EDA approves lease amendment to rebalance utility costs for Marine Village School; approval contingent on verification

The Economic Development Authority on Monday considered and approved an amendment to the lease with Marine Village School that would rebalance operations and maintenance (O&M) costs, apply a credit for past overpayments to outstanding lease arrearages and direct city staff to finalize utility invoicing arrangements.

Member Dan Willover introduced the amendment and told the authority that O&M costs for the facility from June 2023 through June 2025 totaled roughly $144,000 and that a per‑student utility allocation had been calculated at about $221 per student per year. Using that per‑student formula for the same period, he said the school’s fair share would be about $48,178, producing an asserted overpayment of roughly $95,000 that the EDA could credit toward lease arrearages and leave a net outstanding balance of about $51,100. "We can credit it towards the lease arrearages that are out there today," Willover said.

City attorney David Snyder told the authority the amendment is intended to rebalance costs because the facility’s use has been nonexclusive and is expected to expand to include other community users, giving the city a basis for reallocating O&M costs. "There will be a correction or a rebalancing of the operations and maintenance costs," Snyder said, and staff can implement non‑substantive edits if the commission wishes to approve the change.

Dr. Curtis Windham, who identified himself as executive director and principal of the school, described the amendment as a "financial reset" to secure the school’s future. Windham said the school has been working with a finance management company and reported a conservative surplus of about $58,000 for the current budget year and a current enrollment the school counted as 103 students. "This plan is why I ask for your support as you consider the amendment placed before you today," Windham said. In the presentation Dr. Windham also cited a larger operational figure (identified in the record as $995,873) as an allocation tied to an "unfair‑share" calculation over multiple years; the authority requested staff verification of accounting and outstanding amounts before final execution.

After discussion about benchmarking the per‑student calculation and possible repayment horizons (Willover initially proposed four years; the school asked for a longer term), Willover moved to approve the amendment contingent on verification of the actual amounts paid and outstanding and to authorize the city administrator to work with the school to transfer utility invoicing to the city. The motion also authorized the mayor/EDA president to sign the final document with non‑substantive staff edits.

During the roll call, Councilman Miller abstained; other members present voted to approve the motion and it passed. The action directs staff to verify the figures with the school and to finalize the lease language and utility invoicing changes. The authority did not adopt a final repayment schedule at the meeting; members discussed repayment periods ranging from four to up to 10 years and left the specific term to be resolved between the administrator, the city attorney and the school as part of the verification and final documents.

The attorney also noted the EDA’s options remain to continue consideration, adopt with non‑substantive staff edits or delay for further review. The commission paired the approval with explicit contingency: the amendment will proceed only after staff and the school confirm the accounting details and outstanding balances cited during the presentation.

The meeting adjourned after the vote.