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By BILL AUSTIN HERKIMER the Herkimer Central School District Board of Education last night set Jan. 6, 1982 as the date for a district vote on a vacant board seat, and two referendums — one to dispose of property and another for renovations at the high school Proposition one on the ballot that day will ask the voters of the district to empower the board to transfer with or without consideration the Tager School property and buildings to the village and the original seven acre East Herkimer School property and buildings to the town of Herkimer Board members said last night that negotiations to accomplish the transfers are still going on, and no final decision has been reached. Board member Ronald Gurtowski said that he and Board member Jim Legg, as members of a committee negotiating for the disposal of the properties, feel it would be best to transfer the properties to another municipal body, for use in the public interest “They have been community properties for so long, we thought it would be best to keep them available for community use,” Gurtowski said. Board attorney Charles E. Crandall III told the board that while voter approval was necessary before the properties could be transferred, no transfer would be mandated by public approval. Crandall said that if results of the negotiations are not seen by the board to be in the best interests of the district, the transfer approval does not mean the property has to change hands. Crandall also said he thought it acceptable for negotiations to have begun before voter approval was given for the transfer. “It's okay for the groundwork to be laid, as long as everyone realizes nothing becomes effective until voter approval is given,” Crandall said The proposition to transfer properties does not include the 57-acre “Gorski site” in East Herkimer which was to have been the site of a new district elementary school proposed several years ago. It was the failure of that building proposition that caused the board to start down a path that eventually resulted in the closing of the East Herkimer and Tager Schools and the consolidation of all the district's kindergarten through fourth grade students at Bills School on North Washington Street Proposition two on the Jan. 6 ballot will ask the voters of the district to authorize the board to spend a total of $526,000 on renovations at the high school Included in the renovations are $423,000 for repair of the roof of the main building, $89,000 for repair to the annex roof and $14,000 for resurfacing of an outside wall. No repairs have ever been made to either roof, district Business Administrator Lucien Leone said. He said the annex roof is 11 years old while the roof of the main building is 23 years old Leone said neither roof has any major problems now, but leaks could appear at any time. ‘With a good portion of our school population at the high school now, the annex is being used more fully. We thought it was best to do the work before problems started, ’ Leone said The wall to be resurfaced, Leone said, is the eastern exposure of the auditorium, and is presently covered with small ceramic tiles. He said some of the tiles have come loose while others have come off entirely. Leone told the board that he and Louis Matrulli, representative of Stetson Dale of Utica, the district architects, were “optimistic” that the project will be aidable to about 64 to 66 percent of the total Gurtowski noted that the board has the discretion to spend any, all, or none of the monies, depending on the aid picture Board President Mike Prescott said that $526,000 (and the item-by-item breakdowns of the expenditures) were the maximum total and project by-project amounts the district could spend Leone said that Matrulli had told him that if the voters approve the repairs on Jan 6, the bulk of the work on the projects can be done next summer The third item on the Jan 6 ballot will be a special election to fill the board seat of David Calenzo, who resigned in August Crandall told the board that nominating petitions for the seat must be filed by 30 days before the election Notice of the election must be advertised in the district's official newspaper four times, with first notice coming 45 days before the date of the election, Crandall said Polls for voting on the three questions will be open in the high school cafeteria from 2-9 p.m. Jan. 6
Newspaper Details
Herkimer Evening Telegram
Herkimer, New York, US
Fri, Oct 30, 1981
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USA 10 Jun 2026
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