TUPPER LAKE — Tupper Lake voters narrowly approved a $20.5 million capital improvement plan for the Tupper Lake Central School District on Tuesday.

In total, 243 people turned out to vote — 144 voted “yes” and 99 voted “no.” The spending plan, which will allow the district to improve security and upgrade all of its major school buildings, passed with just under 60% of the vote.

The state will pay for almost three-quarters of the project, with the state Education Department picking up about $15.2 million of the bill, which leaves Tupper Lake taxpayers to foot the $5.3 million difference over the next 17 years. The cost per taxpayer is tied to property values. This will cost taxpayers who own property valued at $200,000 between $8 and $13 more a month for 17 years.

TLCSD Superintendent Russ Bartlett said it was tough to see the high number of “no” votes, but he was relieved that the spending was approved.

“You always want turnout to be high and you always want overwhelming support. But we are in a time where the financial situation is not great,” Bartlett said. “I understand that people have difficulty with an increase in (taxes) that is already straining them.

“You have to appreciate everyone who comes out and voices their opinion because it’s truly the only opinion that matters, showing up to vote. Everything else is just noise,” he added.

With a difference of 45 votes and a 50% approval rate needed to pass it, only 23 fewer “yes” votes or 23 more “no” votes could have swayed the decision the other way.

Bartlett said he understands why people voted against the spending.

“The ‘no’ votes probably came from a place of … financial times are tough. And any increase in taxes that you have an opportunity to vote no on … I understand it,” he said. “I just hope that people will understand it is the safety of kids walking into the building every day for the next 20, 30 years that we’re looking at.”

He said they will try to do the most they can with the least financial impact to taxpayers.

“I think we were as responsible as we could be and still address all the issues that address student safety and building conditions,” Bartlett said. “The truth of the matter is that we have a 50-plus-year-old building and a (90)-plus-year-old building and it takes money to keep those things running.”

The goal is to create an environment that students and staff feel safe and comfortable to learn in, he said.

Bartlett said these capital project improvements are upgrades necessary to send children to school in the safest possible way. And he said district has pared down a lot from its original list to just the necessities.

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The work

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The district plans to reconfigure entrances to both schools to meet standard practices for school security where people get buzzed in to a main office before entering the rest of the building. These will be the most obvious and visible changes.

“You can never skimp on safety,” Bartlett said.

He said they’ve been fortunate to not have had major security issues recently, but these security measures would provide a lot of “peace of mind.”

These building improvements include major updates to the entrances to both schools for better security; new roofs for some buildings; the replacement of old windows, doors and utilities; safety improvements for the bus garage; new sidewalks; and improvements to the school-owned Civic Center ice rink and the elementary school fields.

Bartlett said this project was triggered by a building condition survey the district does every five years, which identified a number of health and safety issues, as well as a number of building and infrastructure problems.

He said most of the things on this list are “to-do list” leftovers from previous capital projects, which didn’t get funded before but need to get done now for health and safety reasons. L.P. Quinn Elementary School is more than 50 years old now, and the middle-high school is more than 90 years old.

Spending money on these improvements now is more cost-effective than having to address the issues they pose when they become unmanageable later, he said.

Bartlett is now starting to put together a schedule for the construction. He estimates work could start in the spring and get into full swing in the summer, with a projected completion sometime in 2026. When work happens will depend on when students are at the school, to avoid disruptions.

More details of the construction plans can be read about at tinyurl.com/yxa89znj. The district also produced a video explaining the project, which can be viewed at tinyurl.com/yrc8db57.

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The cost

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Using an average home value of $200,000, Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES Assistant Superintendent for District Finance and Operations Dan Bower estimates that the project will cost a senior citizen owning a home of that value an extra $100 annually for 17 years, an additional $8.33 a month.

For non-senior citizens who qualify for STAR, a reduction in school taxes, the impact will be an extra $131 annually, an additional $10.92 a month.

Non-senior citizens who do not qualify for STAR would pay an extra $154 annually, an additional $12.83 per month.

Someone who owns a home of that value that isn’t their primary residence, so they don’t qualify for STAR, will pay an estimated additional $154 annually, an additional $12.83 per month.