Bonds for Dalton High School to be voted on Monday

Published 10:50 pm Saturday, May 16, 2015

Dalton officials could decide Monday to issue up to $10.5 million in bonds to finance upgrades at Dalton High School.

The Dalton Building Authority is scheduled to vote on the bond resolution at 5 p.m. at City Hall in the third floor conference room.

The funds would be used for the renovation of an ailing, nearly 20-year-old HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning) system.

District administrators have called the HVAC upgrade, and other needed fixes that would be included in the project — new paint, carpet, ceiling tiles, flooring, security systems and more — “urgent.”

“We’re struggling with that HVAC,” said Rusty Lount, director of operations for Dalton Public Schools. “It’s a daily chore to keep that thing running.”

The school district has allocated approximately $14 million to $16 million of 2013 ESPLOST (Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) dollars for the renovations, but will need to borrow money, as those funds are being collected during the next several years.

If that resolution passes, the City Council is set to vote on a measure to approve it when they meet at 6 p.m. at City Hall in the first floor council chambers.

The City Council is also set to vote on two property measures for Dalton Utilities. The Dalton Utilities board will meet Monday at 2:30 p.m.

Dalton Utilities President and CEO Don Cope says the board will discuss both the purchase of 78 acres near its Murray County land application system (LAS) property from Springbank LLC for $195,000 and the sale of about 170 acres outside the fenced-in area of the LAS to Micky D. Long for $206,172, in executive session. They will then vote on those matters in open meeting.

If the Dalton Utilities board approves those measures, the City Council will vote on them that evening.

Cope said that in the deals to acquire the LAS property decades ago, the utility guaranteed the owner of the Springbank property access through the LAS if needed. Springbank recently asked for that access but Cope says utility officials had security concerns and offered to buy the property.

Cope says the utility plans to sell property outside the fenced-in part of the LAS and the sale that will be discussed Monday is the first step in that.

Staff writer Jeff Harrison contributed to this story.