By VICKI MORTIMER

The Aug. 4 hearing required before Avonworth can p[roceed with construction of a primary center was sparsely attended by only three of the district's residents, as well as representatives from the elementary school and the school board.

A panel of four spoke to those present: superintendent Dr. Valerie McDonald; solicitor William Andrews; Greer Hayden of HHSDR, the architects/ engineers for the project; and Antonio Misiti of PNC Capital Markets, the district's financial advisor.

Hayden showed those attending the plans for the new building, designed to alleviate overcrowding at the grade school. The primary center will be a two-story building constructed near the existing elementary school. The district is purchasing eight acres of adjoining land in order to build the center. In addition, a new parking area will be constructed, which will increase parking from the current 110 spaces to more than 300.

The entrance to the primary center will be on the upper level, which also will house six classrooms for kindergarten students, as well as the cafeteria, the library, offices, and a gym. The lower level will have six classrooms for first grade students, and six for second grade students, as well as special education and gifted/GATE classrooms. The building has been designed so that additional classroom space can be added in the future if needed.

Financing for the project was discussed by Misiti. He explained that Avonworth, like 99 percent of all school districts, will not pay cash for the construction. The district will borrow the money for the project.

Several alternatives were considered to provide this financing. The district chose to finance the project through a direct general obligation bond issue through the district itself. According to Brad Waters, director of fiscal management and support services, the $500,000 saved by the district per year enabled Avonworth to borrow less money to finance the project. Because of the money already saved, the financing is expected to impact each property tax payer in the district by .28 mills.

In addition, indirect costs of the project, including staffing, supplies, utilities and transportation, have been considered. These indirect costs are estimated to cost approximately $387,000 per year. This is expected to place a cost of approximately .55 mills per taxpayer on the district. However, McDonald emphasized that no new staffing positions have yet been added by the district.

Misiti stated that the total cost of the financing and indirect costs of the project is therefore .83 mills. This equates to an additional $83 in taxes per year, per $100,000 of assessed property value.