Stacked Deck
After the first meeting of the New Richmond School District long range planning committee, I was concerned about the makeup of the committee members.
Several posts at ontheborderline.net said, in no uncertain terms, that the committee was stacked in favor of the school district who, the posters, assured us had an agenda for a new high school.
In a sense they are right; of the 22 members, 11 are school district employees and board members. Thus they have the votes for any plan that is put forward if you throw in the WITC member and several business interests.
I'm not going to take that position until I see it developing. I see a need for facility improvement and expansion, but will stay open minded regarding exactly what.
Bill Derrick has already brought developing 25 acres of land behind the high school that had never been considered before. It must be discussed and either dismissed or brought forward as a recommendation.
posted by Bob Ziller @ 10:48 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Bob:
Once again that "agenda" word came up...
Anyway, I some disucssions I've had with New Richmond residents, a couple have said the Derrick Construction doesn't have experience building high, middle or elementary schools. I believe they did the addition on the Catholic school in town, but they have never undertaken a large-scale, school project. What information do you have on Derrick Constructions building resume?
On my blog site, www.abovetheborderline.blogspot.com, I have posted some current construction industry cost estimators for new school construction. Another recent post provides an example of how quickly construction costs can increase.
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Another point on long range planning. At the St. Croix County Democrats meeting a couple weeks ago, we had three people present a discussion of growth in the township and county. County borad member Buck Mallick presented information on county growth patterns and growth forecasts. He pointed out that there are a variety of forecasts done concerning local growth patterns. The county does forecasting. School districts do forecasting. The West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission does forecasting and the state does it.
He said the forecast numbers are always different, but they are always in the same direction. Another interesting point he make was that over the past 20 years, all the forecasts -- regardless of which group was doing -- have been lower than the actual growth.
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