Colon sinking-fund request approved

A sinking-fund request sought by Colon Community Schools was approved Tuesday.

The unofficial final vote stood at 276 in favor to 200 opposed, according to results from all four precincts – Colon, Leonidas, Sherwood and Matteson townships.

Colon Township’s numbers also included registered voters within the district’s boundaries in Nottawa and Burr Oak townships.

Superintendent Penny Brockway said the sinking fund became an option because the district is at a point where it will soon be collecting more than it needs annually to pay back debt from the September 2010 vote that generated 5.6 mills annually over a 16-year period.

She explained that the investment and management of the debt has gone well enough to the point that the district will realize 1.3 excess mills over the next eight years of the millage.

Tuesday’s request asked voters if the 560-student district could use that 1.3 mills of already-approved funds to make a variety of improvements in an amount of about $266,000 annually.

She said priorities include matters related to safety and security that would involve additional cameras, fencing, upgrades to entrance security and improvements to the elementary drop-off zone; parking and asphalt upgrades at each building and the high school’s athletic complex; classroom air conditioning at Colon Elementary and the jr./sr. high school; and a variety of technology upgrades.