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Show Opinions Page 2 The Gunnison Valley Gazette INOUYE Letters to the editor... LET’S NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I would just like to say that Steve Anderson was right on track with his editorial about construction of the new elementary schools vs. remodel of the old. Steve failed to mention that he should know what he’s talking about, he is the construction manager at Valley Builders and has been for a long time. (We share the same last name but are not related.) I would like to expand a little on what Steve said and add a little from personal experience concerning remodeling and adding to existing old buildings like these old schools. The building requirements and codes have continually changed- for sure! However, Steve didn’t mention that the option to do the mentioned upgrades for things like ADA (disability) and seismic (earthquake) code is no longer “grandfathered” to allow old existing construction to continue to pass if so desired. In a public building going under remodel the restroom facilities and etc. will be required to upgrade to meet new codes. No choice, regardless of cost. Most people know me as the local Nurseryman, few know that my chosen field was architecture and that I have been and continue to be an Architectural Draftsman since I first got out of High school. I continue with employment part time with an Architect as a “second” job. In the early 80’s while working for Robert Dewey (Architect) in Bountiful, Utah we had the opportunity to serve the Davis Co. School District and design an addition and remodel to the Centerville Elementary School. What a nightmare that turned out to be! With 20/20 hind sight, the Davis District would have saved time, money, and would have a much more functional building had they just made the hard choice and demolished what was existing and built a new elementary school. Yet, to save a classroom wing and multipurpose room, that was built in the 1950’s, they chose to remove the oldest portion of building and remodel this wing and multipurpose room, and add on to them. Despite the best efforts of engineers and our firm’s investigations of the existing structures, very little turned out to be as it should have been. I don’t have time to go into all the details, but problems and construction cost over runs began to mount almost immediately. Many, many aspects of the existing construction, that had been hoped to continue to serve, were substandard and had to be replaced. The contractor actually threatened to sue to get out of his contract at one point because there were so many items requiring a bid cost before he could continue. He decided it was just not worth it to spend the time to keep figuring what it would cost to fix it all! The School District became so tired of trying to get extras bid from the contractor for every thing that kept cropping up, too. I remember that the situation became so bad that the contractor was placed on a cost plus basis for all the extra costs beyond his bid. That means material costs plus an agreed upon amount for labor and profit. What a huge mess! And the wing and Multipurpose Room they went through all this to save? Turns out that, with the growth the area has experienced, neither the classroom size or the multi purpose room size are adequate. Yet now they are stuck with both! Some of you may recall seeing on the news not too far back that the kitchen addition to this old multi purpose room actually had a wall collapse! There simply wasn’t adequate attachment for the new in the existing construction. I can go on and on, but this is enough. If any of you have visited or seen Centerville Elementary School it is an absolutely beautiful building, I’m saying the cost to make that building what it is today simply was not worth it. They don’t have everything they really needed. They are forced to make due with out of date classrooms, etc. Trying to do the same type of remodel with Gunnison and Ephraim’s old schools would be equally bad if not worse. Let’s not make the same mistake. We are not trying to restore a vintage vehicle. These buildings have run their course and their usefulness in housing our school children is up. One way or the other we will be forced to spend the money. Lets choose to spend it the way that best serves the need. Vote yes to bond for the new buildings. Ron Anderson Centerfield OUR OPPORTUNITY FOR A LEGACY OF LEARNING On June 24 the citizens of the South Sanpete School District have a great opportunity to help in continuing a legacy of learning for our children. We will embark on a building program that will provide learning centers for our elementary school age children for many decades to come. The new elementary buildings in Ephraim and Gunnison plus the addition to Manti Elementary will provide our children with the needed space and learning environment to help them compete in the future. Existing facilities are inadequate and too small for our needs. Student population has been growing and RE-ELECT NANCY R. JENSEN DEDICATED RESPONSIBLE EXPERIENCED SOUTH SANPETE SCHOOL BOARD VOTE TUESDAY JUNE 24th can no longer be serviced by our existing buildings. The trend for the future is for more growth in the number of students in our school district. The recent earthquakes in China have driven home another point for the need to up-grade our facilities. Many children in China died in schools that where not up to the standards to withstand even a small earthquake. Our buildings were built to 1950 standards. The new buildings will be built with the 2010 standards and will be better able to withstand seismic activity. We can continue to repair the old buildings and bring in more portable classrooms, but we are only putting a band-aid on the problem. These buildings will be a continual drain on our budget and still be old and inadequate. We will be forced because of building conditions to replace them at some point in time. Interest rates may not be as good and building cost will most likely be higher. With this deferred approach over the next ten years our tax rate will go up and we will pay higher taxes. By passing the bond now with historically low interest rates we will be able to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest and with the new buildings reduce maintenance cost for many years to come. Can the old buildings be used for other things? Most likely, but they have outlived their use as schools for our children. For example: a few years ago on my brother’s dairy he built a new milk barn because the old one could not provide the service for the larger number of cows and new equipment that was necessary for him to be able to compete in the dairy business today. The old barn has been used for other purposes since. Our children are more important than cows. We need to provide them with the best possible environment for learning. We recognize that parents and teachers are the number one factor in success for learning; however, providing our teachers and children with facilities that enhance the learning environment is our privilege and duty. We intend to keep the tax rate for the school district at the current level and will be able to make our payments based on this tax rate. If the valuation of your property should change then your tax dollars will also change accordingly. As a board we recognize our fiduciary responsibility to manage the tax dollars of our citizens with the greatest of prudence and care. Building these schools today will help us fulfill our duty to provide our children with the tools necessary to compete in the 21st century. We have all benefited from the sacrifices of those who preceded us. May we be known as a generation that was willing to give so the next generation can benefit from a legacy of learning. On June 24 Vote yes on the school bond. Kim Pickett Gunnison WEATHER Lane Henderson, Publisher Mark Henline, Editor & Advertising Jodi Henline, Office Manager Call: (435) 528-5178 for subscription, news or advertising. FAX: (435) 528-5179 E-mail gazette@gtelco.net The Gunnison Valley Gazette is published each Thursday by Gunnison Valley Gazette, L.L.C., 328 North Valley Drive, P.O. Box 143 Gunnison, Utah 84634. Bulk rate postage (permit No. 11) is paid at Gunnison, Utah. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Gunnison Valley Gazette, P.O. Box 143 Gunnison, Utah 84634 Deadlines: News and advertising, Noon, Monday prior to publication. Subscription prices: One year, $25 in Sanpete County, one year, $30 outside Sanpete County. Single copy price 75 cents. Advertising rates available upon request. All articles and photographs submitted for publication are subject to editing and only will be used if the editor deems them newsworthy. The editor reserves the right to hold submitted news items for space reasons. Copyright Gunnison Valley Gazette, Gunnison, Utah 2005. All rights reserved. Reproduction, reuse or transmittal of all matter herein is prohibited without prior written permission by the publisher or editor. Thursday 84/47 Sunny Friday 84/47 Sunny Saturday 82/47 Sunny Sunday 83/49 Mostly Sunny Gunnison’s Weather brought to you by Gunnison Telephone Co. Thursday, June 19, 2008 • • • • • • • • • • • Support “Gentlemen’s Agreement.” There’s a bona fide need for representation from each area of county. Oppose consolidation of North and South Sanpete School Districts. Commission: Keep 3 Commissioner System. Look in to an appointed county manager for the sake of continuity. Watershed: Aggressively pursue Gooseberry Project. Growth: Oversight essential to avoid problems with oil exploration and production. Create a long term master plan for county. Minimize bureaucracy but get the job done. Minimize governmental interference but protect rights and promote industry. Careful balance required. Fight drug abuse. Awareness. Education. Interdiction. Make drugs an unpopular thing to do with our youth. Find ways to help the Hispanic members of our community become integrated. Must reach out individually and as communities. English classes. Cross cultural exchanges. Prevention better than rehabilitation: Support schools and community groups such as Boy Scouts to build youth. Transparency. No hidden agendas. Involve community with decisions by forming committees. Get citizens involved. COUNTY COMMISSIONER Senior Lunch Menu Thur June 19 Chicken Salad Puffs Macaroni Salad Fruit Cookie Fri June 20 Fish Fillets Baked Potato Peas Fruit Salad Bread Sticks Homespun Philosophy by Gene & Donna Peterson Grandma said, “To Know a great man, One way to tell if he’s first rate-Does he make all those around him, Feel that they are great?” Tue June 24 Chicken Noodle Soup w/vegetables Cheese Stick Fruit Cobbler Wed June 25 Beef Stroganoff over Noodles Corn Mandarin Oranges Cinnamon Roll JEREMY VINCENT Realtor Central Realty Inc. “A STEP AHEAD” 132 North Main P.O. 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