HERMON – Property and debt weighed heavily on the minds of committee members Thursday night as they discussed the impending school consolidation.

The reorganization planning committee for RSU 14, representing Hermon, Carmel and Levant, considered where school property lines should be drawn, who would absorb outstanding school debt and the cost-sharing formula for the proposed union.

While committee members agreed that the union would take possession of all six schools – Carmel Elementary School, Caravel Middle School, Suzanne M. Smith Elementary School, Hermon Elementary School, Hermon Middle School and Hermon High School – the group delayed a decision on other properties. The committee will decide later whether the RSU also would own the SAD 23 superintendent’s office in Carmel, the district’s bus garage in Carmel, approximately 135 acres behind the Caravel Middle School in Carmel and two playing fields in Hermon.

“I’d like to see us keep the superintendent’s office for a public library,” said Peter Pelletier of Carmel, who emphasized the town’s need for one. Pelletier suggested the building stay out of the consolidation, but the RSU could lease it in five-year increments. But Levant Town Manager Scott Pullen said SAD 23 owns the building, not just Carmel. He noted Levant had money invested in the office as well.

Committee members spent the night addressing topics identified by the state Department of Education as incomplete in the first consolidation draft submitted in December. The panel has until the end of March to provide an updated plan for the July 1, 2009, consolidation date, said Hermon Superintendent Patricia Duran.

The consolidation law reads that any state-funded construction debt would be absorbed by the entire RSU after July 1, 2009. Hermon recently renovated its middle school using local funds, and some questioned why Carmel and Levant should pay back that debt, since it was not state-funded.

“If we’re handing it over, then the mortgage should go with it,” said Duran, who said she was simply repeating the arguments made by several people within the Hermon community.

Ken Rautiola said absorbing the debt service would be equivalent to adding 1 mill on top of Levant’s mill rate. The extra money is a lot to bear for such a small community, he said. Hermon Town Manager Clint Deschene countered, saying Hermon would be required to pay the $1.9 million SAD 23 debt from state-funded projects, so why shouldn’t Carmel and Levant pay on the approximately $800,000 owed by Hermon.

Committee members asked Duran and SAD 23 Superintendent John Backus to figure out what each town would pay for debt service excluding the Hermon Middle School project, and then what they would pay if the construction had been state-funded and therefore mandatory to absorb.

Also during the meeting:

. Committee members agreed on a cost-sharing formula for RSU 14. Communities would pay based on 50 percent student population and 50 percent valuation. Under that formula Hermon would pay approximately 53 percent of the RSU costs, Carmel 24 percent and Levant 23 percent, according to preliminary data.

. Members decided that all RPC 14 students would attend Hermon High School. Carmel and Levant students would no longer be allowed to tuition at other schools, unless they are now enrolled in a different school before the consolidation takes effect.

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