TASD board to consider second lien for district

Trustees of Texarkana, Ark., School District will consider issuing $5 million in second-lien bonds for construction within the district, including renovations at Razorback Stadium during today's regular meeting.
In April, the district approved an amount up to $6,675,000 for various repairs withing the district, and the Arkansas Department of Education approved the action last month.
Architect Steve Elliott will present a revised plan with $3,982,000 for stadium improvements, a reduction from the previous proposal of $5,675,000. That initial amount was tentative, with this proposal more streamlined on specific renovation costs. Improvements would be done on the home side of the stadium, including home-side seating, restrooms for the visitor's side, stadium lights and parking north of the stadium. Other possible stadium additions are bleachers for the visitor's side and adding more restrooms to the home side.
The initial proposal included $126,000 for a new roof on the Career Technical Technical building, $200,000 for heating and air controls and $100,000 for a chiller at Arkansas High. These are not included in the modified proposal, but it does include $75,000 for a new gym floor at North Heights Junior High, $25,000 to re-coat five tennis courts for crack repairs and $35,000 for heating and air upgrades at the field house.
Jason Holsclaw from Stephens Public Finance, the firm negotiating the bonds, will also be at tonight's meeting to answer questions on the bonds and the debt service schedule. It shows the district asking a total of $5.14 million, to be repaid by 2030 with $807,078.13 in interest.
Board members will also consider contracting with Nutt Auction Co. for a surplus equipment auction. The proposed contract includes auctioneer's fees as 15 percent on items selling for $999 or less, and 10 percent on items selling for $1,000 and more. Aug. 6 is the proposed date for the public auction, with the auction company paying advertising expenses.
In other business, the board will consider conducting the Sept. 20 trustee election by absentee and early voting, since board candidates are running unopposed in this year's race. By not opening polling places on election day, the district expects to save around $12,000.
Also up for consideration is the purchase of computers for students at the Juvenile Detention Center. The proposal includes 30 Dell PC computers from Dell for a total of $17,618.38, with funds coming from the 2016-17 JDC budget.
Replacing network switches throughout the district will also be considered, with E-Rate paying 80 percent of the total cost of $514,303.90. These additions will eliminate overtaxing the capabilities of the district, as thousands of new wired and wireless devices are using bandwidth.
The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the TASD Administration Building, 3435 Jefferson Ave., Texarkana, Ark.