News

Voters approve bond issue in Westhope

By Scott Wagar

12/17/2013

The residents of Westhope’s school district voted in favor of a $4.5 million referendum on Monday which will allow the district to construct additions to its present school along with renovation work within the school.

The city voted on two issues, which included a bond issue and a debt limit. The bond issue passed with 158 yes votes to 71 no votes. The bond issue by law needed 60 percent of the vote to pass and received 69 percent of the voters’ approval.

The second question on the debt limited needed the majority of the vote and passed with a 152 yes votes and 77 no votes.

Overall, 229 eligible school district residents voted in the election, which equals around 80 percent of the entire population of the district.

The next step for the school district is to meet with its architectures and plan out the details of the new additions and the renovation work in the present day buildings.

Once the plans are completed, the district will go through the bid process and then start the construction process, which will start in the spring of 2014 with an estimated completion date in the fall of 2015.

John Gruenberg, superintendent of the Westhope School District, was pleased with the vote.

“It’s really exciting,” Gruenberg said. “It really went well.”

The project will call for four new additions and around 10 renovation projects inside the current school. It also calls for community projects in the school, which will include a day care center, fitness center and a library which will be utilized by the students and public alike.

“The day care comes down to availability of someone to staff the day care on a daily basis,” said Gruenberg.