Lakeport Unified School District, board criticized over handling of bond revenues, Westshore Pool plans
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Unified School District and its board of trustees have come under fire from community members over the projects proposed to be completed under the 2014 Measure T bond, with the district pointing to sharply rising construction costs as well as prospects for state funding that could help backfill already completed work.
The situation came to a head during the district’s regular Thursday evening meeting, when the district board was greeted by a crowd of parents and community members who voiced frustration over the district’s prioritization of bond-funded projects, particularly the building of a new swimming pool.
The board meeting room at the district office on Howard Avenue normally only sees a few people outside of staff attend the evening meetings, but that wasn’t the case on Thursday, when dozens crowded into the room for a presentation on the Measure T bond expenditures.
Lakeport Unified voters passed Measure T in November 2014. The $17 million measure is a general obligation bond under the auspices of Proposition 39, the School Facilities Local Vote Act of 2000, which became a state constitutional amendment.
Proposition 39 reduced the threshold for a school district bond to pass from the 66.7 percent supermajority to a 55-percent supermajority. The proposition also makes such bonds subject to a citizens oversight committee.
In all, the Thursday meeting ran four hours, the first two of which were devoted to the bond discussion, with the primary item of concern being the building of a new Westshore Pool, since state officials deemed the existing 40-year-old pool seismically unsafe and not built to state standards.
Supporters of the pool – including families and individuals associated with the Channel Cats swim team, which has made the pool its home for years – told the board that they worked to get Measure T passed because of the assurances given to them that a new pool would be built.
With just over $3 million of the $17 million bond total left, pool advocates argued that the district hasn’t acted in good faith.
Board and district officials countered that they have faced rapidly rising project costs in the wake of the region’s wildland fires, which have driven costs up precipitously and made the business of securing bids and finding contractors more difficult than ever.
Leaking pipes under the existing pool – and the loss of thousands of gallons of water a day – meant that the district’s plans to keep it open while a new pool is built became untenable, according to Finley resident Mike Adams, the district’s consultant on the bond projects.
District Superintendent April Leiferman told Lake County News that the leaks were discovered around the start of this year, at which point an aquatic specialist was called in to do an examination and dye.
She said Dave Norris – the district’s longtime director of maintenance, operations and transportation – is still looking into options to see if the leaks can be fixed without digging underneath the pool, which state officials have ruled was not built to proper standards.
The issue of the bond and the new pool also appear to be key motivators for three community members who have filed to run against Board President Dennis Darling and Board member Tom Powers, both of them longtime local businessmen, in this fall’s school district election.
Carly Alvord, Dan Buffalo and Jennifer Hanson have made as their centerpiece fiscal responsibility and accountability.
All three are parents with children in the district, with Alvord having served on various district and school councils; Buffalo is the city of Lakeport’s former finance director who left to take the job as Ukiah’s finance director; and Hanson, the Channel Cats president and professor of economics and accounting at the Clear Lake Campus of Woodland Community College.
Adams told Lake County News that the that over the last two years, inflationary costs, lack of competition and some geotechnical issues on the site, are the primary reasons for the cost overruns.
“These projects are not palatial, they are institutional facilities and reflect that quality. Pretty paint and some acoustical treatments aren't extravagant,” he said.
He added, “All public agencies that are doing projects are experiencing the same things.”
Adams and district officials believe the Proposition 51, approved in November 2016, could provide additional funds needed to complete important projects like the pool.
Proposition 51 authorizes the state to sell $7 billion in general obligation bonds. However, as of this spring, the state had only apportioned about 10 percent of those available funds. That led to community members like Buffalo and Hanson urging caution in relying on them.
A look at the bond projects so far
In calling the meeting to order, Darling said it was good to see so many people and to get public input.
He turned the meeting over to Norris who gave the bond update along with Mike Adams of MBA Consulting.
Adams is the retired facilities director for Mendocino College, who oversaw the building of the college’s facilities in Mendocino and Lake counties, including the Lake Center on Parallel Drive. He also is the executive director of the Soper Reese Theatre, and has played an integral role in that building’s ongoing renovation.
Norris led off by discussing the completion of what he considered an important bond-funded project, the new $3.8 million food service and culinary arts kitchen and cafeteria at Clear Lake High School. Before now, students haven’t had a cafeteria to sit and eat, he said.
He thanked the board and community for supporting it, reporting that staff is excited about the new facility. “The children are really, really enjoying it.”
Norris said the district also demolished two old modulars and brought in two new ones at Terrace Middle School, explaining that because of the school’s location in a floodplain the modulars had to be put on raised, permanent foundations, with sidewalks, a staircase and Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant ramps.
The frame for Terrace’s new learning center was erected on Thursday, and in the next few weeks the interior and exterior walls will start to be built. The foundation for amphitheater-style seating and a shade structure as part of a quad area also is to be built there.
The district’s facilities also had to undergo in-depth cleaning because of ash and smoke from the Mendocino Complex, he said.
He then handed off the presentation to Adams in order to discuss the high school fitness complex, which has been combined with the pool and tennis courts project. It was explained during the meeting that combining those three projects will save significant money. “We wouldn't be where we're at without Mike,” Norris said.
Adams explained the history of Measure T, noting he was retained by the district in November 2014 to assist with the projects. He went over the bond’s language and said that a project’s inclusion in the list didn’t guarantee it would be funded and built.
He said the district created a master plan and began working with the architect firm TLCD, which he had worked with at Mendocino College. After the master plan was created, a budget plan was put together. While the bond totaled $17 million, he said the original master plan budget estimate was for $19.8 million.
“This is not uncommon,” he said, noting that Mendocino College also had a far higher master plan budget estimate than the total amount of bond proceeds for its projects.
There were three carryover projects included in Measure T that were necessary to include, no matter what, Adams said: the payment of the balance of existing debt, $835,708, which saved money and raised the district bond rating; ADA compliance for Terrace’s lower campus, $122,565; and the Terrace Middle School playground access ramp, $446,344.
He said the two projects at Terrace were carryovers from the last bond and had to be completed before the district could get approval for any new projects by the state.
Adams said the district has been aware of the importance of the pool from the beginning.
The pool, tennis courts and high school fitness center have now been combined into one large project totaling $7.5 million, more than twice what is left of the bond funding, Adams said. “So, what are we going to do?”
Adams then reviewed a list of possible funding sources for the district’s remaining projects, including Proposition 51 funds totaling $784,683 for modernizing the high school, $2,319,678 for district moderation and $8,128,816 for new construction, which could backfill funds already spent on some projects. Those sources, coupled with the remaining $3,038,250 in Measure T funds, total $14,271,427.
Throughout the meeting, Adams, Norris and board members emphasized that they had never said they were taking the pool off the project list.
Darling explained that they prioritized the project list, and put the kitchen and modern classroom projects at the top. “Always, the pool has been there, it has just been there behind those projects,” Darling said. “We're working toward it.”
Norris said they had adjusted some projects to keep costs down, including the kitchen project, which had been held over from the last bond. It was built into an existing building which cost the district half the money. Adams added that the kitchen was a large cost, adding that the high school hadn’t had a dining room since 1965.
Community members question bond projects
Throughout the presentation there were back and forth exchanges with audience members, who accused district officials of not controlling bond expenditures because final project costs came out far higher than original estimates.
An example was the original estimate for the kitchen from the architect was $2.8 million, but the final actual cost was $3.3 million, which the contractor bid.
Powers said they’re in a climate where to build a home went from $200 a square foot to $600 per square foot, which affects the district.
Buffalo told the board that they’re held to a fiduciary responsibility, and he questioned what led the board to greenlight a project that could jeopardize other projects that are of equal or higher value to the community.
“When we came up against the construction costs, what would you have us do?” Darling asked.
Powers said a committee of 11 people, chaired by former district Superintendent Erin Hagberg, came up with the bond project priority list, and it was discussed at every board meeting for three years.
“The priorities haven’t changed,” Powers said, adding that the pool is still on the list but it was moved down and combined with other projects.
Buffalo said the district knows the community wants the pool project. He also urged caution in reliance on Proposition 51 funds. He said he called the state to check up on the district’s application, which it confirmed had been submitted in April. However, the application doesn’t include the pool.
He said there is a long list of districts that want the Proposition 51 funds, Gov. Jerry Brown is not a fan of the bonds, and there is no guarantee the school will receive any funding.
Darling said board members have visited Sacramento to lobby for the funds. He said State Sen. Mike McGuire is set to visit the district this month to discuss the situation.
“We are not happy that there was cost overruns, believe me,” said Darling, adding they were unforeseen. “We're not stopped, we're stalled and we're working on it, and we're working hard on it.”
Buffalo said the bond bond oversight committee has still not been presented with a project priority list. He said he called McGuire’s office, which told him its discussion with the district over the bond funds was in an introductory stage.
Darling maintained Lakeport Unified isn’t the only district in this financial situation.
Norris raised the cafeteria project, saying the students needed a place to eat and the district’s critics were shying away from it like it wasn’t a big deal.
Suzanne Lyons, a former Lakeport City Council member, said she would rather the children not drown. She said that during her four-year tenure on the council, they worked to keep it open despite the city’s financial challenges. Lyons added she wouldn’t vote in favor of another district bond.
Lake County Supervisor Tina Scott, who formerly served on the school board, said the pool was a top priority when she was a board member. She asked at what point does the district decide how much longer to wait on building the pool before it divides projects and moves forward.
Scott said she didn’t believe the bond would have passed without the pool; Adams replied that there was a survey that showed it would have.
Darling said the board has never waivered on its plan to build the pool, but they’re not in a position to design the facility if they don’t have the funding to build it. He said they will wait until sometime next year, after the election, to see if the new governor will release the Proposition 51 money, adding he thinks the only person in the State Capitol who doesn't want to release the funds is Jerry Brown.
Norris recounted the county handing off to the district the pool operations several years ago, adding that the city has helped the district, as has the Channel Cats swim team, with maintaining the facility. He asked if there was a chance the group could ask the city and county to contribute to the project.
Board member Lynn Andre added that she’s met with city and county representatives about the pool.
Board member Lori Holmes said the district also has met with Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry about the pool, and she said McGuire is working on expediting Proposition 51 funds to districts.
Adams said at one point in the discussion that he had been shocked that there had previously been no cafeteria where the students could eat.
A short time later, Hanson said she was shocked there’s no place for them to swim. Darling asked her why she kept saying the district wouldn’t build a pool, with Hanson replying that the district’s plan is a pipe dream.
“Whenever a kid dies out here, I'm going to come here and remind you,” she said.
The discussion ended with Darling asking everyone to direct their energy in a positive way. “I think your school board has been working hard for you,” he said, adding that they’re not happy about where they’re at right now.
Since the meeting
Adams told Lake County News after the meeting that while it’s unlikely that Lakeport Unified will get all of the more than $11 million in Prop 51 funds for which it’s qualified, “Getting enough of those funds to free up bond funds to build the pool along with the fitness building and tennis courts is very likely.”
He said the district prioritized the pool within the combined pool/fitness/tennis complex. “This would not have been done if the district intended to separate the pool out and not build it. They recognized all three of those facilities are important.”
Adams said the fitness center and pool project hasn’t yet been submitted to the Division of the State Architect – which oversees construction in K-12 schools – or the California Department of Education because there isn’t yet funding to cover the entire project.
As such, it’s been termed “on hold,” which Adams said has two meanings: It’s waiting for funding so the project can be designed to the available funds, and it is awaiting approval until the design is complete and approved by the Division of the State Architect.
He said he’s concerned by the proposal by some concerned community members that the district begin rejecting bids, the result of which is likely to mean even higher bids – or no new bids – in the current environment.
“The construction process can be a minefield, but it's one I'm familiar with,” he said. “The methods for addressing them in either a expanding or contracting economy require creativity to find solutions that adapt to that reality. There's no perfect solution, but having a plan is essential. I believe we have one that will work.”
On Tuesday evening, a bond oversight committee meeting was set to take place. A report on the proceedings wasn’t immediately available.
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