New Phila Council previews plans for new school complex

New Phila Council previews plans for new school complex
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Current schools are overcrowded with students being taught in nine temporary trailers divided into smaller classrooms. Some instruction also is taking place in closets, and hallways are being used to store supplies.

                        

Council Chambers were packed on Tuesday, Feb. 24 when the main focus of the New Philadelphia City Council meeting turned to a presentation by New Philadelphia Schools Superintendent David Brand.

Brand was invited to the meeting to provide council members and residents with an overview of the plan to build a new elementary and secondary school complex on the site of the Oak Shadows golf course. His presentation focused on the preliminary site plan developed by GPD Group of Akron.

Brand said the school district evaluated a number of sites before settling on the 280-acre location off Hillandale Road. Sites considered included Water Works Park, Municipal Airport, property in the University Drive area and several other locations, but they all either were not for sale, were cost-prohibitive or presented insurmountable safety issues.

During the nearly two-hour presentation and Q-and-A period, Brand painted a picture of critical need, citing these facts among others:

All buildings are outdated. Correcting the more than 95 major building issues that were discovered through the due-diligence process would cost $14.5 million and would not address any other issues the district is facing.

Current schools are overcrowded with students being taught in nine temporary trailers divided into smaller classrooms. Some instruction also is taking place in closets, and hallways are being used to store supplies. “About a third of our students currently do not attend class in an actual building,” Brand said.

Enrollment is on the rise, so overcrowding will become worse if the situation is not changed. New construction will bring about significant cost savings over what would be needed to continue operating the old schools.

New Philadelphia High School and Welty Middle School were built in 1913, and even the newest building, South Elementary, is 46 years old. The current locations of the city’s school buildings present safety issues with traffic congestion during drop-off and pick-up times.

“We need to get folks off of public roads and onto private school roads to solve the problem,” Brand said.

None of the buildings are ADA compliant.

Costs outlined

Brand said the cost to purchase the land and build a new elementary school and new secondary school will total around $102 million. The local share of the cost will be around $57 million, which would be raised through a bond issue, Issue 4, being placed on the March 17 primary ballot. The remaining $55 million would come from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission.

Passage of the bond will result in costs of about $16 per month per $100,000 in home value. An additional 0.5-mill permanent improvement levy will be needed at the earliest in 2025 because the bond money can be used only for building and maintaining, not for operating expenses.

Why now?

Brand said the district and community must act now to pass the bond issue in order to take advantage of OFCC offering to pay $55 million of the costs. Overcrowding, deteriorating buildings and safety concerns also factored into the district’s decision to pursue the project at this time.

“Bottom line,” Brand said, “with the bond we gain safety and security, we address all the long-term and short-term facility needs, and we reduce our operating expenditures. Without the bond we fix the known problems, but we haven’t addressed the overcrowding, we still teach in trailers, we haven’t dealt with the traffic flow and we continue to see increasing operating expenditures for aging facilities.”

Brand also said without the bond passing, a five-year PI Levy would be needed and there would be no state contribution as there will be with passage of the bond.

Issues raised by council members and residents

Members of council and residents had a number of questions for Brand:

They mentioned traffic on Donahey and Hillandale impacting residents not only during student drop-off and pick-up times, but also during extracurricular and sports events.

They mentioned security issues, given that Oak Shadows Drive is currently the only road in and out of the location. Police Chief Michael Goodwin addressed the concern, saying with the potential for new roads to be built, he does not have any concerns about security forces being able to reach the area.

Brand agreed with Goodwin, saying they will look into building new thoroughfares but can’t do that until and unless the bond issue passes.

They mentioned possible hunters in the area where the schools will be built.

They mentioned blind spots on the road and previous accidents on the bridge on Hillandale.

They also mentioned providing transportation for disadvantaged families to parent-teacher conferences and school events.

Regarding the traffic issues, Brand assured those in attendance a traffic study is being conducted and will be expanded upon.

“We are working with the city to not only make this campus the best educationally and the safest once you’re there, but safe getting to and from,” Brand said.

On the broader issues, Brand said, “We hear your concerns. All of the issues being brought up will be more easily overcome than the existing problems of overcrowding and maintaining old facilities.”

Advantages of the Oak Shadows property

Among other advantages, Brand said it is within city limits, has city water and sewer services, does not require the use of eminent domain, is not “land locked,” provides ample parking and plenty of space for safe traffic flow, and meets all site safety and security recommendations.

More information available

Due-diligence reports, the preliminary site plan presented by Brand and other information can be found on the New Philadelphia City Schools website at www.npschools.org.

Other council business

—Voted to begin the process of transferring a liquor license from Maurer Grill to Maurer’s Time Warp LLC.

—Heard the finance committee will meet again on March 2 to continue reviewing the 2020 budget.

—Heard safety, health and service committee met earlier to discuss possible changes to the feral-cat ordinance.

—Learned the zoning and annexation committee will hold a public hearing on March 9 at 7 p.m. in regards to Ordinance 3-2020 and Resolution 1-2020, both of which address rezoning issues.

—Councilman John Zucal asked a committee be established to study the consequences of buildings left vacant by businesses and the impact the practice has on the community.

—Heard the third reading of an ordinance to rezone portions of Front, Eighth and Seventh streets and Bank Lane Southwest from industrial to business.

—Heard the first reading of an ordinance to establish an honorary designation of a portion of Bank Lane Southeast in honor of Jim Locker for his many years of service to the city.

—Heard a third reading of a resolution to annex a half-acre parcel of land in Goshen Township.

—Heard the third reading of a resolution to commend John Zion for 25 years of service to the city. Zion was to be recognized at the council meeting, but due to the length of the school presentation, council agreed to hold a fourth reading on March 9 and invite Zion back for his commendation.

The next council meeting will be March 9 at 7 p.m. in council chambers at the John Knisely Municipal Centre, 150 E. High Ave.


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