Feasibility Study

julieg@herald-mail.com Bids will be sought again for a feasibility study on a school for the arts after Washington County Board of Education members discovered bid policy had not been followed. Board members voted 7-0 during Tuesday night's meeting to rescind the previously approved bid for the study and readvertise for bids. After the meeting, Board President Paul W. Bailey explained that a panel that reviews bids must include a representative from county government.

julieg@herald-mail.com The feasibility of turning approximately 80 acres of Mack Trucks Inc.'s land north of Hagerstown into a "vendor village" needs to be studied before the concept can go further, the executive director for the Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission said Wednesday. News of a possible vendor village was publicized when AB Volvo officials announced plans in October 2003 to house its North American Volvo powertrain production operations at the local Mack Trucks campus.

julieg@herald-mail.com WASHINGTON COUNTY - A feasibility study agreement was approved Tuesday night by the Washington County Board of Education to determine if a building donated to the school system can be used as a school for the arts. "The building may not be sound and may not be fit for the purpose," but the preliminary indications are positive, Director of Facilities Management Rodney Turnbough said after Tuesday night's school board meeting. The former Henry's Theater at 9-11 S. Potomac St. in downtown Hagerstown has not been studied in detail yet, Turnbough said.

scottb@herald-mail.com The Hagerstown School of the Arts is scheduled to soon take another step toward being built but it may still be a few years before the high school actually opens, Washington County Board of Education officials said this week. A contract for a feasibility study for the project is scheduled to be awarded at the school board meeting in December or January, Facilities Director Rodney Turnbough said. Turnbough said the project has been estimated to cost between $4 million and $5 million but a more specific estimate will come out of the feasibility study.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Broadband over power lines, or BPL, could be worthwhile for Chambersburg, cutting some electric department costs while producing income from high-speed Internet and other services, according to the consultant who did the feasibility study for the borough. Concerned about the effect of such a system on licensed users of the airwaves, however, the Cumberland Valley Amateur Radio Club has asked for the opportunity to address the council at its Sept.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The Chambersburg Borough Council Monday night approved funding for a feasibility study to determine if the electrical outlets in residents' homes can one day become their high-speed Internet connections. The broadband-over-power-line technology, which has been undergoing field testing in Manassas, Va., could be used to provide Internet, alarm and surveillance services to electrical customers, while giving the borough a way to do automatic meter reading, outage notification and energy management, according to Borough Manager Eric Oyer.

The Washington County Board of Education voted 6-0 Tuesday to approve schematic design drawings for a new Maugansville Elementary School. The school board voted in February 2003 to consolidate Maugansville and Conococheague elementary schools at Maugansville and to close Conococheague after construction is completed. Under the proposal, a new Maugansville school building will be built next to the current one. The board approved a feasibility study for the project in March 2003, a written staff report said.

julieg@herald-mail.com The Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce Foundation donated $25,000 toward the planned arts school downtown thanks to proceeds from the sale of the Chamber's headquarters last year, the organization's president said Friday. Chamber officials have been active in developing downtown revitalization plans, which include the school for the arts, said Timothy G. Henry, chairman of the Chamber and the Chamber's foundation. "It's with great pleasure that we're now able to bring some money to that project," Henry said.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The Chambersburg Area School District has a new school board and it took a new direction Wednesday night, voting to expand the scope of a feasibility study beyond what to do about the high school. New board members Lori Leedy, Renee Sharpe and David Sciamanna joined Robert Helman, Thomas Orndorf and Craig Musser in approving a resolution calling for the administration to negotiate a contract "for a feasibility study with appropriate architects and educational consultants that includes a complete, comprehensive review" of the educational and building needs of all grades.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com They ran as members of the "Team for Change," but the three new Chambersburg School Board directors to be sworn in tonight are talking about consensus rather than confrontation when it comes to the district's future. "There's not going to be an us against them mentality," said David Sciamanna, the executive director of the Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce and the new director for Region 7. "We need to work together as a board," said Lori Leedy, the new Region 5 representative.