School board refinances bonds to save money
Directors in the Uniontown Area School District voted Tuesday to refinance $47 million in bond issues that will result in a savings of over $1 million, according to the district’s investment banker. The refinancing covers the 2002 bond issue that was to be used for construction of a new Marclay School, renovation to Menallen School, a new roof for A.J. McMullen Middle School and other capital improvements. It also includes the $30 million bond issue adopted last summer to pay for a renovation to Uniontown Area High School.
John McShane of Arthurs Lestrange & Company Inc. of Pittsburgh said the district was able to take advantage of an anomaly in the bond marketplace that resulted in “dramatically” lower interest rates than the rates included when the issues were first adopted.
“The savings are so much that it makes sense to move as quickly as possible,” he said. “The district will save $1.1 million that you can put in your operating budget and put toward projects.”
McShane said the interest rate has only been lower during a two-day period in the past 40 years. He noted that the district’s scheduled debt service payment of $1,051,000 to be made April 1 will be wiped out, and the projected total savings is $1,152,000 after closing costs and other costs related to the bond purchase.
The millage dedicated to debt service will not change under the bond refinance and the time for repayment of the bonds has not changed, he noted.
Director William Rittenhouse Jr. said that the district should use the money to cover increased costs associated with the renovation to Menallen School that is underway and other projects that are planned.
“This is not a windfall that we can just take and use any way we want,” he said. “I vote for this contingent upon the money going into the other places and not whatever we want to spend money on.”
Directors voted unanimously to approve the bond purchase that covers the refinancing of the two previous bond issues. Director Nancy Herring was absent Tuesday.
Board President Harry “Dutch” Kaufman thanked Superintendent Dr. Charles Machesky and Arthurs Lestrange for working quickly to make the bond purchase come together.
“This is a nice Tuesday gift to the board and the taxpayers of this school district,” he said.
Meanwhile, the board awarded over $4 million in contracts for construction of a new Marclay School and demolition of the present building once the new school is complete.
Directors awarded a $2,405,300 contract to Masscon Inc. for general construction, a $121,524 contract to Commercial Appliance Contracts Inc. for food service equipment, a $595,800 contract to Whitby Inc. for heating, ventilation and air conditioning construction, a $458,200 contract to Vrabel Plumbing for plumbing construction, and a $400,600 contract to A-1 Electric for electrical construction.
The board also approved a $65,000 contract with Xpert Environmental for asbestos abatement at the existing building, and awarded a $25,000 contract to Jules & Cole Coal Co. for the demolition of the school sometime in the summer of 2006.
Architect Mark Altman said crews could begin site work in two weeks, and are working with a projected completion date of May 15, 2006. However, Altman said crews may be able to finish construction of the new school by year’s end.
Members of the audience applauded loudly after the board awarded the contracts for the school’s construction.
The school project has been on the table for the district for several years after the building was found to be in disrepair in 2001. The district initially considered moving the students to A.J. McMullen School and creating a K-8 facility, but the idea was squelched by outcry from Markleysburg residents opposed to the initiative.
Director Charles Castor said he was glad that the people who wanted a new Marclay School rather than a consolidated facility are finally getting the school they wanted so badly.
“I apologize for making you wait so long, but it’s going to happen,” he said. “You are going to be real happy with a brand new school there.”
The board rejected bids for the Marclay School project last summer after the first round of bids came in at least 30 percent higher than expected. Altman said the several cost-cutting measures that were included in the latest bid specifications and a “more favorable marketplace” helped bring the bids down by about $400,000.