Polson School Board approves new levies
Caleb M. Soptelean
John Hipp stands next to a 1955 boiler that’s been at Cherry Valley Elementary since 1963. Hipp said that prior to being installed at the school, the boiler was used on an ocean ship.
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POLSON – Acting on authority given it by the state Legislature, the Polson School Board last week approved two new levies for area property owners.
By a vote of 6-1 with Shane Orien dissenting, the board approved a $133,900 levy representing 4.62 mills for the elementary district and a $64,700 levy representing 1.77 mills for the high school district.
In SB307 earlier this year, the Legislature took away funding for the Quality Schools Grant program and authorized school boards to approve maintenance levies without a vote of the public. Twice in recent years, Polson Schools had been approved for a Quality Schools Grant to replace an old boiler at Cherry Valley Elementary School, but the grants were not funded, Superintendent Rex Weltz said.
The new levies will result in the owner of a $100,000 home paying an additional $6.24 a year in the elementary district and $2.39 a year in the high school district. Owners of a $200,000 home would pay $12.48 and $4.79, respectively.
The levies were approved along with the 2017-18 Fiscal Year budgets, which total $10.66 million for the elementary district and $5.89 million for the high school district. Those are increased from last year’s $10.49 million and $5.82 million.
School officials say the new levies will provide funds for infrastructure and maintenance but won’t generate enough money to fund big projects. It will cost an estimated $1.4 million to replace the boiler, Weltz said.
With that in mind, he will meet with a representative of Ameresco of Helena this week to discuss options regarding the boiler at Cherry Valley.
School board president Caroline McDonald said the board had a “pretty exhaustive discussion” about the levies.
“We still have needs and the list is long,” board member Tim McGinnis said. “We have no option but to do this.”
“We’ve looked at every corner of the budget to be responsible to taxpayers,” McDonald said. “We feel the burden heavily. We’re not taking it lightly.”
She noted the Legislature authorized school boards to approve “permissive levies” over the next two years until the next legislative session.
Orien said he voted against the levies because “it’s not the way to do it.” He placed blame on the Legislature. “As bad as we need the funding, I’m not a fan of a permissive levy,” he said.
Vintage boiler
John Hipp, 63, has worked on the boiler at Cherry Valley Elementary since 1999.
Hipp, a Butte native who began working at Polson High School in 1988, is the head custodian and boilerman at Cherry Valley.
He said the boiler was made in 1955 by Weil McLain Co. of Michigan City, Indiana. It was installed at Cherry Valley in 1963. The lifespan of such a boiler is 40 years and the district has used it for 54 years.
The boiler originally used fuel oil No. 5 but was converted to diesel in the early 1990s.
“We keep adding things” to it, he said, such as “blow downs” or clean outs, but some parts cannot be replaced because they aren’t made anymore.
A 4,000-gallon underground diesel fuel tank outside the building connects to the boiler inside. Diesel fuel heats up water inside the boiler creating steam, which is then piped to classrooms.
If a pipe were to burst or leak, however, the district would probably be forced to purchase space heaters for each room, he said, noting the pipes contain asbestos. A valve quit working during the last school year and before it was replaced a space heater was used in one classroom.
“Every year is a gamble,” said Dan Giles, the district’s maintenance director.
The system is operated manually and either Hipp or Giles must check it hourly during the colder months.
If one of the boiler’s nine cast iron sectional units were to stop working, Hipp doesn’t know if the unit could be fixed.
