Putnam County board approves up to $100 million in bonds for Kelly Smith and Melrose work

The Putnam County School Board voted unanimously April 15 to approve a resolution authorizing the issuance of general obligation school bonds for Series 2025 with a not-to-exceed par amount of $100,000,000 to fund construction and renovation projects, primarily a new Kelly Smith school and work at Melrose.

The bond resolution approved by the board authorizes staff to advance the sale; financial adviser Laura Howe of PFM Financial Advisors told the board the district plans a competitive sale on June 3 and a funding/closing on June 20. “The not to exceed amount is a hundred million,” Howe said, adding that the district could issue slightly less if fee brackets require it: “If the fees… stay in the same bracket, then we would go ahead and issue for the full hundred.” District staff member Jonathan Odom described the figure in the agenda as approximate and said board approval would allow the financing process to proceed.

Board members also approved project-specific agenda items tied to the bond: formal adoption of items 14 and 15, which advance the Kelly Smith and Melrose projects; and architectural agreements for Kelly Smith (CRA Architects) and Melrose (Casper Architects). The votes on the bond resolution, the project adoptions and the architect contracts carried unanimously by voice/roll call (Districts 1–5 signified “aye”).

Why it matters: the bond will underwrite new school construction and campus work that will change which buildings remain in service. CRA and district staff described which buildings will be retained and which will be removed as part of the projects. At Kelly Smith, all campus buildings except Building 12 — the special-needs shelter and sixth-grade wing — are planned for demolition and replacement; Building 12 is intended to remain in service. At Melrose, the district plans to retain classroom wings identified as Buildings 14, 15 and 16 and the gym (Building 8); other campus buildings including the front office and cafeteria are slated for replacement or demolition.

Architectural fees, supplemental services and reimbursements were discussed. CRA’s Greg Kelly told the board he used the State of Florida Department of Management Services fee curve as a guide and said the fee for K–12 work was reduced in negotiations: “The price for schools was, I think, 6.3%, and we negotiated it down to 5.5.” Board counsel and district counsel also noted the contracts include supplemental services and reimbursable expenses; the latter include a 10% premium on top of actual reimbursable costs, which the board attorney flagged as a point staff should be aware of before execution.

The board directed staff to continue coordinating with rating agencies and to finalize sale logistics. Odom and Howe said rating calls will be scheduled after the board’s approval and the team will monitor municipal market conditions; Howe cautioned that market volatility could require adjustments before the sale. Board members asked staff to re-send the timeline and document package to the full board.

Votes at a glance: the board approved (1) the resolution authorizing general obligation school bonds, Series 2025 (not-to-exceed $100,000,000); (2) adoption of agenda items 14 and 15 advancing Kelly Smith and Melrose projects; and (3) architectural agreements for Kelly Smith (CRA Architects) and Melrose (Casper Architects). All motions passed unanimously.

Next steps: staff will coordinate rating-agency calls, prepare the competitive sale documentation for early June and return with final sale numbers and closing details prior to the June 20 funding date.