March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Cost set for voter approval

BAR HARBOR — After more than two hours of debate on what figure should be presented to voters and in what fashion, Mount Desert Island Regional High School trustees agreed by narrow margins to offer voters a final $7.2 million figure for the school’s renovation and expansion project.

If all goes as planned, the majority of combined votes from those participating in the a Nov. 2 referendum throughout Union 98, which includes the towns of Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, Southwest Harbor and Tremont, will determine whether the project moves forward.

In what appeared to be a cram session at their meeting Tuesday night, trustees whittled away about $200,000 from the evening’s $7.4 million proposal by scratching additional alternatives they earlier supported. These extras included four accordion walls and air conditioning in the administration and guidance counselor rooms; chipping $10,000 off the cost of a telephone and paging system; and slashing another $40,000 program that would have commissioned original works of art in the school, said project architect Dan Cecil, of Auburn-based Harriman Associates.

Mount Desert trustee Brian Pollard called the shortage of time to further review cost savings a “a very unfortunate situation.” Trustees discussed relocating administrative offices and constructing a new wing with materials strong enough to support expansion on the second floor. Neither idea is included in the present project.

For some trustees, the $200,000 savings served as little consolation for the project’s overall price tag, which grew in recent weeks from a $7.2 million cost estimate.

Trustees said they were concerned that communities which send students to the school contribute a “fair share” to the capital improvements at the school, rather than just the state-set tuition rate, which last year was about $5,100.

Under the direction of the school committee, the administration has been investigating charging communities without high schools that send students to MDI an additional 10 percent to help pay for school improvements.

Swans Island and Cranberry Isles have agreed to pay an additional 10 percent above the state-set maximum tuition rate. Trenton, Lamoine and surrounding towns are now researching the issue, said Union 98 superintendent Howard Colter.

A common refrain at the meeting Tuesday night was that all communities pay a “fair share” of the expansion and renovation project.

After two votes, trustees turned down proposals that could have derailed the renovation and expansion plan which has been in the works for nearly seven years.


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