Lone Tree

At its meeting on Wednesday, the Lone Tree School Board approved City Construction to be its construction manager at risk should the HVAC project bond pass this November. 

While Miron Construction received higher scores from the school board regarding an interview the board had with Miron and City on September 18, a lower price point and higher scores on a technical review lifted City over Miron. Since City had the higher total score, the board had to either approve City as the CMAR or restart the bidding process.

The board was initially hesitant to approve City, as an initial motion to approve the company as CMAR failed to achieve a second.

Following a lengthy conversation between the board and its engineering consultant from Shive-Hattery, a second motion was seconded and approved 4-0. Board member Alex Lorack abstained from the vote due to prior history with City.

Board vice president Christina Magruder explained why she was initially hesitant to approve City as the CMAR.

The agreement between the school board and City Construction is contingent on the passage of the bond, which will be voted on in this November’s election.

Board hosts information session

Lone Tree held an informational meeting on Wednesday, September 30 to answer questions from the public concerning the districts’ upcoming bond referendum. 

Three school board members and four members of the public were in attendance as Brian Steffens and Ted Krausman of Shive-Hattery Architecture and Engineering presented on the project and answered the public’s questions.

15 questions were asked of Steffens, Krausman, superintendent Tyler Hotz and the board members. Of those questions, four came from the board members directed to the Shive-Hattery representatives, and three were clarifying questions, such as terminology definitions.

Of the members of the public in attendance, Sherry Ogren and Dean Dauber were the most vocal, asking several questions toward both the engineers and the school representatives. Below are the key questions asked by the public and their answers:

Q: Where will the geothermal wells be drilled?

A: They’re currently expected to be drilled south of the school.

Q: After the construction, would the wells be fully underground?

A: Yes.

Q: How long is the bond?

A: The bond, like all general obligation bonds, is a 20-year bond note. The district wouldn’t receive any rebate money from the Inflation Reduction Act (which is expected to refund 30% of the construction cost to the district) until the 2028-2029 fiscal year, at which point the district would make decisions on how to use the rebate funds, which could be used to pay off the bond. Hotz said he expects the district to take over 10 years to pay off the bond, significantly longer than its previous GO bond in 2016.

Q: Will the new system require the current mechanical room, or would it allow that room to be freed up for alternative uses?

A: The mechanical room will likely be held at least until design is complete, and it will potentially be needed beyond the project’s completion.

Q: What percentage of the vote is needed to pass the bond?

A: The bond will require more than (not equal to) 60% of voters to vote “yes” to pass the referendum.

Another information session will be held on October 20.

HLT Wrestling discussions open

Representatives from the Highland and Lone Tree community school districts met on Thursday to discuss a potential sharing agreement for the wrestling programs.

According to Lone Tree activities director Amber Jacque at the Lone Tree school board meeting on Wednesday, the agreement would see the high school boys’ program hosted at Highland, while the high school girls’ program would be hosted at Lone Tree. Prior to Thursday’s meeting, how the sharing agreement would impact each districts’ junior high programs was still unclear. Jacque said that there were 4 boys planning to wrestle for Lone Tree, two of which said they would wrestle for Highland-Lone Tree in a Lion team meeting, while seven out of nine Lone Tree girls confirmed interest in wrestling for a joint program.

Highland activities director Jody Fink confirmed that Thursday’s meeting happened with coaches and activities directors from both programs and that the only program discussed in the meeting was wrestling. He declined to comment on the details of what was discussed in the meeting. Jacque has not yet responded to a request for comment following the meeting.

The team element has particular meaning on the girls’ side, as the IGHSAU is hosting its first dual team championship this winter.

“It would allow the opportunity for the girls to wrestle other girls their weight when they’re sparring,” Christina Magruder, a Lone Tree school board member and mother of Olivia Magruder, who became the first Lone Tree girl to qualify for state wrestling last February, said. “In previous years, it was only an individual sport because we didn’t have a full roster, we could not have every single weight class filled. This gets us closer to that.”

Girls’ wrestling practices are able to begin on November 2, while boys’ practices can start on November 16.