With students returning early September and a town bond vote in the fall, pressure remains steady for the Consolidated School District (CSD) Board of Trustees to help manage repairs on school buildings at the Boothbay Harbor campus. Despite progress on several fronts, board members expressed concern July 18 about completion timelines.

Contractors remain active making repairs on damage from flooding and other maintenance issues, CSD Director of Facilities Dave Benner reported. He said there was progress including flooring repairs and protecting the Boothbay Region Elementary School envelope from water intrusion. However, complications with the aging structures, from roof parapet repairs to other flooring issues, have added to construction woes.

Some board members called for action. “I’m tired of beating around the bush on this,” said Trustee Chair Steve Lorrain. “We’ve got far too much time and effort involved in it and we need to come to some kind of conclusions and move forward on this.”

Lorrain said, for example, the board spoke recently about security entrances to the high school, which was a discussion they had five years ago.

“I’m going bare knuckle on it pretty soon, because enough is enough as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “I’m worn down, this has got me frazzled. Whatever we gotta do, we gotta do.”

Residents are set to vote in November on potential plans to renovate the elementary-middle school and build a new high school. The school district is also planning to include a non-binding question on consolidation. While the issues are separate from a legal standpoint, they may not seem that way to taxpayers, according to trustee Paul Roberts.

“I realize planning-wise one can't affect the other because of the time structure, but you can't ignore it from a public perspective,” he said. “Because that’s going to be bigger than you might be thinking.”

Abby Jones from the CSD Building Exploratory Committee spoke on setting up an outreach workshop on July 20. According to Alternative Organizational Structure 98, the workshop for all committees includes planning around communications to the public and tours of the schools to inform residents before the BEC vote. The meeting will be at 5:15 pm at the Boothbay Region High School library.

Regardless of how voters respond, the needs of the existing buildings remain, according to officials. Roberts said the buildings need significant repair now to be safe, and the district could not pause school for years until the issues are resolved.

With mounting costs, the board is looking for directions from the towns on how to continue. Lorrain said the board can keep running issues down, but the problems with the buildings are still there.

“Whether they want to address them piecemeal, that’s totally up to the towns, but we gotta have some direction from the towns,” he said. “Pretty soon it will be out of our hands. We will not have control over some of this. It will have to be fixed or shut down. Those are the two options.”

In other business, AOS 98 Superintendent Robert Kahler reported progress on several financial fronts. He said the insurance company is sending two checks for a total of $358,000 for BRES flood damage costs in response to initial submissions. They are also processing another $77,000 in reimbursements he expects to come later. According to AOS 98, CSD has submitted $974,000 in costs and received $539,000; No claims have been denied, but further costs are expected to be submitted.

In addition, Kahler said the district is in good shape with getting specifics on bids for the BEC project to update the $88 million order of magnitude cost estimate. He said he has also been in touch with architects, attorneys and town officials regarding steps for the November vote. According to Kahler, the district is exploring the type of bonds to pay for the project and its impact on the tax rate. He said, while it will be tight, they are on track to meet deadlines.