ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 27, 1996 TAG: 9611270023
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors has agreed to incorporate a $1.5 million cost increase in the bond issue for a new elementary school in Riner.
The board's 5-to-2 vote Monday will allow the county School Board to sign a construction contract for an $8.2 million, 750-pupil building that will consolidate Riner and Bethel elementary schools.
School Board Chairwoman Annette Perkins said she was delighted with the vote. "We think it's important to move ahead," she said.
The board's go-ahead will allow the school system to sign a contract before the current construction bids expire Dec. 23. Construction should begin this winter on the site behind Auburn High and Middle schools in Riner. The new elementary school is expected to open in 1998.
The borrowed money to pay for the new Riner school will come from two Virginia Public School Authority bond issues. One bond already has been sold to provide money to buy the land and begin construction. The balance will be obtained from a bond sold next year, likely in the fall.
The supervisors' decision also pleased a delegation that attended the meeting to defend higher costs for a large gymnasium and other enhancements at the school.
"It's money well spent," parent Bob Anton told the board. "We certainly need to go with this project as it is."
Several other speakers said the design for the new school was economical and utilitarian. They blamed the over-budget bids opened earlier this month on a busy construction market.
However, some supervisors found the cost overruns and the new school's design difficult to swallow.
"That thing looks like something that ought to be in Disneyland, " Joe Stewart said of the new school, which will be built with amenities such as courtyards and skylights, in addition to the larger-than-regulation gym for school and community use.
Rather than using a basic rectangular or square building, architects designed "pods" that stretch out from a center building. Some people have argued that such a design is a more expensive alternative.
Stewart, of Elliston, joined Supervisor Joe Gorman of Blacksburg in voting "no." Gorman said the project was not cost-effectively designed.
The issue of school construction and operating costs also sparked a discussion among the supervisors about hiring a financial analyst to look at the school-building plan.
County taxpayers will bear a heavy financial burden to achieve educational goals such as reducing pupil-teacher classroom ratios and building or expanding new schools in Blacksburg and Shawsville, Supervisor Nick Rush said.
That expense could run as high as $100 million or represent an increase of 18 cents in the county's real estate tax rate, Rush said. Those numbers were developed by county Finance Director Carol Edmonds, who said the conservative estimates did not include any future growth in county revenue.
Rush advocated paying a Maryland consulting firm $42,900 to study school improvements and provide firm data on costs. "This will be the best money we spent," Rush said.
Other board members agreed that a financial analysis of school costs would be helpful. But they balked at the expense.
After some discussion they agreed to investigate how costs for the study might be reduced by using staff from county administration and the school system to generate data.
The Board of Supervisors will discuss the school financial study again on Dec. 9.
Staff writer Lisa Applegate contributed to this story.
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