With the school year set to begin the week after the Aug. 25 board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Hatter updated the board on campus facility work and upcoming construction bids.

"As you come onto our campus, you'll notice some enhancements," Dr. Hatter said, noting that parking lots and driveways at the middle and high school have been sealed and that lines will be repainted. He said the district is applying a second coat and will repaint directional lines, and thanked the Town of Yorktown for paving the commuter lot "at the town's expense."

Dr. Hatter said the district expects to reline the C Lot with parking stalls and directional arrows to “balance safety with capacity.” He provided a parking count for the lower lot, saying, "As it currently stands, we believe we have 95 parking spaces in the lower lot," and explained the plan to mark one-way traffic and angled parking to reduce conflicts among inexperienced student drivers.

The superintendent attributed the C Lot paving to advocacy by the superintendent student council. "The students made such articulate and passionate cases for paving the C Lot," he said, and added that the town supervisor and highway superintendent agreed to pave the lot after meeting the students.

Facilities work over the summer included behind-the-scenes maintenance such as air-filter replacement and plumbing and electrical repairs, and Dr. Hatter commended Dennis Verboise and the custodial and operations staff for that work.

Separately, the Facilities Projects Committee reported it finalized bid documents for Brookside and Mohans (bid documents were issued and bids returned last week). Construction manager Aris was reviewing returned bids; the committee hopes to place bid awards on the September agenda with construction beginning as early as Oct. 1. The committee also reported putting construction fences at Brookside and Mohans in advance of the school year and preparing bid documents and specs for field and concession-building work; contractors picked up the specs last week and bids are due in September.

Dr. Hatter also said the Yorktown Volunteer Fire Department asked about a possible partial property-tax exemption for fire company-owned property. He said he will study the financial impact and follow up with the board, adding, "I don't believe that it is a substantial impact. I believe it is a very modest impact, but I'd like to... do a little further investigation."

Board members expressed appreciation for the completed projects and for the custodial staff's work preparing buildings for the opening of school.