The Blaine County School District board of trustees Tuesday approved a $1.65 million expansion project for Bellevue Elementary School.
Construction is expected to start by Nov. 1 and be finished next August. The project involves building a multi-purpose room of about 5,500 square feet that will house the school cafeteria, special education classrooms and a computer room.
The project was authorized in a 10-year, $59.8 million plant facilities levy approved by Blaine County voters in 2009.
Greg Strong, project foreman for Sawtooth Construction in Ketchum, told trustees at Tuesday's board meeting that walkways will be built to keep students and construction activities separated while the multipurpose room is being built. Strong said most of the work will go to local companies.
"There's a relatively eager atmosphere for the people that want to look at this job, want to price it and want to get it, and they're qualified local people," he said.
Board Chair Julie Dahlgren and Trustees Paul Bates and Steve Guthrie voted for approval of the project, while newly installed Trustee Kathryn Graves abstained. Trustee Daniel Parke was not present.
"I abstained because I was not involved in the process of approving the project," Graves said in an interview.
Graves declined to elaborate, but has publicly stated that she did not support the plant facilities levy when it was put before the electorate.
Tuesday was Graves' first meeting as a board member, being sworn in at the beginning of the meeting. She was selected to the position in September from among four candidates who applied for the Zone 3 trustee post to replace Mari Beth Matthews, who resigned in July.
Open Meeting Law
Tuesday's regular board meeting followed a special meeting earlier in the day when District Attorney Adam King gave trustees a refresher course on the Idaho Open Meeting Law and on legal requirements for public disclosure of documents and information.
"You assume everything is a public record and then look at the exemptions," King said, explaining that exemptions include student records, attorney-client communications, property purchases and most personnel records.
King cautioned board members about informal meetings, saying that if three or more board members discuss school district business together then it constitutes a quorum and thus a public meeting.
"Two board members can talk about things all they want because that's not a quorum," King said. "You don't want to have discussions going on among three board members. If you're going to have committees, then do it with two people."
Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com
