Regional News Roundup: M-D housing project depletes district funds

Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part one, with part two scheduled to appear in Sunday’s Tribune.

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McCALL — The McCall-Donnelly School District’s $5.3 million project to build eight staff housing apartments has depleted the district’s operating funds to “critically low” levels, trustees were told at the district’s October board meeting.

Building the apartments, which are expected to be move-in ready Dec. 1, left the district with about $2.2 million as of June 30, or enough to operate for about six weeks, said auditor Kurt Folke of the Meridian firm Quest CPAs.

“That is incredibly light, that is, like, barebones cash flow to get from June 30 to your next funding payment on Aug. 15,” Folke told trustees during a 2024 financial audit presentation.

The district’s fund balance should be about $6 million, or enough to cover operating expenses for three months, M-D Superintendent Tim Thomas said.

Thomas plans to reestablish the balance by the end of the fiscal year by reallocating funds formerly set aside for travel, staffing and other spending.

M-D will also use some of the $5.1 million in state funding from House Bill 521, which was signed into law earlier this year to support school facility improvements, to replenish the funds, Thomas said.

The housing project, which is located on the corner of Mission and Stibnite Street in McCall, includes six one-bedroom apartments and two two-bedroom units that are expected to open to M-D staffers as soon as December.

“The project shouldn’t require any more money” after it is rented out, Thomas said.

M-D set aside $4 million for the project in 2022, but costs increased beyond that budget to about $5.3 million.

The CM Company of Boise was contracted to construct the apartments at a cost of about $4.77 million, which rose by about $73,000 with the additional sewer hookup costs, Thomas said.

An additional $511,000 in costs was added to the final bill to pay for architectural services, engineering, legal fees and power hookups, Thomas said.

The district saved about $134,000 by purchasing less expensive heat pumps, doors, lighting fixtures and other finishings as well as axing a communal air conditioning unit, M-D Director of Operations and Maintenance Jason Clay said.

The project was partially funded by M-D property sales. The district sold 10 acres of land along Idaho 55 for $430,000 in June of 2023 and nine acres of land to the south of the housing development for about $965,000 in February.

M-D Trustees also approved a housing policy that will determine which employees can live in the units, and how much they will pay in rent.

Dollar amounts for monthly rent were not set, but tenants would pay the lower number of 30% of their adjusted household income or “fair market value,” as determined by the school district.

Priority for who can live in the units depends on a scoring system set out in the policy. The system sets teachers as the highest priority, followed by support staff like custodians and paraprofessionals, then nurses, therapists and psychologists and directors, principals and the superintendent as last priority.

The system also gives priority to employees working on longer contracts, new employees to the district and those applicants that would meet the minimum occupancy requirement of the unit.

The one-bedroom units can house up to three people, with up to five people in two-bedroom units.

Employees would be given 30 days to leave the unit if their employment with the district ended.

Each lease would be for a maximum of one year, and could be renewed for additional terms if available.

A proposed $14 million levy to construct an additional 35 units on the same property failed in the May primary election, with only 42% approval from voters. A two-thirds plus one vote majority was required for the measure to pass.

— Max Silverson, The Star-News (McCall), Thursday

Nathan Jones becomes Orofino City Administrator

OROFINO — Orofino’s City Council voted unanimously Oct. 22 to bring Nathan Jones in as the new city administrator. Jones said he has spent the last decade or so in the military, specifically the U.S. Air Force. He graduated from Orofino High School in 2008 and went on to University of Idaho. He said he quickly found out he was not ready for college, so decided to enlist.

He is happy to be back in Orofino and be able to use what he has learned for the community. His first official day of work is Monday, though he said he would be around if the council had questions before then.

Earlier in the meeting, Mayor Mark Swayne said he had been asked about his vision for the city following his election Oct. 8, and he was not prepared for the question at the time. Upon reflection, he shared this vision statement:

“My desire and challenge is to encourage every citizen to participate in the governance of our community. We are blessed to live in the Clearwater Corridor, a place of great beauty and natural resources. Our city recognizes these blessings and strives to continue building on the solid foundation prepared by previous councils and administrators.

“We have a safe, caring and family-oriented community which supports its residents and frequently helps neighboring citizens in times of need. We will continue to do so through open, transparent and participating governance. To me this is the deep meaning behind the words of the Pledge of Allegiance.”

— Nancy C. Butler, Clearwater Tribune (Orofino), Wednesday