SARANAC LAKE – The Saranac Lake Central School District will ask voters to approve an $18.7 million-dollar project to rehabilitate and upgrade infrastructure at its schools.

The multi-faceted capital project was unveiled at Wednesday’s school board meeting held in the Petrova Elementary School library, where board members agreed to the lengthy list of repairs, including new roofing, sidewalks, electrical and plumbing upgrades and much more. The list of upgrades that was produced by engineering firm TechraTech with the district’s help, is 70 items long.

Superintendent Diane Fox said the work is needed.

“We are on borrowed time,” she said. “Much of what is on the list is well past its useful life. We need to keep up with the infrastructure before it becomes an emergency situation,” she said.

The district’s facilities maintenance committee, spearheaded by district Director of Facilities Vernon James, has been compiling a list of repairs since 2013, Fox said. The state requires a school buildings condition survey to be conducted every five years, which the committee completed last June. It concluded $43 million in repairs was needed.

“We knew we could not afford that and a lot of work has gone into whittling down that list to what we could make work and what was already on borrowed time,” Fox said.

When the committee compared its most recent survey results with the one completed five year’s prior and saw many repeat items, they knew it was time to act.

“Six years ago, we concluded some of the infrastructure was well past its prime,” she said. “It has been 15 years since major renovations have been done. The bond that covered the last round of upgrades is set to expire, which is why now is the time to ask voters to approve the project.”

Fox said the state could reimburse the district for just over half of the project cost, but exactly what items qualify for state building aid are still being assessed.

She is proposing the work to be conducted in two phases to spread out the cost and to “get on a more regular bonding schedule.”

Much of Wednesday night’s discussion focused on when to hold the town-wide vote.

Board President Clyde Baker advocated bringing the borrowing request to the town this January so work could begin next summer, but expressed concern over a perceived lack of transparency.

“I don’t want the voters to think we’re going under the radar by voting this winter. But if we put this to vote in December or January, we could put the work out to bid this spring.”

Fellow board member Myles VanNorthwick said there have been arguments in the past over holding a vote in winter when many “snowbirds” are out of town.

In response, Baker said he is inclined to hold the vote sooner than later.

“I want to make sure we are transparent and the public is comfortable with it, but time is ticking and we’ve been waiting a long time for these improvements.”

The board agreed a comprehensive public relations plan would be implemented as soon as they settle on the day to hold the bonding vote.

“We have a pretty short window. To sufficiently inform the public, and for us to feel we’ve done our diligence, we need an aggressive campaign,” said member Rick Petrosi.

To that end, the board discussed attending municipal meetings, placing notices in newspapers and holding forums for the public to weigh in.

The next school board meeting is scheduled for Oct.19 where members may select a date for the town-wide vote. A suggestion was for Jan.10.

The $18.7 million plan includes work to high school, including the industrial arts building. It includes but is not limited to sidewalk replacement, rehabilitation of track and field surfaces, upgrades to the electrical system, replacing the fire safety system and the gym floor and bleachers.

“If we could do another sanding, we would. But it’s been refinished so many times, it’s too thin,” Fox said.

The biggest change at Petrova Elementary School is reconfiguring the bus loop and student drop off area to allow buses to drop off students in a separate location. The school would also get a new roof, and fire prevention system, among other items.

Bloomingdale Elementary School’s list includes adding doors and partitions to separate classrooms, replacing leaking skylights, replacing the electrical service, and more.

The stairs at the former Lake Colby Elementary School main entrance would be replaced and the bus garage would have windows replaced, among other things. Although the school is closed, the district rents out the building as a preschool center.