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The
Official Newspaper of Anamosa, located in Jones County, Iowa
Anamosa News
Since 1855
 Thursday,
March 8, 2007 |
Options for Land Use Determined
by Michelle Phillips |
Editor’s Note: This is the second story in our five-part series concerning the Anamosa Community School District’s (ACSD) land purchase.
This week we look at the questions that arose in last week’s story:
Where would a new school be built? Should it be a central campus?
Could it be placed on the land the school already owns? How early could the school attempt a bond referendum? What would happen to the existing site?
After the ACSD hired Doug DuCharme of Shive-Hattery to conduct a feasibility study to determine the needs of the district, he returned to the Long-range Planning Committee with the recommendation of building a new school.
DuCharme told the committee there were safety issues at West Middle School. The committee was ready to move on with an assessment of land, and report to the Anamosa School Board concerning the problems with West Middle School.
The committee began to think about land and where they would expand or build a new structure. |
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The committee first looked at land around the existing high school, part of which was owned by Shadas and a portion owned by Dean Woods.
Vic Hamre who served on the Long-range Planning Committee said, “There was no consensus, at that time, whether it should be at the high school or a separate site.”
Hamre said the committee felt using existing property and adding on was the best option if they were to create a central campus and pass a bond issue.
“There were some terrible access problems with the surrounding land,” Hamre recalled, who added that the committee abandoned the idea of expanding at the current middle school location because of concerns over the size and lay of the land.
“We looked at finding property on Highway 64. At that time it didn’t look to be an option,” said former Anamosa Superintendent Carol Lensing.
The Highway 64 site was abandoned primarily because
there was no land available for sale at the time.
The committee already had aerial maps and a list of available real estate in Anamosa, and discovered there were few places in which there would be enough space to build a new school.
That was when the committee started to look at the MacDow property, owned by Cletus McNamara and Dirk Downing, on Old Dubuque Road.
“Carol (Lensing) came to us and wanted to know if we would be interested in selling them (ACSD) 30-35 acres of land,” McNamara stated. “We said yes, at $15,000 per acre.”
McNamara said the land was not actually on the market, but they were willing to sell to the school district because McNamara said they could see there was a need for a new facility.
DuCharme said he began his analysis of options for the district by identifying sites. He began the process by looking at square footage of both the high school and middle school and determining how much space would be needed. He based the assessment on accommodation of 500 high school students and 350-400 middle school students. DuCharme determined that the 60,137 sq. ft. middle school should be increased to 87,298 sq. ft. and a high school would need to increase from 87,326 sq. ft. to 140,209 sq. ft.
In an email to Lensing dated October 27, 2004, DuCharme stressed the need to explain that these are target numbers and can be adjusted.
Some of the needs included more classrooms, large room size, and expansion of technology labs, offices and locker rooms. DuCharme did not project any cost analysis because time frame for a new or revised facility was so far in the future.
DuCharme said there are several areas that are generally addressed when assessing expansion.
They are as follows: safety, access, size of the land and the number of acres a district will potentially need. He then looks at the specifics of what might be placed on the site, the footprint of the building and potential for athletic fields.
“This is basically to assess the needs of the district and whether or not the space can accommodate that,” DuCharme added.
The Long-range Planning Committee decided they would like to have the option to purchase the MacDow property and attorney for McNamara and Downing and the ACSD drafted an agreement, which allowed the MacDow property to be on the market at the price of $15,000 per acre. The school would then have 90 days to purchase the property before the potential new buyer. The contract was for the duration of one year. The contract Option also gave the school the right to refuse the property in the event that the PPEL levy was not passed in September 2005.
DuCharme then set about drawing up plans for the district and came up with four options. (See graphics) Option A: Separate school on present high school campus; Option B: Attached school on present high school campus; Option C: Middle school concept on option property (30 acres)
During this time the committee reviewed payment schedules for the current bonds held by the school. It was determined that the bonds could be paid off as early as 2007 and a new bond referendum presented sometime after the repayment, which would help pay for the cost of the project.
The committee also discussed what might happen to the existing West Middle School building.
Several proposals were given and included using the facility for storage, selling the building or leasing it.
Anamosa Superintendent Dale Monroe said there are two groups interested in the building.
“Regardless, we must open it up for public bids for the building or anything in the building we were to dispose of,” said Monroe.
Once all of these elements were determined, the committee was ready to take these plans to the school board. Hamre and Jay Willems represented the Long-range planning committee and DuCharme gave a presentation of the four options at the February 21, 2005 meeting.
After addressing the school board the committee decided it was time to present its findings to the community and plans began to hold a community forum and a date was set for may 26, 2005. |
Winter Weather Briefly Closes Down Highway 1
By Michelle Phillips |
A second winter storm in five days gave Eastern Iowa the one, two punch and caused blizzard conditions across the state closing several highways including Highway 1 between Martelle and Highway 151.
Jones County Sheriff Mark Denniston said the two-lane highway was shut down for about 40 minutes on March 2 after numerous vehicles went off the road during whiteout conditions.
“We had to close Highway 1 while they pulled some of the cars out of there,” Denniston said.
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Snow and blowing snow caused whiteout conditions across Iowa on March 2. This was what drivers saw out their windshields on Highway 151 near the Highway 1 exit. |
Another problem travel spot was Highway 151 south of Langworthy to E-23 (Amber Road).
“That was a whiteout, too.” Denniston added.
He said the department was lucky because they had two extra deputies on duty that day, and they normally have two. There were also some deputies who stayed beyond their regular shift to help out.
“Friday is already the worst day for us, as far as traffic, anyway,” he stated.
In addition to highways, Denniston said many of the gravel roads running North and South were drifted up as well.
“I drove up on a drift that was up to my windshield,” he included.
Denniston said drivers should be cautious of changing weather conditions during a winter storm and drive accordingly.
“Hopefully were about done with this,” Denniston concluded. |
School District Approves Architect’s Request for Proposal
By Susan Yario |
The Anamosa Community School District approved the issuance of the Architect’s Request for Proposal (RFP) for the new high school building, opening the door for sealed proposals until the close of business on April 19, 2007. A Bidder Conference will be held March 19, 2007 at 10:00 A. M. at West Middle School Auditorium, 200 South Garnavillo Street, Anamosa. Pending proper procedures and timeline punctuality, the board will award an architect contract on May 21.
The board celebrated several students Monday evening. Anne Daily has been chosen as a finalist to serve as a member of the State Board of Education. Board President Jim Mitchel presented Anne with a Certificate of Appreciation. Four members were present from the Speech Team. They were recognized by the board and presented with a Certificate of Appreciation by Mr. Mitchel for their outstanding performance in conference, district and state levels.
The McWilliams family was present at the School Board meeting to voice their disapproval of the school district harassment and no tolerance policy. Parent Mark McWilliams addressed the board that his daughter has been dealing with harassment in school since attending Strawberry Hill Elementary and he wanted to make sure that board members were aware that this (harassment) is going on.
Monroe responded that he has met with Mark’s wife, LuAnn McWilliams, and been made aware of the previous years of harassment and the current situation. Monroe assured the McWilliams family of two things; the school district will take a proactive stance and safety measures are a major priority in the district.
Grant Wood AEA visited the board to offer a summary of services that the district is using. Three representatives gave summaries and a nine-minute video titled AEA’s Make a Difference was played showing the impact AEA’s have had on Iowa schools and families.
Linda Van Bahrain updated the board regarding energy usage in regards to last years increase in natural gas and the increase in diesel fuel. Nevertheless the budgeted amounts are almost identical for the same period one year ago and the District should not have to use it’s reserves for fuel or utility costs this year as was budgeted.
High School Principal, Steve Goodall spoke to the board on the details of the employee hiring process and the checklist that is used to help move the process along smoothly. Reona Ewald, Strawberry Hill Elementary Principal talked about the re-assignment process of hiring and the difference between voluntary and involuntary reassignment. Derek Roberts, the Districts Activities Director shared information and input on the process of hiring a coach for the district and why it can be difficult to locate the best candidate if trying to fill a teacher/coach position.
Curriculum Director, Mary Bendixen addressed Curriculum mapping questions that arose from last month’s presentation. Bendixen shared the four different types of technological mapping. The mapping process is ongoing and involves teachers networking more often, working together, and studying their instruction in order to create a seamless journey for the students. Bendixen recommends the Diary type of mapping for the District. This is a form of recording what has been taught. She also feels that phasing in a few departments gradually and eventually every department would have maps and refine them in an ongoing “map” of the curriculum. No action was taken on this report as it was informational only.
The upcoming Department of Education visit was discussed with Bendixen, who offered the district documents for preparation of the visit. Board members were asked to look over the items and ask questions in the early April district meeting prior to the State visit.
The board approved two resignations from Strawberry Hill Elementary staff; Cynthia Britton, Special Education effective the end of the 06-07 school year and Nancy Mulford, Librarian who is due to retire at the end of the 06-07 school year.
Financial Auditor’s Report for 2005-2006 presented by Linda Von Behren, Business Manager for the district revealed no material weakness of internal control were exposed and no matters of non-compliance were reported. The two items of reportable conditions pertained to netting revenues and expenditures, two receipts were posted against expenditure accounts, and another for the issuance of a check prior to the submission of the receipt. The firm of Hunt, Kain and Associates issued a clean audit opinion for the year ended June 30, 2006 for the Anamosa School District.
“Overall it was a very clean audit opinion,” said Von Behren.
The board approved a bond resolution, authorizing the redemption of school bonds dated February 1, 1997. By calling the bonds early, the District is due to save at least $820,000.00 in interest costs. In explanation, the District will have sufficient SILO funds available June 1, 2007 to call an additional $350,000.00 of general obligation bonds. These bonds are otherwise maturing in June 2013, ($50,000) and 2014 ($340,000).
Also approved Monday evening are as follows:
• Elimination of the March 9 early dismissal day. This Friday will becomes a full day of student instruction to remedy some of the missed instructional time due to weather related school closings last week.
• Bills due and payable paid between board meetings.
• Implementation of the PaySchools on-line system.
• First Reading of Board Policy changes as reviewed by the Board Policy Committee pursuant to the new Fiduciary Duty Policies (807.1, 807.2 and RP807.2 recommended by the State of Iowa Association of School Boards.
• Continued participation in the IASB Insurance division. |
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