Also, state senator and city council person

On Tuesday, April 1, voters in the Eufaula School District will decide the fate of a proposition that would allow the school to move forward with several construction projects.

The $23,970,000 bond is needed to build an event center, additional classroom space and other facilities.

Of that amount,. $14 million will be used for construction costs, the remaining is the cost of interest and financing fees over the 17 year life of the bond.

School Superintendent Monty Guthrie has stressed to voters that this proposition, which requires a 60 percent approval to pass, will not change the current Ad Valorem rate of 13.54 mills.

“It is simply a continuation of a commitment to the future generations of Eufaula Ironheads,” he said.

The election day is April 1, but early voters may cast their ballots at the county courthouse on Thursday, March 27, and Friday, March 28, between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Construction at the courthouse has necessitated the temporary moving of the election board’s current location to the county commissioners’ new meeting room on the first floor of the new wing of the building.

Voters will enter the courthouse on the west side of the new wing to easily get to the temporary election board office to cast their votes.

The new site of the election board is expected to be at that location for three months while workers renovate the first floor of the old courthouse.

Meanwhile, commissioners will hold their weekly Monday meetings in a room at the McIntosh County Criminal Justice Center, 501 Industrial Drive.

Candidates

Voters will also select from candidates running for the city council, state senate district 8 and the Indian Capital Tech Center, district 4’s office number 5.

Incumbent Ward 2 City Councilman Roger H. Barton faces challenger Beverly Ann Ribaudo.

Ward 3 Councilman Jamie Upton chose not to run and the only person filing for the office was Evelyn Gulley. She won by default in the primary election earlier this year.

The race for state senate district 8 seat has been narrowed to two Republican candidates, Bryan Logan and David Nelson.

The seat is open because former Senate Appropriations and Budget Chairman Roger Thompson (R-Okemah) resigned last year after he was ousted as chairman of the powerful committee.

The winner of the April 1 runoff will face Democrat Nathan Brewer and independent Steve Sanford in the May 13 general election. Both are from Henryetta.

Running for the Indian Capital Tech Center’s school board, office 5, are Ginger Knight and Andrew Theodore.

School Bond

Guthrie explained the bond in a recent article in the Indian Journal.

He noted that a committee made up of members of the public was formed to decide what was most needed to improve the district.

One of the top priorities was to build an Event Center on the high school campus that would be used to host basketball games, band concerts, graduations, and other community events.

The current High School gym would remain and be used to enhance current programs and allow for the pos-sibility for the addition of other programs in the future.

He said the need for a major expansion on the high school facility will also lead to the need to replace the current natural surface on the football field with an artificial surface to provide additional parking at the high school and allow the band to practice on the football field daily instead of the parking lot where they currently practice. This would also allow the current practice field to be used for additional parking.

The connection of the Event Center would also allow an additional dining facility to the High School Cafeteria.

The committee also recommended a wing to be added on to the Middle School. This would allow the school to move the 5th Grade to the Middle School which would ease the crowding of the Elementary School and the Elementary School Cafeteria.

“To continue the growth and improvements for Eufaula Public Schools it will require the passing of a $23,970,000, 17-year Bond,” he wrote.

The projected cost of construction is $14,000,000 with the additional dollars going towards the 17 years of interest and finance fees.

“Again, this is a No Tax Increase Initiative,’ he said.