HERMANN — Pondering a bond issue proposal, Gasconade County R-1 School District will be seeking bids for several capital improvement projects in an effort to help determine how much would be requested from voters.

R-1 directors have yet to decide whether to go back to voters with a proposal a couple years after falling just a few votes short of approving a $5-million bond issue. The prospect of another bond issue vote was raised during a recent Board of Directors session when the district’s bond counsel pointed out the healthy position R-1 is in, thanks primarily to an early payoff of bonds issued several years ago — a move that saved district taxpayers a substantial amount of dollars in interest payments.

Superintendent Geoff Neill at last Thursday night’s board session outlined several capital improvement projects that need to be dealt with, including a new roof on Hermann High School — a project that has been the topic of discussion for some time. Also being included in the consideration is an update and remodeling of the classrooms in the older portion of Hermann Elementary School.

Asphalt repairs are needed to the parking lots of both Hermann High School and Hermann Middle School, as well the replacement of heating-and-cooling equipment at the high school, middle school and elementary school. That work would involve replacing rooftop units at HES and HMS, while the split-system units at all three schools need to be replaced, according to the plan presented to the board.

As noted during the earlier board session by the district’s bond counsel, R-1 is positioned financially to where it could easily handle a $7-million bond issue. But in an interview with the Gasconade County Republican, the superintendent said he thinks an amount less than that would be needed to finance the projects outlined to the board.

He said that’s the reason bids will be sought, to get an idea of how much would be needed — with the understanding that the bids would be preliminary at this point and could change considering a bond vote would not take place at least until April, which is five months away.

“The actual RFP process will happen closer to the election as bids received now would likely fall outside of the guaranteed pricing window,” Neill said..

A decision by a political subdivision such as R-1 on placing an issue on the April ballot does not have to be made until late January, which gives the board and administration time to fine-tune any proposal they might wish to put before voters.

If the district decides to place an issue on the April ballot, it could be one of several competing for voters’ attention. Gasconade County Clerk Lesa Lietzow at a recent County Commission meeting said she’s anticipating a busy General Municipal Elections ballot in April. Neill said being part of a crowded ballot might likely wouldn’t sway R-1 from delaying a vote until an election date later in the year.

“There are often multiple issues on a ballot; I expect that to be similar no matter when we would go to our voters,” he said.

In other matters at this month’s board session, Associate Superintendent Leslie Lause praised the work of the district’s bus-maintenance crew in getting the entire fleet of buses back on the road. Earlier in the school year, as many as four of the district’s buses were out of commission for a few days.

Also, the board approved a list of items to be designated as surplus — from a group of electric stick welders to a pedestal grinder, drill presses, a lathe and a 50-inch-cut lawn tractor and several more items.