PORT TOWNSEND — Multimillion-dollar school bond proposals for the Port Townsend and Chimacum school districts request no more than what is needed to accomplish their goals, according to advocates of both measures.
On Tuesday, votes will be counted for two Jefferson County school district measures: Port Townsend’s $40.9 million bond measure and Chimacum’s $29.1 million bond request, both earmarked for elementary school construction and safety improvements.
None is countywide.
About 200 voters in Jefferson County are considering a $54 million bond for the Sequim School District. The money would go to a new elementary school, renovation of Sequim High School and other district improvements.
And voters in the Discovery Bay Fire District are considering a $530,000 bond to replace a fire station.
Ballots were mailed to voters Jan. 20. Bonds require 60 percent supermajority.
Chimacum’s Ted Friederich and Port Townsend’s Jeff Randall, each heading committees supporting their respective bond’s passage, disagree with those who say the same goals could be accomplished with a smaller amount.
“Building an elementary school costs between $30 million and $40 million,” Friederich said.
“Someone told me they could build a school for $13 million. If they can do that, more power to them.”
An email from Vick Finn, which includes a link to a YouTube presentation on the Chimacum bond measure, said: “CSD wants $20 million to move the elementary school to the primary school with an addition that they say is cheaper because [of] the way the primary school was designed.
“However if you compare this to Clover Creek Elementary that was built a few years back, even with inflation that is only $13.2 million, for a brand new school which is three times the size with 400 more students. “
Friederich said the idea that the school is asking for more than it needs is “crazy.”
“We are not wasting money,” he said. “If we knew of any way to spend less, we would.”
John Ratchford of Port Townsend in a letter to the editor published in the Peninsula Daily News compared the cost of the district’s proposal to that of a cheaper one in the United Kingdom and urged that the Port Townsend bond be voted down.
Randall said the Port Townsend bond has no wiggle room.
“The community did not want a cheap building,” Randall said.
“They wanted something that would last 50 to 75 years, to replace a throwaway building from the 1950s that was not designed to be expanded.”
Randall said a new Grant Street Elementary would cost $285 per square foot, compared to the $310 per square foot requested in Sequim’s bond issue.
Reconfigure schools
Both Chimacum and Port Townsend seek to reconfigure schools to reflect a standard grade structure while supporting needed repairs on their respective campuses.
If the bond issues pass, both districts will be identically configured with elementary school as kindergarten through fifth grade, middle school as sixth through eighth grade and high school as ninth through 12th grade.
The Grant Street school is not only overcrowded, bond supporters say, but is in disrepair, with a leaky roof and an unstable heating system.
If the bond passes, the district would build a new school behind the old building, which would be demolished.
Would try again
Both Randall and Friederich said if their bonds fail, the measures would be streamlined and resubmitted to the voters, with Friederich saying, “Each time we do this, it gets more expensive.”
In Port Townsend, a property tax rate of $1.24 per $1,000 assessed property value would be expected to be required for 20 years to finance the bond.
Property owners are now paying 54 cents per $1,000 assessed value for a capital improvements levy that will be retired in 2016.
That means the new measure, if approved, would result in a net increase for capital improvements of 70 cents per $1,000 assessed value, proponents say.
Approval of the bond measure would mean the annual property tax for a $150,000 property would increase by $105, the school district said.
In Chimacum, a property tax levy rate of $1.26 per $1,000 assessed property value would be expected to be required for 20 years to finance the bond.
Approval of the bond measure would mean the annual property tax for a $150,000 property would increase by $189, the school district said.
Discovery Bay Fire
The all-volunteer Discovery Bay Fire & Rescue is asking voters to approve a $530,000 bond to replace Fire Station 51 on the corner of Bentley Place and East Uncas Road in Discovery Bay.
The new building would be a metal frame structure of about 9,400 square feet, with four equipment bays, office space and a training-meeting room that also would be available for community events and a shelter in the event of an emergency, the district says on its website.
The present building is a former county road public works cinder-block shed built circa 1940, said Chief Willy Knoepfle, who is one of 16 volunteers.
It has two small bays for equipment and a small room housing the department kitchen, laundry room and bathroom, he added.
“There’s absolutely no room to do anything” in the bays, he said.
A larger building also could be used as a community meeting place, he pointed out.
“We have no church, no community center, no nothing in Discovery Bay,” he said. “We don’t even have a place to have a funeral.”
The bond would be paid over 20 years. It would cost taxpayers an estimated levy of $1,88 per $1,000, or about $53 per year on a home assessed at $100,000.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
Executive Editor Leah Leach contributed to this report.
