Voters in the Lowndes County School District will return to the polls on Feb. 3 to consider a bond that will allow the district to expand and renovate district facilities.
The Lowndes County school board voted, 3-2, to “save the date” for the election during its regular board meeting Monday at West Lowndes High School. The board did so without knowing what projects the bond will include or what they will cost.
Superintendent Lynn Wright made the proposal, which prompted the only discussion of the night during an otherwise light agenda.
“I talked to Haley Salazar, the circuit clerk, about the dates we could have the election,” Wright told the board. “She said August would be ideal, but if we wanted to have the election sooner than that, the next available date would be Feb. 3. If we have the election in February, it needs to be on that date because they have circuit court that month.”
Wright said holding the election earlier rather than later would help ensure the county could take advantage of the current low interest rates, which are subject to change.
“It seems to me we’re putting the cart before the horse here if we set a date before we even know what’s going to be in the bond issue and what it will cost,” board member Brian Clark said.
“All we’re doing is reserving a date,” said board attorney Jeff Smith. “When we talked to the bond attorney, he suggested that we approve the date and, later in the month, we could issue a resolution of intent about the amount on money it will cost and the projects it would include.”
On Aug. 27, voters in the LCSD narrowly rejected a $47 million bond proposal that would have built a new vocational center and a new high school at New Hope, as well as numerous capital improvements throughout the district. In that election, 51.87 percent voted for the bond, which required a 60-percent approval for passage.
Almost immediately, Wright and other supporters of the bond went to work on bringing the matter back before the voters, something that board member Jacqueline Gray took issue with Tuesday.
“Speaking for my constituents, I’d like to point out that just a few months ago, we took this to the voters and they said, ‘No.’ So why are we bringing this back up?” Gray said. “We’re not listening to the voice of the people.”
Wright reminded Gray that the majority of voters were in favor of the bond in August.
“With all due respect, the majority voted for the bond issue,” Wright said. “The other thing to consider is that turn-out was very low, only 10 percent. Everywhere I have gone since that election, people are asking me when we’re going to bring this back up. I think a lot of people didn’t go vote the last time because they felt like it would pass easily. I really feel like if we bring it back to the voters, it will pass.”
Board president Jane Kilgore urged the board to meet soon to work out the detail of the bond.
“If we set the date, we really need to decide what’s going to be on the bond issue as soon as possible,” Kilgore said. “We want to make sure the voters know what’s on the bond as soon as possible.”
The board voted to approve the Feb. 3 date with Kilgore, Robert Barksdale and Wesley Barrett voting in favor and Gray and Clark voting against the proposal.
In other business, board members heard an engineering report on the plan to tie the New Hope sewer into the city of Columbus system. Previously, the board learned that the costs would exceed the planned budget for the switch by $300,000 and asked for engineers to explore other options that might reduce that cost overrun. The board was told that, after examining other options, the original plan was still the most cost effective and that the $300,000 overrun would likely remain.
The board took the report under advisement.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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