GB BOCES outlines $42M campus upgrades, urges district votes and discusses financing options

GB BOCES representative Kevin McDonald told the Batavia City School District board that the regional education consortium is preparing a capital project now estimated at about $42 million and urged districts to consider an intermunicipal agreement to finance the work.

McDonald said the project would include a three-bay diesel maintenance addition at the Batavia campus to replace off-site leased space, upgrades to rooftop mechanical units and roof sections that have reached the end of their warranty, renovations to auto-mechanics and metal-trades labs, and a redesigned parking and bus drop-off area intended to separate bus flows from student drop-off. “Right now, we rent space for this, from Freightliner Freeway… we’re looking to add a 3 bay diesel facility,” McDonald said.

At the May Center (Mount Morris) campus, the plan would expand metal trades, create a new Power Sports program (small engines, boats, recreational vehicles), and add classrooms intended to support special-education and alternative-education placements that need wraparound services. McDonald also described a potential $750,000 equipment grant to expand an electromechanical program to the May Center.

McDonald stressed that the project scope and cash-flow estimates were still being finalized but explained two financing pathways. Under an intermunicipal agreement (IMA) the component districts approve the project and each district controls how to finance its share; additions or new construction require a BOCES-wide vote that totals ballots from all 22 component districts. If an IMA is not approved, the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) would finance the work — an approach McDonald warned carries substantially higher fees.

Using a $40 million example, McDonald showed Batavia’s gross share at about $4.213 million and said Batavia’s BOCES aid rate is 76 percent, which in the example reduced the estimated local net share to about $1.17 million. McDonald cautioned that the DASNY route would increase total financing costs materially: “you’re still gonna get the aid on it. But, man, we’re paying $66,000,000 for $40,000,000 worth of work,” he said, distinguishing bricks-and-mortar scope from financing fees.

McDonald outlined a tentative timeline: finalize scope and cash flow, adopt an IMA by participating boards, place required propositions before voters and, if necessary, conduct a BOCES-wide vote (he said the group was aiming for a March vote). He also noted an unresolved decision about the Leroy office building (about 33,000 square feet, current lease ~$483,000 per year) that could be included in or excluded from the project and would affect the project total.

Board members asked procedural questions about timing, district shares, and how reserve funds or multi-year payment schedules could be used; McDonald said BOCES staff would hold regional briefings and provide final numbers for districts to review. He urged collaboration among component districts to pursue an IMA before resorting to DASNY.