Around 40 to 50 parents, teachers, and district administrators attended the meeting, and the goal Monday was to go through the needs of all the schools. Committee members were able to ask Luke Gerhart of Wolgast Corp., the district’s construction management company, questions about the needs of each school.

Superintendent John VanWagoner said there were 400 items identified throughout a four-year facility study. He said the study showed about $108 million worth of needs for the district.

That list was then narrowed to a list of about $60 million in needs that has been presented to the district’s Board of Education and the committee members.

“We really understand that that’s a lot, and it’s not practical as what we’re able probably to do going forward,” VanWagoner said.

Alpena Public Schools Superintendent John VanWagoner talks during Monday’s Citizen Facility Study Committee meeting about possible needs for each school in the district.

Also discussed Monday was a look at school bonds that the Ann Arbor firm Public Financial Management, a company that specifically looks at school bonds, put together. VanWagoner said PFM looks at the financial needs of the district and the district’s with taxable values to determine how much property tax a district might need to levy to pay back bonds.

VanWagoner said PFM also determined how much money would be generated by different millage rates over different amounts of time.

“It gives the idea of how much it would generate that could be used towards a project,” VanWagoner said. “They will essentially map out for us what different mill rates of what new mills would include.”

Property owners in the school district currently pay about 1.8 mills, or about $90 a year, toward the school district’s debt. That tax will expire in three years, VanWagoner said.

Based on the information PFM provided, the district would need voters to approve somewhere between 1.5 and 1.75 mills of new property taxes –or about $75 to $87.50 per year for the owner of a $100,000 house –to be able to pay back $60 million in bonds over 20 to 30 years.

The first study committee meeting took place on Oct. 24, during which VanWagoner explained the needs of the schools, reviewed the building’s histories of recorded improvements, and discussed where the district is financially and options for getting money for school repairs.

The third and final committee meeting happens at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 12 in rooms D202 and D203 at Alpena High School.

After that meeting, the committee will present its final recommendation to the board.

The board will then vote at the district’s monthly Board of Education meeting on Nov. 19 on whether or not to go forward with the improvements to the buildings.

Julie Goldberg can be reached at jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com or 989-358-5688.