By Matthew Sockol
Staff Writer
MILLSTONE – A referendum that proposed replacing the roof on two schools in the Millstone Township K-8 School District has been approved by voters.
In a binding referendum, voters were asked by the Board of Education to approve the expenditure of $2.9 million to replace the roof on the Millstone Township Elementary School and on the Millstone Township Primary School.
In a special election held Dec. 13, 222 votes were cast in favor of the roof project and 96 votes were cast against it, according to results posted online by the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office. The results are unofficial until they are certified by the county.
According to the township clerk, there are 7,848 registered voters in Millstone. A total of 318 votes were cast in the special election, a turnout of 4 percent.
“We are very pleased with the outcome and are eager to now move forward with the project,” Superintendent of Schools Scott Feder said. “I want our families to know we will be working very diligently to minimize impact while school is in session. I want to thank the community for trusting in us with this project and very much appreciate all of the support.”
“We are thrilled that the voters came out in a two-thirds majority to support the referendum for the two roofs,” board President Margaret Gordon said. “I want to thank Scott Feder, (Business Administrator) Bernie Biesiada and their team for the excellent coordination of this referendum, to ensure the tax burden was minimized to the greatest extent possible. We look forward to starting the project and monitoring the efficiencies so this project has as minimal an impact as possible to the students and staff in the buildings.”
After working with professionals for two years, district administrators determined that new roofs were necessary because the existing roofs are outdated and leaking into the schools.
Most of the primary school’s roof is from 1994 and has exceeded its 20-year life expectancy, according to district administrators. The top layer of the roof’s membrane has decomposed due to rain and ultraviolet light and the joints of the roof have become vulnerable to decay over time.
The elementary school’s roof was built in stages during the 1950s, the 1980s and the 1990s. The top layer of the roof has decayed and exposed the underlying membrane to weather, according to district administrators.
District administrators said the total cost of the project will be $2.9 million, with $1.6 million budgeted for the primary school roof and $1.3 million budgeted for the elementary school roof.
The cost of the project will be covered by the issuance of $2.6 million in bonds and the appropriation of $338,442 from the district’s capital reserve, according to the referendum’s explanatory statement.
The referendum will add $56 for 10 years to the annual school taxes of a homeowner whose residence is assessed at the township average of about $532,000, according to district administrators.
Individuals pay more or less in municipal, school, county and fire district taxes depending on the assessed value of their home and/or property.
By using the referendum process, district administrators said the state will contribute $1 million toward the project in state aid over the 10-year term of the bonds and taxpayers will be responsible for $1.6 million of the project costs.
Administrators have said a contract for the work may be awarded in the spring of 2017. Work on the new roofs will begin shortly after a contractor is hired.