Hayes Center voters approve school bond

HAYES CENTER -- It was very close, but more Hayes Center school district patrons voted for the proposed $2.8 million school addition than against it, during a special election Tuesday that attracted 80 percent of the district's registered voters.

The final vote tally was 234 for the gym and classroom addition and 211 against. That count includes 83 absentee ballots, but, according to school board president Vicky Gohl, does not include three or four conditional ballots that will not change the outcome of the election.

Gohl said she was pleased with the election results. "The board has spent lots of time and effort on this project. We're excited that we'll get a new school," she said, crediting past president Loran Wach for much of the effort that went into the third bond election to expand the district's junior and senior high. Gohl was elected president at the board's 2006 reorganization meeting Monday evening.

Gohl was also very impressed with the number of voters who cast their ballots. "Eighty percent is quite a turnout," she said. "We had people in and out continually yesterday."

Gohl thanked the Hayes Center public for its support of the board's efforts.

Two previous bond elections -- in September 2004 and March 2005 -- were for $2 million each and each failed, 192-180 in 2004 and 216-213 in 2005. These two elections also resulted in impressive voter turnouts -- 66 percent in 2004 and 79 percent in 2005.

The new 21,664-square-foot freestanding facility will include a gym, locker rooms, weight room, restrooms, commons area and eight classrooms.

The new facility will be built about 20 feet west of the existing junior-senior high, on a dedicated (and abandoned) city street, a vacant lot and two occupied lots (to be cleared).

The $2.8 million bonds will be repaid over 20 years at an interest rate of 4.75 percent. The yearly payment will be about $225,000. The project will be financed with a tax levy of $0.1776 per $100 of property valuation, added to the school district's general tax levy of $1.05.

Proponents of the project contended the school needs more classroom space. A second gym would allow girls' and boys' practices to run concurrently. Those against the new facility cited increased taxes and declining school enrollment.

School Superintendent Tom McMahon said he has talked to a lot of people, and many are "pretty happy" about the election.

McMahon said the next step is for board members to meet with a builder and with the school district's bonding company of Kirkpatrick Pettis of Lincoln. There has been no date set yet for the sale of bonds, McMahon said.