Voters face school tax questions Tuesday

Residents in the Wrenshall and Moose Lake school districts will vote on an increase in school taxes to pay for improvements at the schools in special elections Tuesday, May 14.

In Wrenshall, officials are hoping the third time will be the charm after voters rejected referendum proposals in April 2017, and then again last fall by a much smaller majority.

In the current referendum proposal, the Wrenshall school district is requesting to bond for $14.4 million. The plan is to shore up the shell of the now-closed rec building and convert it into a space for hands-on technical education. Outfitting the space would come from in-kind donations from trades companies that are trying to foster a workforce of skilled workers. Kraus-Anderson, the construction management team working with the district, has committed to corralling those efforts.

The current gym would become a secondary gym to a new main gym, with the two adjoining each other. The nonfunctioning pool area would be remodeled to add four classrooms and improve space for athletics.

More than half of the $14.4 million would go to improving the air quality in the portions of the building built in 1956 and 1963.

Here’s how the budget breaks down (numbers are rounded off):

Indoor air quality and fire suppression - $6.7 million

Asbestos removal - $500,000

Roof priority 1 - $310,000

Roof priority 2 - $247,000

Windows - $95,000

Re-skin elementary building - $343,000

Tuckpointing - $198,000

Elementary classroom remodeling - $1.07 million

Single gymnasium $2.036 million

Existing gym floor and moisture mitigation- $99,000

Secure entry remodel - $ $397,000

Recreation building - $&41,000

Relocate science classroom - $347,000

Repurpose pool - $1.3 million

A well functioning school means that any talk about district consolidation would include an option in keeping a school in Wrenshall, school board member Janaki Fisher-Merritt has said.

The average market value for a home in the Wrenshall School District is $150,000. The current referendum would raise the tax on that value by $288 a year for 20 years, or $24 a month. Or 80 cents a day, 10 cents a working-day hour.

Voting will take place from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Silver Brook Town Hall, 401 Alcohol Road in Wrenshall.

Moose Lake

The Moose Lake school district is asking ask voters to approve the sale of bonds to complete the athletic field complex and build practice fields at the new school.

There will be two questions on the ballot. Question One would have to pass during the referendum election before Question Two could pass.

Question One asks for $3,935,000 in bonding authority to finance a new parking lot for the athletic complex as well as overflow parking during major events at the school; a new playground for the early childhood program; a grandstand with a press box and fiber optic cable; and a new building with lockers, restrooms, concessions, ticket sales and storage that would be built near the entrance to the athletic complex. Dugouts, bullpens and a batting cage are also needed for the baseball field on the partially completed athletic complex. The trail through the school forest is included and would be used by cross-country runners.

Question Two asks for $2.7 million in bonding authority to finance building a softball complex with multiple lighted fields, an activities parking lot and lighting on the track/football field and baseball field. The school district has had discussions with the City of Moose Lake regarding additional city-owned fields as part of the softball complex. Two areas of the complex could be used for soccer and lacrosse in the future.

There would be a concessions/restrooms/storage building at that complex also, as well as an activities parking lot. That complex would be used by the school for physical education and the community.

The same state aid of 60 percent of costs provided for the 2014 referendum is available for the referendum.

Voters can cast their ballots at Moose Lake Community Center (library entrance) at 313 Elm Ave. in downtown Moose Lake Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Absentee voting still available

Eligible voters who can’t participate in the special elections Tuesday can cast absentee ballots at the auditor’s office at the Carlton County Courthouse in Carlton between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. today and Monday, but not on election day. The auditor’s office will also be open for absentee voting from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 11. People can also drop off any requested mailed absentee ballots at the auditor’s office if they’ve run out of time to return the ballots via the mail.

Minnesota allows for same-day voter registration.