Catlin school building projects receive approval
CATLIN – School officials voted Thursday to sell $500,000 in life-safety bonds to help pay for some large building renovations.
School officials have been considering some improvements to make Catlin Grade School more energy-efficient – replacing the steam boiler and the hot-water boiler that heat the two wings of the school, replacing some drafty windows from 1952 and 1962 and replacing 11 external doors.
Last month, the Catlin School Board voted to hire KAM Services of Mattoon to remove some asbestos, to hire Bacon & Van Buskirk Glass Co. of Danville to replace the windows and to hire Schomburg & Schomburg Construction Co. of Danville to perform some masonry work around the windows. On Thursday the board voted to have Frank Strahl & Sons Inc. of Danville replace the two older boilers in the school with four newer ones.
Superintendent Guy Banicki said the total cost of the projects will be about $508,000.
To help pay for the projects, the board voted to have the Catlin Bank of Catlin sell $500,000 in life-safety bonds.
Banicki said the district would repay the bonds over the next seven years, and that the bond-repayment would likely increase property taxes in the district by 9 to 12 cents per $100 assessed valuation. That would mean a property tax increase of between $18 and $24 to the owner of a $60,000 home in the district with no exemptions.
Banicki said the projects are expected to begin shortly after school breaks for the summer, and to be completed by the time students return in the fall.
"Replacing all those windows could be challenging, but I am hopeful the work will be done by Aug. 15," Banicki said.
In other business, the board voted to increase school lunch prices for the first time in more than 10 years.
Starting in the fall, students will pay $2 for each lunch. Banicki said the schools have charged $1.50 for more than a decade, but that rising food costs led to the change.
The board welcomed Tricia Keith, who was appointed to fill the seat Tom Koerting vacated because he is moving out of the state.
Banicki said Koerting, who was himself appointed to the board in August 2006 to fill a vacancy, recently let him know he would be leaving the area. Banicki said Keith's name almost immediately came up as a possible replacement.
Keith, the truant officer with the Vermilion County Regional Office of Education, has lived in Vermilion County almost her entire life but only moved to Catlin 16 months ago.
"Catlin is a great community," she said. "I figure that if my husband and I are going to build our future here, I should look for ways to get invested in it."
Banicki said Keith's seat would be up for election in April 2009.
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