Board OKs financing for project

MERCER, Pa. -- The Mercer Area school board has authorized borrowing up to $10 million to renovate the district's elementary school, but it may be three years or more before any work is done.
The board voted 8-0 Tuesday to approve borrowing the money through a bond issue.
Action to set up the financing was taken now to avoid a requirement under Pennsylvania Act 72, which mandates that financing for school building projects proposed after Friday have to get approval of any tax increase needed to pay for the work from the voters in the form of a ballot referendum question.
Approving the bond issue at this stage doesn't commit the school board to spending any money or taking any action. It merely sets the financing in place should the board decide to proceed, said William Gathers, Mercer superintendent.
He said the district will approach the elementary school work as it did a high school renovation project in 1999, setting up a community involvement team to help determine the scope of the work needed to be done and then doing a feasibility study to finalize the project.
That process can take about three years, Gathers said.
The elementary school was built in 1958 and had an addition put on in 1983 but the core of the structure is now in need of improvements.
A full-scale renovation would earn a 35-40 percent reimbursement from the state, reducing the district's actual cost, Gathers said.