January 9, 2006, LRP Committee

Long Range Plan Review Committee
Minutes
January 9, 2006

Members in Attendance:
Harry Amend* Russ Hansen David Miller Joel Palmer
Steve Briggs* Doug Jaworski Jane Morgan Ann Siebert
Susan Clayton Erin Lenz Jill Neal Lynn Vershum
Rex Fairfield Bryan Martin* Vern Newby* Dianna Walde
Scott Fischer* John McLeod Dave Patzer

*Ex-officio members

Welcome:
Jill Neal called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. The meeting was held at the Midtown Center meeting room. Jill asked the committee members to introduce themselves.

Approval of October 24th and November 28th Minutes:
Motion by John McLeod, second by Lynn Vershum to approve the October 24, 2005 and November 28, 2005 minutes, as amended, approved unanimously.

Confirmation of New Committee Members:
The committee unanimously confirmed Doug Jaworski and Dianna Walde as new Long Range Planning Committee members.

Vice-Chair Position:
Jill announced that Dave Patzer agreed to become the Vice Chair of this committee and he will then become the Chair next year. Harry and Jill thanked Dave for agreeing to become the new Chair.

S.P.F.L. Information & Update:
The committee was provided with a handout (draft) regarding the basic facts of 2006 School Plant Facilities Levy. Harry and Judy Drake met with two Chamber committees regarding the levy and they responded very positively. Harry proceeded to go over the fact sheet and spreadsheet with the committee and asked for their help with any changes they felt needed to be made. Committee discussion followed and changes were made to the fact sheet and spreadsheet. A detailed question and answer section will be on the District’s website, in the newspapers (paid advertisement), etc. It was suggested that the other projects that were considered by the Needs Assessment Committee and Long Range Planning Committee be listed in the question and answer section.
The two reasons the election date was changed from May to March was for a favorable bidding climate and so Lakes Middle School could open in September 2007 (16-month construction window). The new school will be constructed to the west of the existing school. Due to setback issues, 8’ was taken off the length of the building resulting in 3,000 fewer square feet. The building was redesigned so there is no longer a height issue. The bid date will be set in the next month or so. A media bus tour has been scheduled from 11:00-1:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 19th as well as a show on local cable staged at the City Council chambers. There were discussions regarding having a public meeting at Lakes about the new school.

Levy Steering Committee:
Jill explained that these meetings will not be held in school district buildings. All of the meetings will be held at Avista Utilities on Mondays from 4:30-5:30 p.m. beginning January 23rd through March 13th. Due to this committee’s knowledge of all the aspects of this levy, Jill asked for volunteers to serve on the Levy Steering Committee. She provided a sign-up sheet.

Superintendent’s Report – Harry Amend:
Due to the weather, the Ramsey project is a couple of weeks behind schedule. Once the weather changes, the time lost will be made up.

District Report – Steve Briggs:
The Attendance Zone Committee will be re-forming in the next month or so to begin looking at the excess capacity at Ramsey. There are also some other schools that will be discussed (Hayden Meadows and Skyway). Steve explained that the District is working through some budget issues. The growth was under projection compared to last year, this will be further analyzed.

Board of Trustees Report – Vern Newby:
Vern reported that the Board, by code, is required to complete a Superintendent’s evaluation at this time each year. The Board will be working on this over the next couple of weeks.

Next Meeting:
Due to the Levy Steering Committee meetings, the next Long Range Planning Committee meeting will not be held until sometime in March or April.

Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 6:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Cheri Beard
Administrative Secretary

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