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Candidate pushes Altoona board

Altoona Area School Board candidate Ed Kreuz pressed the sitting board members on Monday about additional costs the district would incur as a result of building a new high school on the intramural field on Seventh Avenue.

Such construction would mean removing Leopold varsity tennis courts and replacing them elsewhere at an additional cost, officials said.

The cost of the project will be one of the topics for a Sept. 6 public hearing to gain residents’ opinions on the planned $88 million high school construction project.

That cost includes demolishing the old B building and building a new one as well as renovating the A building.

The hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Sept. 6 in the William P. Kimmel Board Room, district officials said Monday. The ad is to appear Wednesday with the legal notices.

For a year and a half the district has been working through the state Department of Education’s process for building a new school, known as PlanCon.

In accordance with that process, the district is currently wrapping up the design phase of a high school building.

Act 34 of 1973, commonly known as the “Taj Mahal Act,” ensures that the taxpayers have a say before the board makes any further moves to build the new school.

During the board’s public comment on Monday, Kreuz defended his notes regarding some of those costs from a past meeting that he posted social media.

Superintendent Charles Prijatelj said Kreuz was correct in his Facebook post from a July meeting that a new administration building could cost $3.8 million at a specific site considered by the administration. That cost would be in addition to the $88 million high school.

Kreuz also confirmed the current plan to build at the intramural field requires the demolition of Leopold varsity tennis courts. Engineering of new ones in a new location would cost $60,000-plus.

Kreuz initially made a social media post about those costs after he attended a board physical plant meeting in July. However, board member Dutch Brennan made statements to the Mirror that Kreuz’s notes were abridged and maintained that position on Monday, saying a site for a new administration building can be found at a much lower cost than $3.8 million.

Kreuz, who is running for the board in November, regularly attends public meetings of the school board that are sparsely attended by other taxpayers in the district.

However, the board is hoping for high attendance at the Sept. 6 hearing.

Some board members were wary of approving the hearing for fear they

wouldn’t be able to change or reduce the building plans, but solicitor Carl Beard said the hearing doesn’t prevent them from reducing the cost or throwing the project out in the future.

“Whether you are for it or against it, this is about getting the public’s opinion on this,” board member Bill Ceglar said.

The issues to be addressed during the hearing are set by regulation and include an explanation of why the project is needed. In Altoona Area’s case, the administration has set its argument for a new building on its need to reduce crowding in elementary schools.

The hearing will also include the expected maximum cost, financing plans and tax impacts.

A public comment session will follow, with participants getting five minutes to make a statement to the board.

After that hearing, the school board has two more major steps tentatively scheduled over the next eight months before it has to commit to the building project.

On Feb. 12, the board is faced with putting the project out to bid, and on April 9 the board would face awarding a construction contract.

Mirror Staff Writer Russ O’Reilly is at 946-7435.

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