South Hunterdon will have an informal referendum planning session at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the high school.
By: Steve Bates
WEST AMWELL The Board of Education has invited the public to an informal referendum planning session 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at South Hunterdon Regional High School.
The meeting will help the board "flesh out what we want to put in front of the voters," said school board President Allie Meehan at the Oct. 18.
He said the next referendum should focus on elements contained in question one of the failed September referendum.
The board decided at the meeting to use the same architect and law firm that had worked on the previous plan, but it will not rely on a public relations firm this time around.
The nature of the meeting will be informal because the board wants to get as much information from the public as it can, Mr. Meehan said.
The board probably would be best served by sticking to elements that were contained on question one of the previous referendum because those specifications already have received a full review and approval by the state Department of Education, Mr. Meehan told the board.
Question one asked voters to approve $11.1 million for a 14,800-square-foot technology and science wing and repairs to the school facility, including a new boiler and roof.
Also, questions two and three which called for the construction of a new gymnasium and an auditorium received "pretty solid nos" from voters, Mr. Meehan said.
The board also learned, after a meeting with the state Economic Development Authority, all the elements of question one contained no "excessive costs," as per a review. The fewer excessive costs a plan contains, the better the chances are of winning an appeal from the commissioner of the state Department of Education if the next referendum fails, according to Mr. Meehan.
This is not the case with questions two and three, he said. He and Superintendent Cheryl Simone explained to the board it should save the ideas for questions two and three for a later date and focus on a version of question one voters will accept.
While this idea did not make everyone on the board happy, it did help to clarify the district’s current mission.
"We have to put something out there that has the ability to pass," said board member Dave Moraski.
To present a plan to voters by March, the board shouldn’t look to change the elements of question one too much because the state already has approved the elements, Mr. Meehan said.
"We don’t want to go for changing the scope of the project because then we’ll have to get approvals again," he said. "So, if we come back with the major intent of question one, we haven’t changed the scope."
Time is of the essence, Dr. Simone said. For a March referendum, the board will have to solicit information from taxpayers, make its recommendations and get those ideas to the architects by January.
The president warned against debating too much. He said a lot of the work already has been done a part of the September referendum. And the board should look at the vote count from that referendum as the main gauge of public comment.
"It’s time for the Board of Education to take our notes and come up with a plan," he said.
Audrey Frankowski, who spoke during the public comment period, warned the board not to make too many alterations to its plans.
"I’d hate for a drastically changed question one because there was no fluff there," she said.
In addition to setting up the meeting for Tuesday, the board authorized a contract with USA Architects of Somerville for an amount not to exceed $30,000 and an agreement with the firm of Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer for an amount not to exceed $3,000 for work on the upcoming referendum.
It will be the responsibility of the architecture firm to take the existing state-approved specifications and create a new proposals for voters based on school board input.
Dr. Simone estimates the district already has paid USA Architects between $59,000 and $60,000 in architectural fees as part of the previous referendum. Also, the district has been billed for about $14,500 in legal fees. Dr. Simone said she has received an assurance from USA Architects the actual cost of the work won’t come close to the $30,000 that was authorized. And the law firm has said it will defer payment of its entire bill until the second referendum passes, she said.
As for IE Communications of Somerdale, a public relations firm the district hired to help the referendum to pass, Dr. Simone said the district may go back to it for a newsletter or something but not for additional surveys or studies.
Dr. Simone said the motto for public relations portion of the upcoming referendum will be "low key." This strategy will include informal talks, like the one planned for Tuesday and coffee meetings at people’s homes.
She said one problem with the public relations push of the previous referendum was the board expected voters to come to school board meetings to get their information, which didn’t happen.
"People are not going to come here. We have to go to them," she said.

