Board approves facilities committee plan to renovate Mountain View and add elementary capacity

The Boquet Valley Central School District board voted 5–2 to accept the Facilities Committee’s recommendation to renovate the Mountain View campus and build an addition to accommodate elementary students, a step the committee said is necessary to preserve state merger aid and to address aging mechanical systems.

Joe Giordoni, facilitator for the Facilities Committee and a consultant with Capital Region BOCES, told the board: "The decision was made to renovate the Mountain View campus and to put an addition on to accommodate the elementary students." He summarized the committee’s rationale that the Thrall Dam site should not be reconsidered now and that renovation plus an addition is the most feasible path forward given available parcels and community sentiment.

Giordoni outlined specific infrastructure priorities the committee identified: foundation and envelope repairs in a 1951 portion of the building; replacement of end‑of‑life boilers and unit ventilators; electrical upgrades and carbon monoxide detection; playground replacement; and kitchen hood and plumbing fixes. He estimated a limited renovation scope would be roughly $3.5–$4.0 million out‑of‑pocket at a minimum for the renovation work, with the committee noting the prior full referendum had been substantially larger.

Board members debated scope and tradeoffs: several urged the board to find a middle ground between the previously rejected large project and what some called a "bare‑bones" plan, emphasizing the importance of both preserving program offerings and seizing the merger aid window. A motion to adopt the committee’s recommendations passed on a roll call: Deb, Darlene, Sue, Tom and Heather voted yes; Sarah and Evan voted no. The chair announced "motion passed."