BATH

Members of the four RSU 1 communities voted overwhelmingly in favor of a concept design and budget for the new Morse High School and Bath Regional Career and Technical Center building during a straw poll on Tuesday.

The straw poll is an important step toward getting bonds to fund the project on the November ballot.

With the straw poll a success, RSU 1 representatives will travel to Millinocket on Wednesday to make a presentation to the Maine Board of Education to gain their approval. The district has been working closely with the board on the design and funding for the project, and chief architect Ron Lamarre of Lavallee Brensinger Architects expressed confidence at the last RSU 1 board of directors meeting that the project would move forward.

“They’re going to approve this, and it not only approves the money, but it approves the concept design,” Lamarre said.

Prior to the vote, Lamarre gave an hour-long presentation on the concept design and budget and answered questions from residents.

The proposed budget comes to $75.4 million, with 89.5 percent of that funding coming from the state, according to Lamarre’s presentation. The remaining 10.5 percent, or $7.9 million, will be paid for by the communities that make up RSU 1. That local-only funding represents features of and add-ons to the building that the state is unwilling to pay for, but the building committee deemed necessary.

“It is very important that even though it’s not recognized in the state guidelines, that you, as a community, have said, ‘We need a place like this, or we need a place like that,’” said Lamarre, “because we’re building for the next several decades.”

Some such features include additional seating in the theater, a larger IT space, a multi-purpose room and a tickets/concessions area near the gymnasium.

The district plans to fundraise $700,000 toward the local-only portion of the funding, meaning that residents would vote in November for bonds totaling no more than $7.2 million. According to Lamarre’s presentation, for a $100,000 property in each community, taxes would be raised as follows: $17.59 in Arrowsic; $31.69 in Bath; $13.87 in Phippsburg, and $30.96 in Woolwich.

While the purpose of the straw poll vote was to approve the budget and the general design, the full design will not be finalized for another year, said Lamarre.

“We are continually looking for input from the community. We are trying to build a learning environment that will serve our kids for decades to come,” said Steven August, chairman of the school board.

nstrout@timesrecord.com