By Dan Sokil dsokil@journalregister.com

A stronger than expected 2012, and revenue from one large supermarket project in particular, put Montgomery Townships budget well into the black in 2012.

The townships board of supervisors voted unanimously Monday night to transfer $1.1 million into township reserve funds, most of a $1.3 million surplus that township Finance Director Shannon Drosnock credited to a combination of several factors.

The townships revenues were strong in 2012, led predominantly by building permits and earned income taxes, which were led by the Wegmans commercial construction project and new residential housing permits, she said.

Total township revenues increased by a total of roughly $400,000, from a total of $11.7 million in 2011, to $12.1 million last year, fueled largely by an increase of $345,000 in building permit revenues and a $159,000 jump in earned income tax revenues, Drosnock told the board.

Her fourth quarter budget presentation outlined the townships 2011 revenue year-end totals and final figures from 2012, with the latter year showing improvements in most categories to the benefit of the townships bottom line. Permit and license fees totaled $1.556 million in 2012, up from $1.165 million the year before, and total tax revenues from all sources climbed to $9.726 million in 2012 from $9.572 million in 2011.

Earned income and business privilege tax revenues also increased over 2011 figures, and on the expense side of the townships ledgers, nearly all categories showed costs in line with or below estimates.

The largest township expense, its police department, saw spending increase slightly to $5.652 million from $5.459 million in 2011 largely due to personnel costs spelled out in the collective bargaining agreement between department and township, but Drosnock said that increase was offset by the corresponding increase in township revenues across the board.

Our Code department expenses were $885,000 against $838,000 in 2011. That is a 5.5 percent increase, and a large portion of that is related to additional expenses offset by additional revenues from new construction projects, she said.

Overall, the level costs and increased revenues led to a year end surplus of $1.3 million to the townships general fund, leaving that fund at $4.1 million at the end of fiscal year 2012. Based on those figures Drosnock recommended, and the board voted, to transfer $1.1 million of that surplus money into the townships capital reserve fund to pre-fund three capital project expenditures slated for this year: $676,000 for the townships 14-year road plan, $386,000 for 2013s equipment replacements, $23,000 to fund an eventual roof replacement of the township administration building and $15,000 for HVAC system upgrades to the same building.

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Montgomery Township board moves $1.1 million surplus into reserves

by Billy Todd Staff Writer The Sampson Independent

Sampson County School Board Chairman, Telfair Simpson, center and board member Faye Gay, right, listen as superintendent Dr. Ethan Lenker shares the proposed request from the board to the county commissioners for capital outlay for 2013-2114. (Billy Todd/Sampson Independent)

Sampson County Schools will be seeking just over $3 million in capital outlay money from commissioners for the 2013-14 school year, with the funds designated for such things as roofing needs, increased school safety and general maintenance items, that everything from repaving to enclosing a multi-purpose room.

Although it may seem early to be thinking of the next fiscal budget, for Sampson Countys Board of Education it is not. So during its regular meeting Monday night, superintendent, Dr. Ethan Lenker presented the 2013-14 capital outlay requests to board members who, in turn, gave the green light to move the request on to commissioners.

In his presentation, Lenker said that in order for the commissioners to have adequate time to consider their request prior to budget talks, it was important for the boards requests to be sent in a timely manner.

The superintendent explained that there were three areas that the board had discussed at their retreat and he presented each area for their consideration.

The first area was general capital outlay, which includes items for individual schools, such as enclosing a multi-purpose area for the fourth and fifth grade at Clement Elementary; drainage catch basins; additional exterior lighting and re-paving of the staff parking lot at Hargrove; additional lighting and playground fencing at Hobbton Elementary; additional restroom for the seventh grade at Hobbton Middle and HVAC replacement; HVAC replacement and construction of restroom/locker room facility at Hobbton High; replacement of media floor covering and paving student parking lot at Lakewood; additional fencing for playground at Midway Elementary; installing baseball/softball bleachers, additional fencing, soccer field grading, digital marque, additional athletic field paving, risers for band room at Midway High; additional bus rider canopy and upgrade of playground equipment at Plain View.

At Roseboro Elementary projects requested for funding included a shelter for playground, water fountains for playground and paving for new basketball court; replace computer labs floor coverings at Roseboro-Salemburg Middle; an additional storage building at Salemburg. For Union Elementary, upgrade playground equipment area, upgrade fire panel equipment, HVAC replacements; Union Middle needs included HVAC replacements and home side athletic bleachers. Improvements for the district include mobile classrooms and associated cost, replacement of two vehicles, fire alarm systems upgrades, replacement blinds and furniture, asbestos removal and HVAC replacements.

The total cost of this portion of the capital outlay request is $1,181,500.

Lenker said in the light of recent developments dealing with school security, a need to address safety in the county schools was included in the second area for capital outlay security.

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County schools requesting over $3M in capital outlay

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The U.S. Housing Stock: Ready for Renewal report, released by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, shows an unexpected high demand for home improvement projects in 2013. Destiny Homes, a Minneapolis luxury home builder comments on the report and the increase in Minneapolis home remodeling.

Minneapolis, Minnesota (PRWEB) January 24, 2013

Prior to the strengthened housing recovery in 2012, the housing market "experienced years of underinvestment in the nations housing stock", according to the report. Homeowners who have ridden out the market lows now face a greater need to tackle the home improvement projects accruing on their To-Do Lists.

Butch Sprenger, owner of Destiny Homes, commented: "During the housing market downturn, some luxury home owners held off on upper-end discretionary improvement projects, such as major kitchen remodels, room additions and bath remodels. With an increase in the number of homeowners now moving ahead, many Minneapolis home design and building contractors finished 2012 strong and anticipate an even better 2013".

Following home improvement remodeling data and trends, the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard estimates that spending on home improvements increased about 9 percent in 2012. "In 2011, improvement spending on distressed properties was estimated to be almost $10 billion. Housing starts also climbed almost 30 percent in 2012, while existing home sales surpassed the 4.0 million mark for the first time," according to the report.

Destiny Homes finds the following key highlights in the home improvement report findings:

The report highlights the growing supply of homes that have been through the protracted foreclosure process represents a major opportunity for home remodeling contractors. In 2011 alone, renovations of just over a million distressed properties generated about $10 billion in home improvement spending. With nearly 3 million additional homes currently in or at risk of foreclosure, many more billions must be spent to upgrade these properties for return to the housing market through home renovations and remodels to make them suitable once again to be owner-occupied.

"The Minneapolis improving housing market experienced a tremendous influx of home investors in 2012 who bought up Twin Cities foreclosed homes for the purpose of renovating them and investing in their home values for a later return", says Sprenger.

According to the report, home improvement projects intended to increase environmental sustainability are likely to account for a growing share of dollars spent on home remodeling. Home builder efforts to build green homes are rewarded in the marketplace, by home buyers who are willing to paying premiums of nearly 10 percent for new homes that carry a green home certification.

Older homeowners are retrofitting their homes to accommodate their future needs and upgrades to maintain a home. "Due to colder winters Minneapolis home builders frequently see requests for better home insulation. As a Twin Cities luxury home builder, we have seen an increase in high-ended home remodels in existing homes, including historic Minneapolis homes." notes Sprenger. Both homeowners of older homes and higher incomes yield greater homeowner spending on improvements. "Among metros with the highest improvement spending per household in 2011, 42% of homeowners earned above $100,000," according to the Harvard report.

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Harvard Housing Report On Unexpected High Home Improvement Demand

EAST LANSING (WILX)-- The MSU Board of Trustees made a move that will keep the Munn Ice Arena from turning into a swimming pool, so to speak.

The arena has some much needed renovations where the Spartans play hockey. The ice making system has seen the end of it's days and the HVAC system need to be replaced says Deputy Director of Athletics Greg Ianni.

"We have an issue with the equipment, and we are using a refrigerant we can no longer use in two years," said Ianni.

It will cost $6,500,000 to replace the systems. The money will be coming from the Athletics Department.

"We knew about this for a while now. We've identified the resources that will come out of athletic department funds money that has already been set aside. Were ready," said Ianni.

They would like to do the replacements after the 2014 hockey season so the college season will not be affected. Those who use the arena during the summer will not be forgotten. Ianni says he will be finding a different location for Youth Camps and open skate to use after March next year.

Before it's all finished Ianni hopes there will be some changes made for the fans as well.

"What our fan swill notice is that the glass will be different. The panels will be wider and more user friendly from the spectators perspective," said Ianni.

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MSU Board Approves Munn Ice Arena Renovations

$387 million sought to address safety, growth, technology, priority projects

They started with a list of $600 million in needs for the Clear Creek Independent School District (CCISD), but after five months, numerous tours and exhaustive document reviews, a special citizens committee ranked $387 million worth of projects as the highest priorities to meet the districts growth, safety, and technology needs for the next three to five years. The CCISD Citizens Facility Advisory Committee made its preliminary recommendations to the Board of Trustees on Monday, January 14, 2013.

We began this process in September. The committee has reached consensus on all of the recommendations, said Trent Martin, Committee Chair. When we asked a question on a particular item, we received a detailed response from the district.

The last bond approval for the Clear Creek Independent School District was in 2007. The 2007 bond primarily dealt with building new campuses to accommodate growth, leaving very little of that bond for upgrading aging facilities and technology.

The Committee recommends the District address worsening conditions of 40 year and older schools such as Clear Lake High School, McWhirter Elementary, Clear Creek High School, Seabrook Intermediate and Clear Lake Intermediate to ensure these schools are safe and effective learning environments for decades to come. The Committee reviewed many options for these aging facilities and in the end determined a rebuild was necessary for Clear Lake High School which already needed $30 million in priority repairs and McWhirter Elementary which required $12 million in priority repairs.

It was a question of whether the District should continue to put a band-aid on a bad situation or invest in more efficient use of these two facilities so that they can last another 40 to 50 years, said Martin. Our recommendation is to completely rebuild both schools, with the exception of some areas of Clear Lake High School.

The recommendation also completes the rebuild of Clear Creek High School where a section of the 1956 building remains untouched. Under this proposal, 38 schools and 8 district support facilities would receive a total of $90 million in priority renewals and replacements from life safety equipment to HVAC and roofs that have reached their lifespan. The Committees recommendations also address an ongoing security concern at Clear Brook High School since the campus is the only high school that does not have a secure main entrance. Clear Brook High School also suffered a significant foundation failure which caused the building to separate near the main entrance. The recommendation also addresses replacements for school buses that are 15-20 years old and have more than 200,000 miles.

The Committee also calls for an infusion in technology to ensure CCISD students have access to 21st century tools. The last significant investment in technology was in 2004 where voters approved $38 million in technology. This proposal asks for $50 million to improve the wireless infrastructure in every school; provide teachers and students in multiple grade levels with tablet computers to access curriculum 24 hours a day; replace aging computer labs and career and technical labs; and increase the availability of interactive whiteboards and projectors.

In CCISD we believe learning occurs any time, in any place, and at any pace. Without this investment, we will not be living up to our promise to our community of providing our students access to 21st century teaching and learning, said Greg Smith, Superintendent of Schools.

While the committee worked diligently to ensure priority replacements and renewals were addressed, it was also cognizant that the District continues to grow by 400-600 new students per year. The Committee is not recommending any new schools be constructed at this time, but is recommending permanent additions be added to Greene Elementary and Creekside Intermediate to relieve overcrowding. Growth is also the reason why the Committee recommends a second district stadium and the expansion of agriculture support centers. The current stadium was constructed in the 1950s to serve Clear Creek High School. Today it serves five comprehensive high schools.

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CCISD Citizens Committee releases list of district needs

The backlog of heating, ventilation and air conditioning projects in Montgomery County Public Schools will have to wait if the County Council follows County Executive Isiah Leggetts recommendations, which was announced Tuesday.

Citing fiscal restraints, Leggett said he did not recommend amendments to the countys 2013-2018 Capital Improvement Program that would add $14.2 million to the school systems already approved $1.35 billion capital plan.

School Superintendent Joshua P. Starr and the Board of Education sent Leggett their request for the projects in November after a series of public hearings. The County Council will review Leggetts recommendations and finalize amendments in the spring.

The bulk of the request, or $11.5 million, would go to HVAC systems. The rest of the request is for $2.5 million for building parts such as fire alarms, public address systems, water and sewer systems, floors, ceilings, windows and doors as well as $220,000 for boundary and capacity studies for schools.

Starr said in a statement Tuesday he is disappointed, as the small increase would allow the school system to make much-needed infrastructure improvements.

Many of our HVAC systems are being used well beyond their expected life, and, each year, we are falling further behind in our infrastructure needs as we try to keep up with our growth, Starr wrote. We cannot continue to make repairs to systems that are long overdue for replacement.

The school system is so behind on repairs and replacements for the systems, it would have to spend $28 million per year for the next 10 years to catch up, according to MCPS information released in October.

Despite the urgency, school board President Christopher S. Barclay warned the community in November that the county might not approve the extra funds.

We have to recognize the possibility of these being pushed back by the executive, he said in November, adding that several projects have been pushed back in the past five years.

With growing enrollment and aging buildings, the requested improvements are crucial, Barclay said in a statement Tuesday.

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Gazette.Net: Montgomery executive denies school leaders

Street improvements, changes at the Hillcrest Park Zoo and the first phase of the effluent reuse project are city projects on the horizon for 2013.

Here is a general summary of whats coming up for the year ahead:

n Norris Street project: A request to go out for bids on improvements on Norris Street between Llano Estacado Boulevard and Wilhite Road are on the agenda for todays Clovis City Commission meeting.

City Engineer Justin Howalt said the work, with construction set to start in March, will take Norris from a two-lane rural road to a three-lane urban setup a northbound lane, a southbound lane and a central lane for left turns.

The surface will be hot mixed asphalt, and other work will upgrade the curb and gutters, sidewalks and drainage.

Work is expected to take 300 calendar days.

n Martin Luther King Boulevard project: Howalt said the scope of work is exactly the same, with the only difference being the timeframe.

That means the city commission will be asked to approve bidding the project in March, with the 300 days of work to begin in May.

Work will take place between Llano Estacado Boulevard and 21st Street.

n Effluent pipeline project: A bid was awarded at the last city commission meeting of 2012 to construct Phase 1A. The phase cost is $4.8 million.

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Road projects top city's to-do list for 2013

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