What should high school renovation include, how will county pay for it?

The Middlesex County Board of Supervisors and Middlesex County School Board participated in a joint work session on Tuesday, Oct. 14, to discuss possible renovation of the high school or building of a new Middlesex High School (MHS) building.

There were six renovation options presented at the meeting by Stephen Halsey of Moseley Architects ranging in cost from $25 million to $58 million to a new high school costing $93 million plus.   

The renovation options vary from option one that would add a 500-seat auditorium, renovate every space, incorporate a security vestibule and convert the existing auditorium into a forum area, to option six that has an eighth grade component built into the school with a new gymnasium, cafeteria, kitchen, auditorium and classrooms. This would be built toward the east of the school and require purchase of property.

The “elephant in the room”

The meeting brought out varied opinions of what school board members and board of supervisors members want but it also highlighted the county’s fragile financial position.

Hartfield Supervisor Bill Harris took the floor towards the end of the presentation and said, “the elephant in the room is the Middlesex County Water Authority (MCWA).”

Bill Harris pointed out that the water authority is $35 million in debt after running the water system from Urbanna to Deltaville. He suggested that the debt might soon come back to weigh more heavily upon the taxpayers of Middlesex County. If this were to happen, it would change the financial dynamics of the county making Middlesex less able to take on more debt, he suggested.

“The water authority is in trouble unless we see some major (housing or commercial) developments come to Middlesex that require the purchase of more water,” said Bill Harris.

He also pointed out that the county dodged financial ruin by shedding itself of an $80 million price-tag to run sewer to the lower end of the county.

The county was working with Hampton Roads Sanitation District to run sewer to the lower end of the county, but bids came back way higher than expected, which has stalled the possibility of public sewer to Deltaville.

Where to go

Bill Harris encouraged the school board to exhaust every avenue to find ways to justify to taxpayers spending millions of dollars on a high school.

He suggested studying the possibility of going in with Mathews County on a regional high school. “They most likely do not want to do it, but we need to be able to say to taxpayers we considered it.”

He suggested contacting Lancaster County that recently completed a new high school and purchase their plans, which would lower the overall cost of a new high school building, he said.

He also suggested considering the purchase of more land in Saluda for a new high school on the site that would connect the Syd Thrift Athletic Complex to the new school. One reason renovation of the old school is a high priority is that the $3.5 million athletic complex is relatively new and walking away from that to build a new high school complex elsewhere in the county could be controversial…