Voters head to the polls on Tuesday to cast their ballots on the proposed $9.9 million Hills-Beaver Creek bond issue.
The bond for a new high school building will affect taxpayers for the next 25 years and house students as early as the 2011-12 school year.
The H-BC School Board voted unanimously during a meeting in January to put the bond to a vote. In early February the board presented the project plans at a public meeting, and another meeting is scheduled for tonight (Thursday, March 4).
The district began exploring building options following a visit from a representative of the Minnesota Department of Education.
That individual toured the current high school building and determined the district would not be approved for a remodeling project to the current building.
After hearingt the news, the board members decided to pursue building a new high school.
They hired Gil Haugan to act as their construction manager and Koch Hazard to be the architect on the project.
The most difficult part of the project was finding land available for a building site.
Small high schools in Minnesota are required by the state to have 35 acres of land, plus one additional acre for each 100 students in the estimated enrollment. That means H-BC needs approximately 40 acres to meet this requirement.
The district met with several landowners, getting turned down by all but one.
Segundo and Joan Velasquez agreed to deal with the district, offering a purchase agreement in January 2009.
The contract gave the district the option to purchase 40 acres on the northwest side of Hills. An additional 9.06 acres would be gifted to the district.
That offer expired.
In December 2009 the Velasquezes gave what the board described as a final offer. It stated that the district pay $200,000 on Dec. 21, 2009. A second payment for $120,000 was due on January 31, 2010.
To meet the needs of the contract, the district accepted funds from an anonymous donor.
The $320,000 donation will have to be paid back to the donor in full with no interest if a bond vote passes.
If voters fail to approve the bond, then the donor would take possession of the land.
The Hills Crescent has compiled a voting guide that explores many of the facts voters should know prior to making their decision on Tuesday. Follow the link at the bottom of this page to read the guide.
