of that bothers him. Smith said that would be a different figure. Hutchins then began figuring what an annual payment of more than $2 million would mean to county taxpayers.

“Considering that right now a 4.5-cent tax levy yields us about a million dollars, to cover a two-plus million dollar payment would be 8.5 or 9 cents (on the tax levy),” Hutchins said. “If we could offset payoffs that would help.”

Smith said the school system’s debt service payment will be $631,467 by 2012-2013. By 2015 it would be at $1,480,936, so half that payment would be saved by 2015, Smith said.

“But we have to get to 2015 some way,” Hutchins said.

That is part of the construction, Smith said.

“That is true,” Hutchins said, “and if you don’t start planning, I think this board has said all the time part of the reason we are where we are is lack of planning.”

At that point, the board unanimously voted to allow the school board to apply for the literary loan fund with no guarantee that the county would actually fund it.

“We will keep you informed as we move through the process,” Smith said.

After the meeting, Smith said there is no way to know at this point how much the school system could receive for construction from the literary loan fund.

“That is a question yet to be answered. We would be 33 on the literary loan list as we apply and that is not in consideration of those projects that would be coming onto the literary loan list as we apply. There would be projects completed, filled and funded as we move through,” Smith said. “We would be, quite frankly, on the tail end of the literary loan list as we apply. The stimulus funding currently available for school construction is funneling through the VPSA, that is the vehicle to which the stimulus dollars are being funded to schools in Virginia. The only methodology we have to access those funds is to apply through the literary loan and through the VPSA. It is imperative to receive any funds to be on or to have applied through those two funding services.”

A day after the Oct. 13 meeting, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine announced the availability of $119 million in stimulus funds for local school divisions to finance energy efficiency improvements and renovations, as well as renewable energy projects for public school buildings. These projects will be financed through the Qualified School Construction Bond program, and will be selected through a competitive evaluation process. Eligible projects can include improving heating, cooling and ventilation systems and controls, building improvements such as insulation and windows, more efficient lighting, as well as solar photovoltaic, solar hot water, biomass, or on-site wind power systems.

Smith said the Carroll County Public School System has been researching these funds intently.

“We would be able to apply for renovation of the heating and cooling systems at both Carroll County High School and Carroll County Intermediate School, but we would truly focus on the high school at this point,” Smith said. “We have met with consultants in regard to the heating and cooling systems at the high school. To replace and renovate that system is at a cost of no less than $3.5 million, so those monies that are available, we intend to look into, and our finance team is certainly going to be researching whether that is a viable option for us.”