Lowcountry Montessori School
Minutes
Facilities February 2020
Date and Time
Thursday February 20, 2020 at 4:00 PM
Location
749 Broad River Drive
Beaufort, SC 29906
The mission of Lowcountry Montessori School is to provide an authentic Montessori education building a foundation for lifelong learning.
Committee Members Present
C. Lucas (remote), M. Zappia, T. Vande Burgt
Committee Members Absent
None
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C. Lucas called a meeting of the Facilities Committee of Lowcountry Montessori School to order on Thursday Feb 20, 2020 at 4:08 PM.
II. Facilities
A.
USDA Update
B.
New Building Plans
Matt provided an outline document of the phases of USDA funding. Phase 1 to purchase the existing facility. Phase 2 is to make modifications and building new structure/driveway. Members discuss sections of the document.
Phase 2 includes floor changes in existing buildings, changes in offices and changing out HVAC air handlers at a cost of $60k. Clay pointed out that this would cause the school to finance HVAC for 40 years at a cost of $92k. They will likely need replacement repeatedly during the 40 year loan. Discussion included adding a new discussion item for a future meeting to include facility repair funding in the budget to avoid financing repairs.
LMS has negotiated with the Town of Port Royal, SC DOT, Fire Department and others. LMS has developed a plan to expand the driveway that gets the school to 120% of capacity requirement. Matt will provide a copy of this proposed site plan.
Phase 2 includes floor changes in existing buildings, changes in offices and changing out HVAC air handlers at a cost of $60k. Clay pointed out that this would cause the school to finance HVAC for 40 years at a cost of $92k. They will likely need replacement repeatedly during the 40 year loan. Discussion included adding a new discussion item for a future meeting to include facility repair funding in the budget to avoid financing repairs.
LMS has negotiated with the Town of Port Royal, SC DOT, Fire Department and others. LMS has developed a plan to expand the driveway that gets the school to 120% of capacity requirement. Matt will provide a copy of this proposed site plan.
C.
Facilities Support Funding
Discussed some options for better ways to fund facility support budgeting. Matt will prepare a proposal for facility budgeting including accounting for potential savings from the Phase 1 acquisition.
III. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 5:10 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
C. Lucas
Tom asked about how the new ownership of the school facility will affect the process. Matt advised that the only difference really has been the format of reporting to them. Early buyout is less likely due to the length of the USDA process.