Members of the Dover High School Our School, Our Choice committee debuted their 13-minute video to a crowd of more than 160 people in an uncomfortably hot Dover High School cafeteria Sept. 8, with the hopes of garnering support for a proposed $47.4 million high school.

Ron Barkett, committee cochair, said, “I would particularly like to thank two groups of people. The first group is those people who have learned what they can about this levy and serve the advisory committee or are members of the community who have educated themselves and feel passionate about this levy and would like to do something positive. We are going to need your help. The second group of people is those that have not yet made up their minds about this levy but are willing to come here tonight and learn what they can.”

The new video, produced by Dover High School graduate Mike Sudduth, outlines the need for a new high school as the current building is in disrepair, lacks adequate facilities to accommodate the current students, and exposes students to poor air quality, mold and rain from its leaky roof.

The movie brings up questions of where students would be placed in case the 95-year-old building would be renovated, would renovation result in a facility that could meet the standards of educating students for a changing world, and is it worth passing up funding from the state that is only being made available until June 2012? “Educating kids while the building is renovated is problematic,” said Bob Hamm, Dover City Schools superintendent.

The Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) has offered Dover $9.4 million through its Exceptional Needs Program. OSFC conducted an assessment in 2008 of the current structure and rated it poor in regard to location, structural and mechanical features, maintainability, educational adequacy and educational environment. The rating of borderline was given to the safety and security of the building.

The inspection found damaged asbestos-containing fireproofing, mold growth, water intrusion throughout the building, major roof leaks throughout the building, bat excrement in the attic, an inadequate number of restroom facilities, and numerous fire and safety code violations. The complete report is available on the Dover Code Red website.

The 33-year, 6.9-mill bond issue on the Nov. 8 general election ballot would cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $211 annually. “It’s going to cost the equivalent of three or four of these a week,” said Mike Lauber, committee cochair, as he pointed to his can of soda. “I would do it for a case a week to build a school that would serve us into the next generation.”

In addition to cost being a factor, some in attendance voiced concern over the proposed site for the new school. Mary Jo Streb is the niece of one of the original landowners, Bill Streb. “I’d like to know how they are going to build it in a flood plain like that. I have pictures. It’s low,” said Streb. She also expressed concern over the dangers of that section of Wooster Avenue and the amount of traffic kids would be faced with as they arrived at school.

Architect Dave Zeller, of MKC Associates at New Philadelphia, said engineering studies clearly show the proposed site is not in a flood plain.

Committee cochair Jennifer Jones said, “Your concerns are definitely warranted. Traffic studies will be done. That has been taken into consideration. Our architects are confident they are not building in a flood plain.”

“The levy has an allocation to assist the city in infrastructure and traffic studies. One of the things I would anticipate is for some road redesign that would include widening and turn lanes,” said Brian Hanner, committee member and property owner to a site adjacent to the proposed site.

Zeller went on to explain that when building a structure on a flat piece of ground such as the proposed site, measures are taken to construct a building pad that is three to four feet up. “You want that ground to slope away from the building itself so water drains into storm sewers or a retention pond,” said Zeller.

Negotiations for purchasing the land continue with the current owners that include seven members of the Streb family, none of whom live in the area.

“We didn’t ask you here because we expected that every person would be 100 percent on board. The video and the work that we have done are to generate the kind of conversation we have had here tonight. You may say you completely disagree with that. Terrific, let’s talk about it,” said Lauber.

To view the video or for more information about the levy, the committee urges you to contact them through their Dover Code Red website.