Board reviews 10‑year capital plan and considers $750,000 design authorization for Project 3

Board members and district staff spent substantial time on Feb. 20 reviewing the district’s 10‑year capital maintenance plan and the early planning steps for Project 3, a multi‑phase performing‑arts and facilities project that will follow completion of Project 2.

District staff said the 10‑year maintenance plan groups projects by four lenses — accessibility, sustainability, needs-based replacement and opportunistic work — and that the summer 2026 package under consideration includes about $2.0 million in accessibility work and $1.5 million in sustainability work for a scope total just under $4.9 million. With contingency, soft costs and fees added, staff estimated a summer‑2026 budget of $6,860,000.

The board was asked to authorize FGM to begin programming and schematic design for Project 3 with an initial design authorization of about $750,000. District staff and FGM representatives explained that the payment would cover programming and schematic design work and would be credited against the overall design fee if the project proceeds to later stages.

“We always say a measured approach,” a district facilities/finance staff member told the board, summarizing how the district is staging work and holding some projects in the plan unassigned to a year pending funding and grant clarity. The staff member called the FGM amount “the initial portion of the overall design fee.”

Board members broadly supported moving the planning work forward but urged more clarity on funding options and milestone billing. Greg asked for a reconciliation of the 10‑year plan against the original Imagine master plan to avoid duplication; board members emphasized transparency and a strong public engagement record in advance of major capital asks.

Several board members said they wanted clearer scenarios for how Project 3 would be funded before committing to the design authorization, and asked for milestone-based billing detail from FGM and a clearer breakdown of what portion of the $750,000 would be payable at each design milestone. Tony and FGM representatives said monthly billing would reflect progress across programming, concept and schematic design milestones and that the initial payment would be credited to the overall fee if work continued.

Other technical topics discussed included the district’s evaluation of a parking/garage structure that the village currently maintains and will transfer to the district in coming years; a structural review found the garage retains useful life if maintained but would not meet current seismic standards for upward expansion.

District staff said they will return with more detailed funding scenarios and with an updated timeline and milestone/billing schedule; the board did not take a final vote to authorize the $750,000 design contract at the Feb. 20 meeting and scheduled further discussion and a possible approval vote at the special meeting in two weeks.

The administration said it will incorporate racial equity analysis and broad stakeholder engagement into Project 3 programming and said it will share meeting notes and stakeholder summaries as the process proceeds.