Milton School Board cautiously seeks cash

Daily Reporter (Milwaukee), May 28, 2008 by Paul Snyder

The Milton School Board is nervous about asking residents to help pay for a $67.2 million new high school. But the price will only go up the longer it waits.

"With where the economy is right now, I don't think anyone's too excited about talking about that kind of money," said Allen Roehl, the School Board's vice president.

The district's Citizen Design Committee got its first estimate on the project from Neenah-based Miron Construction Co. Inc. last week. Bill Wilson, committee chairman, said Miron's total project estimate of $67.2 million wasn't a surprise.

"We were expecting between $60 and $80 million," he said. "But we still have yet to hear about two alternative estimates, so we'll see what we end up with."

The committee will present its three recommendations to the School Board in July, and from there the board will make a decision about when to run a referendum.

Roehl said the board might not be in any hurry, considering the housing market slowdown and the fact that the School District's growth is slowing in turn.

But space is an issue at the high school right now. Dianne Meyer, the district's business manager, said in January that locker and storage rooms were being used for classroom space out of necessity.

If a new high school is built, the middle school will move into the existing high school. The $67.2 million estimate does not figure in any costs associated with the move.

Craig Uhlenbrauck, Miron's vice president of marketing, said waiting for a stronger economic market isn't going to drive construction prices down.

"There's no question they would go up," he said. "How far they'd go remains to be seen, but we estimate based on 5 to 7 percent increases each year. The way things are going now, it's more toward that 7 percent end."

Miron's $67.2 million estimate, he said, is based on a fall 2009 construction start date, which would hinge on approval in an April referendum. If the item goes to referendum in November, Uhlenbrauck said, almost $2 million could be saved.

Jon Cruzan, another School Board member, said the district needs to take action as soon as possible for that very reason.

"We have no intention of building the Taj Mahal or something not prudent," he said. "This is something that's necessary and is going to solve space problems across the board."

Other factors also could alter the cost. Wilson said the committee is looking at building a competition swimming pool in the new high school because the community needs one; however, the city recently began negotiations with the YMCA for a new center, which could include a swimming pool.

Wilson also said the committee is considering a green approach to the building and Miron's estimate did not employ geothermal systems.

"People are interested in that," he said. "It may cost more up front, but it will also save us money over time."

Whether residents would vote for a project with a price tag even higher than $67.2 million is unknown, Wilson said.

"It's not the committee's charge necessarily to say this is going to happen," he said. "But we are ready to lend our support to it. It's necessary. We're not smoking something funny here."

Roehl said the board will discuss the matter in depth this summer.

"Until the numbers come in -- estimates, housing and all that -- we don't know," he said. "Anything can happen on any day."