Construction of a new Lincoln Junior High School cleared another procedural hurdle Tuesday. The Plymouth School Board approved a document that will allow part of the junior high property to be transferred from one building corporation to another.
Building corporations are used to help issue bonds to pay for building projects. Schools transfer the ownership of the buildings to the legally-separate building corporation. They, in turn, issue the bonds and lease the buildings back to the school corporation.
The challenge with Lincoln Junior High is that part of the property is still owned by a building corporation from a previous project. School Corporation Attorney Jeff Houin says the bonds from that project are not yet paid off. “They are still encumbered,” he told the school board Tuesday, “and Wells Fargo that holds that trust indenture has agreed that they will release them from the trust and mortgage, if the Vision 2020 Building Corporation agrees that they’re no longer needed for that project.”
The Plymouth Vision 2020 School Building Corporation’s board of directors has agreed, according to Houin, and it also approved an amendment to remove its portion of the Lincoln Junior High property from its lease with the school corporation. The school board followed suit Tuesday by approving the lease amendment, as well.
That will allow the three parcels in question to be transferred from the Vision 2020 Building Corporation to the Plymouth Multischool Building Corporation, which is handling the financing for this project. Houin said the arrangement now goes to Wells Fargo for final approval.
Meanwhile, Superintendent Andy Hartley said the project is moving closer to the construction phase. “We will have our first construction meeting this week,” he said, “and so with that, I’ll have a bit more clear of a timeline on actual start date and how all that’s going to progress, and then also, I’ll be reaching out and scheduling our groundbreaking event.”
Hartley expects the project’s construction manager to give an update to the school board during its July meeting.
