New school and athletics upgrades await approval

PUTNAM COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) – Nearly 65 percent of Putnam County voters voted to approve this year’s school bond, which will fund a new Hurricane Middle School and improvements to the athletic field at each middle and high school.

Zander Wagner is the owner of Bubbarino’s Bites and Bubbles in Hurricane. He said voters approving the growth will only help the community.

“It’s nice to see something new emerging because that simply means we’re getting better as a society and as a community,” Wagner said.

Twenty-five of the nearly $75 million for the projects will be used to help build the high school, but this must still be approved by the School Building Authority. Andy Neptune, executive director of the SBA, said if the project is approved, there are other options to make it work.

“Members of the authority will agree to do that over several years and phase that out over a year or two, which will, you know, help with some overall costs, and maybe also allow us to do some other projects to do.”

Rob Cunningham, chairman of the Putnam County Board of Education, said if funding is not approved by December, the bond projects would have to be put on hold for two years.

“I mean, that’s all we could do. We don’t have the financial resources to build a $50 million school ourselves. So I mean we need SBA help to be able to do that.

Neptune said there are regulators across the state asking for funding, but the state is competitive with only $54 million available.

“It’s a difficult process and it’s a remarkable process when counties start approving bonds and supporting those communities with their tax dollars.”

Neptune said the superintendents will present their plans to authority members beginning Nov. 18 and will look at the overall outcome of building a new school when selecting which counties will receive funding.

If you are a Putnam County taxpayer, Cunningham said there will be no change in the tax rate until the funding is approved.