Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

New GMS To Be Built With Second Lien Bonds

Gurdon's school district will be issuing second lien bonds to finance construction of a new middle school.

The Gurdon School Board voted to go ahead with the bonds during its regular monthly meeting, Tuesday, April 15.

Bobby Smithson, superintendent, said the Arkansas Department of Education approved the bonds, and he had talked with Stephens Inc. about selling them.

This is being done, he said, because of the increase in assessment for property taxes. According to figures from Wanda Knight, he said, the assessed value of property in the district jumped from $38 million in 1995 to more than $40 million in '96.

Smithson said this translates into an additional $56,000 in new money per year. He told the board the district would be financing $670,000 in bonds though it only needs $650,000. The other money is to pay Stephens for selling the bonds.

The other funds for the new GMS will come in the form of a grant from the Horace Cabe Foundation for $350,000. Actually, the district received a grant for $200,000 from the Cabe Foundation, and was paid $150,000 from the Clark County Youth Development Center for the old middle school property. The CCYDC got its money from the Cabe Foundation as well.

"Without both things happening," Smithson said, "we'd be dead."

The new GMS, he told the board, will be 25,000 square feet. It is hoped to keep construction costs down to $40 per square foot.

"We're fortunate to be in this position," he said. "We won't need a tax increase. Future assessment increases will be used to build a new football field."

The quickest way to build a new football field, he said, would be for the district to pay off its revolving loan and borrow $500,000 from it again.

Smithson informed the board the district is currently at a standstill concerning state money. This was partly because Gov. Mike Huckabee vetoed the appropriations bill, with the veto overridden in a special session Thursday, April 17.

He said because of this, the district will be late in getting its printout telling what it will receive from the state. Smithson said the printout may be in by July.

Until it's received, he said, the district can do nothing about hiring staff.

He said Senate Bill 393 was originally designed to discourage districts from taking second lien bonds out. The bill passed in part, but was heavily amended, he said.

Gurdon's district, according to Smithson, qualified for additional base funding. Under the bill, districts qualifying for this funding would have it permanently frozen. However, with the assessments Gurdon received from the property taxes, it only qualified for $8,000.

Under the bill, he said, Gurdon could never receive any more than this amount, though it could drop to nothing. Still, he told the board, it would be to the district's advantage to go ahead with the second lien bonds as he doesn't expect the district to qualify for additional base funding next year anyway.

Smithson said the district should have its bond money in by the middle of May.

Wayne Trull will be the head man on designing the new GMS, Smithson said.

But, one of the provisions for his being hired as architect for the project is to have the plans ready for bid by June.

Trull will meet with teachers and administrators of GMS to see what they want built in, then design the plans accordingly.

An additional alternative, Smithson said, could be having precast concrete and the heating and air conditioning systems installed above the hallways.

This, he said, would give the building some attic space and make it easier to work on these systems.

Another alternative, Smithson said, would be to have slanted door openings. "I don't think this will increase the cost any," he said.

Smithson met with Andy Anderson of Anderson Engineering, who will be testing the gravel to see if it's up to specifications. In addition, they are going to examine the proposed site of the new GMS.

The district will also be advertising bids on four buses, possibly five. However, Smithson said, there isn't much left of the fifth bus.

The district purchased four surplus buses earlier this year, and has two already running routes, with a third almost ready to be put in service. This, he said, will give the district four spare buses.

The board agreed to advertise the other buses for sealed bid sale.

The district's personnel policy committee met and voted in favor of having a Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 19. To make up for the lost day, the committee suggested adding one day to the end of the school year.

However, the board was unable to make a decision until the faculty votes on the issue, though it did agree to approve having a Martin Luther King Day.

The district's Future Farmers of America club is in the red by about $600.

Smithson said FFA sponsor Stacy Stone has asked permission to sell timber on school-owned property.

The area in question, he said, is 1.5 acres near the cemetery, which was given to the school.

The board agreed to have someone look at the timber on this property and estimate how much it's worth before possibly taking bids for it.

Smithson said he doesn't know why the FFA is in debt, but said $600 wouldn't break the district. He told the board depending on what is found out about the timber, it may be in the district's best interest to hold onto it for a while longer.