Nov 17, 2017 3 min read

An opportunity to learn all about the particulars of the $90 million-plus Peters Township High School project drew a moderate crowd to the school board’s meeting room Thursday.

As required by state Act 34 of 1973, the board conducted a hearing to detail the impetus for, design of and, of course, money involved in the new construction, which has a targeted completion in time for the start of the 2020-21 school year.

Michael Zubasic of PNC Capital Markets, who works with the district on financial aspects of the project, discussed the district’s issuance of general obligation bonds to pay for the project and the anticipated impact on real estate taxes.

“We have it staggered to be a .25(-mill) impact each of the next five years, to help ease the burden in on taxpayers, and then finish off whatever’s left in the last year, but not to exceed 1.5,” he said. “We’re very confident of being able to do that, given the low-interest-rate environment.”

The Act 34 hearing provided an opportunity for public comment, to be entered into the record filed with the state Department of Education, with one resident taking the board up on the offer.

Mark Nave of Inverness Drive addressed what he considers the need for sidewalks in the vicinity of the new school, to be built on the 190-acre site of the former Rolling Hillls Country Club at East McMurray and Center Church roads, where plans also call for a municipal park.

“I’ve consistently seen children walking on McMurray Road to and from the current on the high school with no sidewalks and traffic only passing a few feet away from the children,” he said, explaining he has witnessed some close calls between vehicles and pedestrians. “It makes me nervous and afraid, and worried that it’s eventually going to happen and it’s all on us.”

He noted the proximity of various residential neighborhoods to the site.

“The complex, the school and the park, will certainly be a center of the township, and undoubtedly will be attractive to walkers to the school,” Nave said. “Especially if there’s an aquatic facility on the grounds, who’s not going to want to walk there in June, July and August, and even September?”

The district conducted a study of whether to renovate the existing high school or build new.

“After considerations regarding the return on investment, it was decided that a new high school would be the best approach to address the mechanical issues at the existing high school,” Superintendent Jeannine French said about deficiencies in the building’s heating and cooling systems, “and the programming issues, including lack of classroom space and lack of space to accommodate the entire student body.”

Mark Duane of Hayes Design Group, which is working with development firm Weber Murphy Fox as project architects, provided details about how the three-story structure will be configured.

“The overall design intent is to provide spaces which are cost-effective, low-maintenance, flexible and which enhance the activities that they house,” he said. “All areas of the building are infused with state-of-the-art wired and wireless technology, and security and communications systems.”