Post by title1parent on Jun 13, 2010 4:43:12 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/2387228,6_1_NA13_METEA_S1-100613.article
D204: Metea on time, under budget
District says bond and interest taxes will go down
June 13, 2010
By KATHY CICHON kcichon@stmedianetwork.com
Five years ago Indian Prairie School District 204 made a promise to residents regarding the construction of Metea Valley High School.
"The board promised to restructure the bonded debt, basically lowering the bond and interest portion of our tax bill, and then maintain that for 20 years," said Dave Holm, assistant superintendent for finance. "And at the same time, build a new school building. That is where we are today. That commitment hasn't changed."
In 2005 a home valued at $300,000 paid $730 in bond and interest taxes for the 2004 year. Today that same home with an assessed value of $367,000 is paying $606 in bond and interest taxes for 2010, he said.
"We have an upcoming refunding which will save the taxpayers even more. We're anticipating it somewhere between $1.6 million and $2.2 million in savings over the life of the bonds. When that happens, that $606 figure actually goes down," Holm said.
Last week district officials gave an update on Metea Valley, saying it was delivered on time and under budget.
"Construction is now 100 percent complete. We are now working on punch list items," said project manager Todd DePaul, who will become director of building operations for District 204 on July 1.
Holm said the project is about $1.4 million under budget. The cost for Metea, projected at $144.2 million, included a voter-approved bond sale of about $124.7 million.
The district said it still intends to sell the 25-acre Brach-Brodie parcel on 75th Street. Originally Metea was to be built there, but the plan was scrapped after a jury determined the price for the adjacent 55 acres at $31 million during a condemnation lawsuit. That price was more than double what the district expected to pay.
"There's nothing imminent," Holm said of the future sale. "Obviously we've been paying attention to the market. We also know that there'd be interest. There's been contracts for property on the corner, at least offers, that would suggest that land is still worth every bit what we thought it's worth. That's a value from 2005. That's when we bought that land at $6.4 million."
Holm and Birkett said they've been in contact with those in the field, and feel the $6.4 million value is "still pretty realistic" based on offers in that general vicinity.
"We actually think we're going to sell the land at pretty close to that. We believe it's worth that," Holm said. "It's just that no one's buying now is really the bottom line. We'll wait and see, and when we have the opportunity we'll sell the land at a later date."
Construction on the 84-acre campus at 1801 N. Eola Road began in May 2008. It was completed in two stages. Phase I consisted of about 280,000 square feet of finished space. The second phase, completed earlier this year, added the auditorium, pool, music areas, and junior and senior wings.
"That wasn't an easy task. We had 15 months to get it done. Typically it takes two years get a high school, and this is a good size high school," Holm said.
Metea Valley opened last August with about 1,250 freshmen and sophomore students. When the incoming freshmen join them this fall, total enrollment will be approximately 1,950 students. The school is built to accommodate 3,000 students. School officials estimate enrollment will be between 2,700 and 2,800 students when all four grade levels attend in the 2011-2012 school year.
Superintendant Kathy Birkett said the school came at a time when enrollment is growing. "With the growth that we're going to be seeing at the high school level, if you just take our fourth- through seventh-graders and just age them up, there's 500 more students coming just looking at that," Birkett said.
Once the shift of students to Metea is complete, the enrollment at Waubonsie Valley will be brought down significantly, she said.
With no major injuries during the project, it earned Turner Construction's Team Safety Award for 2009. It also received the Chicago Building Congress merit award for many of the energy-efficient features.
"We took energy management seriously in the design. We did receive a grant from Illinois Clean Energy for energy modeling by the engineers during the design process," DePaul said. "We're looking to maintain a target of 19 percent more efficient than what is currently required as far as energy savings."
Among the energy efficient features are an emphasis on natural light, use of light sensors, demand control, ventilation control and high-efficiency boilers.
"There were some up-front costs but we'll recoup those in a short amount of time," DePaul said.
Holm said overall the project was delivered on time, and within the financial plan. The school, he said, will be an asset to the community for many years to come.
"I think we're excited about having the third high school, I think we're excited about the way in which we opened it and I think we've done it in a really fiscally responsible manner," Birkett said. "We have a lot of happy kids there and a lot of happy staff there."
D204: Metea on time, under budget
District says bond and interest taxes will go down
June 13, 2010
By KATHY CICHON kcichon@stmedianetwork.com
Five years ago Indian Prairie School District 204 made a promise to residents regarding the construction of Metea Valley High School.
"The board promised to restructure the bonded debt, basically lowering the bond and interest portion of our tax bill, and then maintain that for 20 years," said Dave Holm, assistant superintendent for finance. "And at the same time, build a new school building. That is where we are today. That commitment hasn't changed."
In 2005 a home valued at $300,000 paid $730 in bond and interest taxes for the 2004 year. Today that same home with an assessed value of $367,000 is paying $606 in bond and interest taxes for 2010, he said.
"We have an upcoming refunding which will save the taxpayers even more. We're anticipating it somewhere between $1.6 million and $2.2 million in savings over the life of the bonds. When that happens, that $606 figure actually goes down," Holm said.
Last week district officials gave an update on Metea Valley, saying it was delivered on time and under budget.
"Construction is now 100 percent complete. We are now working on punch list items," said project manager Todd DePaul, who will become director of building operations for District 204 on July 1.
Holm said the project is about $1.4 million under budget. The cost for Metea, projected at $144.2 million, included a voter-approved bond sale of about $124.7 million.
The district said it still intends to sell the 25-acre Brach-Brodie parcel on 75th Street. Originally Metea was to be built there, but the plan was scrapped after a jury determined the price for the adjacent 55 acres at $31 million during a condemnation lawsuit. That price was more than double what the district expected to pay.
"There's nothing imminent," Holm said of the future sale. "Obviously we've been paying attention to the market. We also know that there'd be interest. There's been contracts for property on the corner, at least offers, that would suggest that land is still worth every bit what we thought it's worth. That's a value from 2005. That's when we bought that land at $6.4 million."
Holm and Birkett said they've been in contact with those in the field, and feel the $6.4 million value is "still pretty realistic" based on offers in that general vicinity.
"We actually think we're going to sell the land at pretty close to that. We believe it's worth that," Holm said. "It's just that no one's buying now is really the bottom line. We'll wait and see, and when we have the opportunity we'll sell the land at a later date."
Construction on the 84-acre campus at 1801 N. Eola Road began in May 2008. It was completed in two stages. Phase I consisted of about 280,000 square feet of finished space. The second phase, completed earlier this year, added the auditorium, pool, music areas, and junior and senior wings.
"That wasn't an easy task. We had 15 months to get it done. Typically it takes two years get a high school, and this is a good size high school," Holm said.
Metea Valley opened last August with about 1,250 freshmen and sophomore students. When the incoming freshmen join them this fall, total enrollment will be approximately 1,950 students. The school is built to accommodate 3,000 students. School officials estimate enrollment will be between 2,700 and 2,800 students when all four grade levels attend in the 2011-2012 school year.
Superintendant Kathy Birkett said the school came at a time when enrollment is growing. "With the growth that we're going to be seeing at the high school level, if you just take our fourth- through seventh-graders and just age them up, there's 500 more students coming just looking at that," Birkett said.
Once the shift of students to Metea is complete, the enrollment at Waubonsie Valley will be brought down significantly, she said.
With no major injuries during the project, it earned Turner Construction's Team Safety Award for 2009. It also received the Chicago Building Congress merit award for many of the energy-efficient features.
"We took energy management seriously in the design. We did receive a grant from Illinois Clean Energy for energy modeling by the engineers during the design process," DePaul said. "We're looking to maintain a target of 19 percent more efficient than what is currently required as far as energy savings."
Among the energy efficient features are an emphasis on natural light, use of light sensors, demand control, ventilation control and high-efficiency boilers.
"There were some up-front costs but we'll recoup those in a short amount of time," DePaul said.
Holm said overall the project was delivered on time, and within the financial plan. The school, he said, will be an asset to the community for many years to come.
"I think we're excited about having the third high school, I think we're excited about the way in which we opened it and I think we've done it in a really fiscally responsible manner," Birkett said. "We have a lot of happy kids there and a lot of happy staff there."