State Budget, Future Project Costs Nix 17-Year Agreement
“We are already providing the facilities at a discount. As a board, we aren’t really comfortable with that. We have bills, too.” – Katie Thomas.
In a split vote, Cardinal Schools Board of Education rejected a deal that would have leased school facilities to Middlefield Village for its recreation program for the next 17 years.
The Wednesday night vote, 3-2, is likely to put the proposed agreement to rest, since village Mayor Ben Garlich told board members at their last meeting that if they rejected the 17-year offer, the deal would be dead.
“The three board members that vote no showed how ignorant they are,” commented Gary Cox, president of Huskie Nation Foundation board, on the Geauga County Maple Leaf’s Facebook page Thursday. “This was a bigger picture of working together and doing good for the community, not personal agendas. Why would the three uneducated board members not want what’s best for the children?”
The most recent rendition of the agreement would have had the village paying Cardinal $150,000 in two payments over the next two years to lease the facilities for the next 17 years.
Middlefield has been leasing the school facilities for years and, most recently, has been paying $10,500 per year.
For several months the village and school district have been negotiating the deal, with the dollar figure and time frame changing.
Middlefield Village Council voted in favor of the 17-year timeframe in February.
The agenda item for Wednesday’s school board meeting simply read, “Motion to approve the Village Agreement with the Village of Middlefield (Attachment B).”
The school board has been divided on the issue, with members Ken Klima and Wendy Anderson in favor of the deal and Andy Sefcik and Nancy Ferguson opposed to it.
Before the vote was taken, board member Katie Thomas explained her opposition to the agreement.
When the discussion first arose, it was with the premise the deal wouldn’t cost the district money, Thomas said.
The original deal proposed in December was 15 years for $150,000, she said, with $75,000 payments to be made in 2015 and 2016. The plan was for the district to use the funds for permanent improvements related to a proposed sports complex.
The board later discussed using $50,000 for lighting of the complex and putting $100,000 in the general fund, Thomas said.
The money the village pays the district every year doesn’t cover more than half the cost of lighting and maintenance during village recreation activities, she said.
“We are already providing the facilities at a discount. As a board, we aren’t really comfortable with that. We have bills, too,” said Thomas. “The school has to be very careful with its funds.”
The recent release of Gov. John Kasich’s proposed budget for the next two years is one reason to worry about the school’s financial future, she said, adding Cardinal stands to lose $683,000 over that time.
“As a school board member, that scares me. The worst thing that can happen is we run out of money and have to RIF (let go) teachers,” Thomas said.
She commended Superintendent Scott Hunt for basing the district’s finances on the district’s needs, not its wants.
Hunt said the deal originated as a desire to help the foundation gather support to improve and enlarge the district’s sports complex.
Neither council nor the school board are permitted to give money to a non-profit organization; they can, however, use taxpayer money to maintain anything that has been donated.
“Yes, it’s a lease agreement and it’s money,” said Hunt, adding it is a way to tie the community back to the schools, which are the hub of the community. “It’s about intangibles.”
Klima, the board president, said if the Huskie Nation Foundation (HNF) completes the project, the school would be able to hold band shows, track meets and other events that would bring in money and improve the relationship between the school and the village.
The complex would be a benefit to Cardinal students, added Anderson.
Thomas noted the roofs on some of the school buildings need to be repaired and that is going to cost the district about $1 million, for which the district might have to take out a loan.
“I’m concerned there’s only so much money. The lease agreement would affect a steady source of income,” she said. “We’d be losing $29,000 a year. We’d be banking on the future of something that is not there.”
On Thursday, Anderson commented on the Maple Leaf’s Facebook page: “The roofs are a separate issue and had nothing to do with this agreement or the money from it. Both could have been handled equitably.”
Ferguson asked if anyone in the room would be willing to take 14 years of salary in a lump sum for the next 17 years of work, giving up any cost of living adjustments, just to show allegiance to the company. That is what the deal represents to her, she said.
“It would be locking us into today’s wages for 14 years,” Ferguson said.
If inflation is a conservative 2.5 percent per year, the district would lose $70,000 over the life of the agreement, she added.
She urged the board to focus on the terms of the agreement, not the emotions surrounding the proposed sports complex.
Said Ferguson, “You can’t look at anything but the facts and the terms in (the agreement).”
When she brought up the money needed for the roofs, Klima said there would be no more discussion and called for the vote.
After the vote, he addressed the HNF representatives.
“I hope this decision does not kill the efforts of all those involved,” Klima said, adding he hopes the investors HNF “had on the line” are still going to donate to the cause.
One HNF representative said their main concern is that people might perceive there is not a healthy relationship between council and the board.
“They will, they will,” Klima said.
Former village mayor and HNF Vice President Bill Poole Jr. said he understood everyone’s point of view.
“This is not going to diminish the project,” he said, adding he would have loved to see the board, the village and the foundation come together to build the complex.
Friday Garlich was asked his position regarding the vote on the agreement.
“We are not legally able to enter into an agreement with HNF. I will support both the school and HNF any way I can,” he said.
