Field Passes!

ORHS Will Get Its New Track and Field

In a surprise to many, article 3, the $1.5M ORHS Track and Field Bond, passed with 68% voting YES.  This greatly exceeded the 60% needed to pass the bond.  Article 5, which authorizes the district to sell some land and put the proceeds toward the field, and article 6, which puts $500,000 of fund balance into the field fund, also passed.  Congratulations to the supporters on a successful campaign.

The idea (and fund) to build an Oyster River track is over twenty years old.   Similar bonds have failed to reach 60% four times in the past. The board, the administration, and the supporters deserve a lot of credit for succeeding where many have failed before.  I believe the plan is to do the bulk of the construction over the summer, but I'm sure Assistant Superintendent Todd Allen and Athletic Director Corey Parker will get started immediately.

The vote was YES 1786,  NO 831.  That's a total of 2617 votes.  That exceeds the 2529 from last year's field bond, which failed with 54.6% voting YES.  This is surprising too -- I've been hearing reports, and witnessed firsthand, a relatively light day at the polls.  It was a beautiful day to be out holding a sign, with sunny skies and low 50s.

With the $400K fund balance from article 3, $500K from article 6, likely $300K from article 5, and a previous track fund of $300K, that's $1.5M.  Given that haul, it's possible the district may bond less than the full $1.5M that passed.  Since the field costs $2.3M,  the district can bond as little as $800K. I'll guess it's more likely they'll bond all or near the full amount, and put the excess toward capital maintenance projects, which they are authorized to do.

Congratulations Tom Newkirk and Kenny Rotner

In a result that surprised no one at all, Chair Tom Newkirk and Board Member Kenny Rotner were resoundingly reelected to the Oyster River School Board.  They are sentenced to three more years of hard labor.  Congratulations, Tom and Kenny.

Margaret Redhouse got a rather startling 635 votes.  I'm guessing there are not many ORCSDcleanslate readers among those. 

Oyster River School District Results

I'll reproduce the School District results here -- thanks to Todd Selig and Durham.  Mistakes in the percentages are my fault.

ARTICLE 1:  SCHOOL MODERATOR (Vote for not more than one)

Richard Laughton      2043     ELECTED

ARTICLE 2: SCHOOL BOARD AT LARGE (Vote for not more than two)

Thomas Newkirk     1670    88%    ELECTED

Kenneth Rotner       1488    78%     ELECTED
Margaret Redhouse   635    33%

Percentages calculated assuming total adds to 200%.

ARTICLE 3: Shall the District raise and appropriate the sum of $1.9 million for the renovation and construction of athletic fields and a track at Oyster River High School, and to authorize the issuance of not more than $1.5 million of bonds or notes … ? (A 3/5 (60%) ballot vote required)

YES 1786  68%     PASSED
NO    831   32%

ARTICLE 4: Shall the district vote to approve the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Oyster River Educational Support Personnel Association (ORESPA) and the Oyster River School Board? (Majority vote required)

YES 1985    77%      PASSED
NO     581    23%

ARTICLE 5: Shall the district authorize the School Board to sell the 24.97 acre lot on Orchard Drive in Durham and put the proceeds ... in the Facilities Development Capital Reserve Fund? (Majority vote required)

YES   2097   82%      PASSED
NO      464   18%

ARTICLE 6: Shall the School District . . . vote to raise and appropriate the up to $500,000 to be added to the Facilities Development Capital Reserve Fund? (Majority vote required)

YES 1996     80%      PASSED
NO     496     20%

ARTICLE 7: Shall the District establish a non-lapsing Equipment Revolving Fund . . . for the purpose of providing equipment to students in need? (Majority vote required)

YES 2228   89%     PASSED
NO    275    11%

ARTICLE 8: Shall the District raise and appropriate . . . an operating budget . . . totaling $42,303,815? Should this article be defeated, the default budget shall be $40,892,769. (Majority vote required)

YES    1695    69%     PASSED
NO        771    31%

A total of 2670 school district ballots were cast.

Town Results

Everything went our way in Lee.  The Lee Sustainability Committee passed overwhelmingly.  Congratulations to Paul Gasowski and his team.  The Tibbetts Road gating and closing was defeated as a result of a very successful campaign by John and Anne Tappan.  Congratulations.  Raw Lee Results.

Al Howland got the most number of votes for town council in Durham, so is one of the three councilors elected.  Congratulations to Al, Wayne Burton (who I should have endorsed) and Allen Bennett, who I don't know.  Raw Durham and Oyster River Results.

I didn't make any recommendations in Madbury, but here are the Raw Madbury Results.