Referendum likely in Oct.





	Superintendent Ralph Ferrie, left, was presented a certificate of appreciation by new board President David Micklos. Photo by Lee Lutz (click for larger version)

July 08, 2009 | 02:45 PM
The Three Village School Board has a new president, and voters in the district are likely to be going to the polls in October.

At its organizational meeting Tuesday, re-elected trustees John Diviney and Carol Leister were sworn in to new terms by District Clerk Andrea Wilson. Then Diviney, who served as board president through June, nominated David Micklos to succeed him. There being no other nominations, Micklos was unanimously elected to lead the board in the 2009-10 school year. Micklos then nominated Frank McIntosh to serve as vice president. He too was unanimously elected to that position.

Following dozens of pro forma resolutions to appoint and approve positions and contracts for the coming year, Assistant Superintendent for Business Services Jeff Carlson explained to the trustees and the roughly 20 people in the audience that additional Excel funding from the state "has become available." Carlson said Excel funds can be used to leverage state building aid. He said by taking the $1.4 million in Excel aid available to it the district could actually receive $7.7 million in total. Superintendent Ralph Ferrie said the money could be acquired by the district "at no cost to the taxpayers."

District Architect John Grillo was on hand with a slide show demonstrating how the district could invest in its infrastructure by replacing the flat portion of the roofs on Ward Melville High School and the two junior highs with a new, so-called "cool roof" system. Grillo said the 25-year guaranteed replacement would ease the heating and cooling burden in the buildings and save the district on those expenses. He said the three projects could all be completed for the $7.7 million.

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Carlson warned the additional Excel funding could disappear on July 1, 2010, due to state budgetary rules. Micklos added that contracts for the work would have to be signed before that date in order to secure the money.

Working backwards from the July 2010 deadline to allow for time to prepare bid specifications, advertise and receive bids, Carlson and Micklos agreed that a referendum — required to be approved by the voters in the district to receive the Excel funding — could be held no later than October in order to have contracts signed by late June 2010. Although no formal vote was taken, it appeared a resolution to hold a referendum would be considered at the Board's August meeting.

Ferrie, attending his final board meeting before returning to New Jersey, thanked the trustees and administration for their help to him over the last year. "I threw them a curveball," he said, in resigning after only one year of a three-year contract.

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