Greensburg Salem School Board discusses borrowing up to $13 million

The Greensburg Salem School Board could vote next week to borrow up to $13 million for renovations needed across the district.

Under certain circumstances, the 10-year bond could lead to a 2-mill tax hike.

It’s not a plan that the whole board agrees with — especially when a new school board will be seated next month.

Among the projects, which come in at an estimated total of $13.3 million, are a new high school roof ($1.7 million) and new fire alarm systems at Nicely and Metzgar elementary schools ($450,000) along with new carpets, HVAC units, a hot water boiler, plumbing replacement and more.

“These aren’t what I would call ‘sexy’ facility additions,” Superintendent Gary Peiffer said during Wednesday’s board discussion meeting. “It’s not a new swimming pool, it’s not a new baseball field, it’s not a new science lab. … These are all nuts-and-bolts type of items that affect the health and safety and security of the students and staff in the district.”

This year, $580,000 will be moved over to the capital improvements fund, giving the board funds to work with if they move forward with the bond, said Director of Business Affairs James Dzurica.

For taxpayers, that could mean mean a 2-mill hike in future years, “but there is no real need at the moment to raise mills to incur the debt,” said Alisha Henry, managing director at PNC Capital Markets.

Not all agree on plans, timing

Several school board members were divided on the issue, debating whether to pay off existing debt or to add on to it to make immediate improvements.

“You need to know the things like that carpet and what’s happening to it, and the roof at the high school, and the water that’s coming inside the walls,” board vice president Charlotte Kemerer said, addressing the public. “We need to make that clearer for you so you know why we want to fix the plumbing, the plumbing that when it rains, water from the sewage comes back up our plumbing. You need to know all that to know what we’ve been listening to … so you understand why we feel we just can’t wait any longer.”

But School Director Robin Savage said the board has not issued any requests for proposals to determine costs or looked into grants for items like the fire alarms.

Savage said she feels like the board is jumping to a decision rather than looking at options.

“This board has sat around and not done a lot of stuff,” Savage said. “One more month until the new board that’s going to get hit with the future of this, I think it’s wrong. I appreciate you coming and talking, but we could have done this for two years and had people come and talk to us.”

A new school board will be seated in December. Savage and fellow incumbents Frank Gazze and Stephen Thomas on Tuesday were elected to new terms. Joining them will be Republicans Brian Conway and Jonathan O’Brien.

The terms of Kemerer and Nick Rullo expire this year.

Kemerer said the board has known about the projects for four years. Board president Ronald Mellinger agreed with Kemerer saying, “In six years, this place is going to fall apart.”

Others, like Gazze and Jeff Metrosky, would rather wait six to seven years to pay off existing debt and then use money currently used for paying off debt for capital improvement projects.

Board members did not come to an agreement Wednesday. But Peiffer hopes to vote at next week’s board meeting to be able to start the process of seeking bids.

“We’ve talked and talked and talked and I’d like to get it on because the interest rates are so low right now,” Peiffer said. “We had the same discussion last year, the difference in savings for us is $53,000 if we go ahead.”

Peiffer added, “It we get it on the agenda, as you can tell, it may not pass at all. I certainly don’t think it would be an unanimous vote, but at least people are voting on it.”