ThisWeek CW 10/8/2015

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2015/10/05/district-seeks-city-zoning-variances-fee-waivers.html

Groveport Madison Schools Superintendent Bruce Hoover asked Groveport City Council last week to grant zoning variances and waive an estimated $50,000 worth of fees connected with building a new Groveport Madison High School.

“We’ve got a couple of requests for council to consider related to our construction projects, one of which is regarding our facility consolidation as part of reconstructing the warehouse facility into an educational facility, combining five of our current buildings into one,” Hoover said at the Sept. 28 council meeting.

“We’d like you to consider passing that as an emergency at the next meeting because we’re going up against a contract deadline.

“The other item is that we have a number of costs associated with the high school project. Some are projected and some are hard costs, like application fees and fees for reviews. The more we can nail down hard costs and what we need up front, the more budget we will know we have for building a better facility.”

City Administrator Marsha Hall asked council to consider waiving any hard fees associated with the application and review process that are under the city’s control.

“I met with the building department and legal, and we’ve asked the district to bring in everything they believe might need a variance at once instead of waiting to bring them (requests) as needed throughout the process,” Hall said. “Because we won’t know what all of the internal fees are until they’ve submitted for variances and plans, this will help.

“There are some fees that have to be paid to the city of Columbus, for instance, and those we won’t be able to waive.”

Hall said other possible savings might come from the variances themselves.

“One example was that we have a requirement to have landscaping in the parking lot. The Groveport Madison marching band uses that as their practice space. If we keep that requirement in this case, the school will need more land to provide practice space for the band, and that’s a high cost which would be money lost from the construction budget,” Hall said.

Currently, according to Hoover, the district has about $5 million in a contingency fund for the construction project. By nailing down anticipated expenses, or eliminating them, more of that money can go into facility enhancements. He estimated fees associated with the project could account for as much as $50,000.

“We’re asking council to consider this so that we can build a bigger and better school for the community,” Hoover said.

Council members agreed to consider passing the zoning changes as an emergency at their Oct. 13 meeting. They also agreed to consider waiving fees associated with the project that are directly controlled by the city.

“We are committed to assist in everything we can to make sure the school is the best it can be for the students,” Hall said.