THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 21, 1995 TAG: 9501210152
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
In November 1993, the voters of Currituck County overwhelmingly supported floating $19 million in bonds to build or expand certain public schools in the rapidly developing county.
Since that referendum, however, higher construction costs and heavier growth in parts of the county have forced officials to reexamine how to spend the electorate-approved funds.
``I feel that today Currituck County is faced with the greatest challenge that it's faced since the Depression years,'' said Ernie Bowden, chairman of the Currituck County Board of Commissioners.
Bowden's comments came during a joint meeting Thursday night between Currituck commissioners and the Board of Education, at odds over how to provide adequate school space for a rising number of students.
At issue is whether to accept higher-than-expected costs to build a new high school and possibly substitute a new elementary school in Moyock for one now earmarked for Jarvisburg.
Commissioners made it clear they weren't willing to spend anymore on the high school project, which came in $3.7 million over budget.
``The bottom line is, very frankly, that we're not in a position to fund anything beyond the $19.4 million'' estimated for five bond-funded projects, Bowden said.
Those include:
Building a new high school in Barco for about $13.9 million, to accommodate up to 1,160 students and to open in September 1996.
Renovating Central Elementary School in Maple for $978,149.
Replacing the roof on the existing high school, which will become the new junior high school, for $200,000.
Purchasing land for $200,000 in the northern end of the county for a future elementary school.
Building a new elementary school in the Lower Currituck community of Jarvisburg for almost $4 million.
The Board of Education, which has until March to find a solution to budget shortages or fall behind schedule, also made it clear Thursday it wants to stick with the previously agreed upon construction plan.
``Moyock is where the growth is, but we have made a very firm commitment to the people of this county that Jarvisburg would happen,'' said Board of Education Chairwoman Mary Ellen Maxwell.
Some of the overcrowding at Moyock Elementary, now more than 200 students above capacity, should be relieved when the new high school opens in 1996 and Knapp Junior High becomes an elementary school, she said.
``Currituck County is growing, and you as commissioners are the people who have the opportunity to control that growth,'' Maxwell said. ``We are the victims of all those new homes.''
Commissioners have recently taken steps to curb development in areas already overburdened by population surges.
An adequate-facilities ordinance has been used repeatedly to delay action on several subdivisions proposed for the Moyock and Crawford townships.
In order to comply with the ordinance, the county must show a commitment to providing more facilities in growth areas, particularly Moyock.
``We stand in a very difficult position in terms of legality-wise if we just sit on our hands and let it fester,'' said Jack Simoneau, the county's director of planning and inspections.
Next month the board of commissioners will begin considering such growth controls as increasing lot sizes for new homes and requiring additional amenities for new subdivisions.
The board also will discuss removing a grandfather provision for sketch plans approved before April 1989 that have yet to advance.
The School Board will meet from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday with a facilities review committee to further discuss the new high school project.
C. Michael Ross, an architect with the firm of Hargrove, Brockwell & Associates of Virginia Beach, explained Thursday that a recent construction boom is pushing building costs up.
Ross also noted that prices on other school projects in North Carolina and southeastern Virginia were all sharply higher than expected, in part because of substantially higher costs for building materials.
While market prices are rising sharply, Currituck County continues to attract more and more residents seeking lower property taxes and a quieter lifestyle.
Moyock, just south of Chesapeake, and Knotts Island, near Virginia Beach, have been popular sites for new development.
``I don't think any of the people in this room foresaw the growth in Moyock,'' schools Superintendent W.R. ``Ronnie'' Capps said at the Thursday meeting, attended by about 40 people.
School board members said they do not want to compromise any more space on the 159,455-square-foot high school planned in Barco. About 5,545 square feet were taken out in an early round of cuts.
``Adequate, to me, is meeting the needs of individuals, and we can only do that if we have a quality facility,'' the board's Maxwell said. by CNB