At Thursday evening’s Eureka Springs school board meeting, board member Al Larson stated, “I move we approve [authorizing] the President of the Board [Chris McClung] signing the lease agreement with the three changes identified tonight.” It was a very anticlimactic moment, but the four board members present voted to approve Larson’s motion, and after three years of regular meetings, the volunteer group which eventually became the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Community Center Foundation, is within a few edits of taking possession of the old high school property for the purpose of creating a community center.
“Okay, that was easy,” commented Jack Moyer, board member of the Foundation.
One of the stipulations Larson referred to was a section that stated the landlord could show the property for sale during the term of the lease. He wondered if boilerplate language had not found its way back into the lease. McClung commented, “We’re intending a twenty-year lease, so we don’t want it in there.”
The other changes were regarding the minimum amount of insurance to be carried and a clarification regarding the use of school district insurance money for repairs.
Facing the board was a deadline of August 1 to get the lease finalized, or else extend the deadline another month. In addition, Superintendent Bryan Pruitt said attorney Kristi Kendrick, the person who would make the changes to the lease, was out of town. However, board member Debbie Davis noticed they had agreed on the changes to be made, and Pruitt suggested they approve the lease pending the corrections, so Larson made his motion.
Also related to the old high school property
Pruitt announced that during the process of purchasing new bonds to secure the old ones which he had previously been told were encumbering the lease of building B-200, it came to light the old bonds were not attached to B-200 after all.
Pruitt said the district had received seven bids for the asbestos removal of B-100, and the board voted to award the project to Gerken Environmental Enterprises of Springfield. Their bid was for $19,214. Pruitt said there have been inquiries about the B-300 roof project but no bids.
Principals’ reports
Middle School Principal Cindy Holt spoke for all three principals in commending custodians for getting the buildings ready for school. She said registration would be August 1 for all three schools. On August 11, there will be an Open House for the middle school and high school from 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. and for the elementary school from 3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Other business
- The board approved the agreement with KESA to broadcast basketball games again this season. Lynn Worley, who broadcasts the games for KESA, said last year the station aired 31 senior girls games and 35 senior boys games plus some junior games for a total of 73. He said the broadcasts would not be possible without the 12 sponsors he named.
- Two budget revisions were approved. One was for preparing to buy a new bus this autumn. The other was a transfer of $915,000 out of operating funds into the building fund.
- The district is required by Act 1120 to produce a list of all staff whose income increased more than five percent from the previous school year. Pruitt said most of those on the list simply added more hours, and the board approved the list.
Next meeting will be Thursday, August 18, at 5:30 p.m.