Board consensus: new, not renovated, DVES

July 17 long-range planning meeting blow-by-blow

Contractors started construction on the water treatment facility at the Dingman Delaware campus, said board member and long-range planning committee chair John Kupillas.

The district may not have to worry while doing construction on the main DV campus about connecting to the Westfall sewer system, which would be an extremely costly endeavor, according to Kupillas, who said the district will be fine if they continue to operate within their DEP permit. 

Board directors came to a consensus that they are most likely interested in building a new DV Elementary School rather than renovating the existing building.

Board member Sue Casey proposed combining previously drafted designs, combining a new school to be situated at the location of the district office with renovations to connect the high school and athletic building including additional room for spectators at the pool and a new, larger gym.

Other discussions included constructing practice fields where feasible on the land the school acquired behind Wal-Mart, since a field or two or three will likely be lost during the construction of the new elementary school. 

The building will likely be two stories and potentially include a partial basement for storage.

An architect from Burkavage Associates working with the district on the construction project was present to answer questions from those present at the meeting.  The new building will strive for a silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, the architect said. 

During the regular meeting that directly followed the long-range planning committee meeting, the board voted under other business to take the first step in seriously moving forward on the project. Two directors voted no, Pam Lutfy and John Wroblewski. According to Wroblewski, he voted no not because he is opposed to building a new school but because he would like to see the elementary school built on its own, safe campus. Casey voted yes, but explained she was confident that a future board would work with her to get the elementary school built on new land. She voted yes because she wanted to ensure that a new school would be built to serve the DV students, she said.