T IMES
SOUTHERN
ULSTER
Vol. 16, No. 11
3
MARCH 13 - 19, 2019
3
Shrek
Junior Highland
lacrosse
Page 17 Page 23
ONE DOLLAR
SERVING HIGHLAND, MARLBOROUGH AND PLATTEKILL
Marlboro eyes $19.9 million upgrade
Gerentine
critical of
county
exec vote
By MARK REYNOLDS
[email protected]
A new secured entrance and Main Office is proposed for the Marlboro High School.
By MARK REYNOLDS
[email protected]
Last fall, the Marlboro school
administration
began
working
with Thomas Ritzenthaler, of the
architectural firm CSArch, to compile a
list of what maintenance, replacements
and upgrades are needed at the three
district campuses. There have been
tours conducted of each of the campuses
during the last three board meetings,
but last week actual cost estimates for
the proposed work were discussed in
detail. CSArch came up with two cost
scenarios; the first at $9.8 million and a
second at $19.9 million.
After significant discussion the
School Board appears to be leaning
toward the second option of $19.9
million. The cost at the Elementary
School was the lowest at nearly $600,000,
with Ritzenthaler highlighting some
of the key improvements - $261,342
for a security vestibule; $283,247 for
improvements to the recess areas and
$272,353 for improvements identified in
a 2015 Building Condition Survey.
The Middle School estimate is $11.2
million, with the higher costs of $3.2
million for a band and chorus addition;
$2.2 million going for the nurse’s
station, locker rooms, innovation and
tech labs and computer and music
related upgrades and $1.9 million for
site improvements.
The High School estimate came in at
$7.8 million, with $1.3 million for a new
fitness and support area and moving the
Athletic Director’s office to the ground
floor; $720,218 for establishing space for
Student and Family Support Services;
$329,547 to renovate the nurse’s suite;
$732,902 for Art room renovations and
$2.2 million for recommended site
improvements.
Patrick Witherow, Director of
Business and Finance, pointed to
several factors that make this the right
time for this project. Presently, there is
$3 million available from the district’s
fund balances that can be applied to
this project while a significant amount
of debt is coming off of the books at the
end of the 2021-22 school year.
The $19.9 million project was broken
down by James Nytko, of Capital
Markets Assets: Using $3 million in fund
Continued on page 4
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County Legislator Richard Gerentine
[R-Marlborough], and Chairman of the
Ways and Means Committee, said holding
a special election for Ulster County
Executive is a waste of money – by up to
$350,000 after the dust settles.
The special election was called upon
the resignation of County Executive Mike
Hein, who stepped down to take a job in
the Cuomo administration. The measure
for a special election passed by a vote of
14-6, with the vote set for April 30th.
Gerentine said the Charter that was
approved about 8 years ago is “a little
vague” on who has the authority to set up
the election.
“We were under the impression that
it was the Governor’s authority to call
the election if he wanted to; then his
office said it wasn’t their purview and the
Board of Elections said it was not their
authority, so it came back to the [Ulster
County] Legislative body and they said
we better call an election based on what
the Charter says.”
Gerentine said the Charter only states
there should be an election.
“It does not say who should call the
election; it just said if somebody resigns
within 180 days of November, they shall
Continued on page 2