A new Gilles-Sweet Elementary School for grades K-5 will be built if the Gemini Project passes Feb. 8. (Drawing courtesy of Architectual Vision Group).

Leaders hopeful Gemini will pass
By Kevin Kelley
Fairview park
Published Feb. 2, 2005

WEST LIFE's guide to Gemini graphic. (PDF, 22 kb file)

With just days to go before the Feb. 8 election, city leaders expressed optimism the $50 million Gemini Project will be approved by voters.

On Tuesday, Fairview Park residents will decide on two bond issues. Issue 1 is a proposed .5 percent increase in the city income tax to fund construction and operation of a new 87,000 square-foot recreation center to be built just east of the public library.

The center will include a competition-sized pool and basketball and volleyball courts which will be reserved for use first by the high school and middle school during the school day but be available to the public at other times. Other features of the center which the public will always have access to include aerobics rooms, weight rooms and a running track. Annual membership fees for the rec center will be no more than $100 for an individual and $240 for a family, city officials said.

Each classroom in the propsoed new Gilles-Sweet Elementary School would be 30 by 30 feet. The entire school, which would include a full-sized gymnasium, could accommodate 882 students. (Drawing courtesy of Architectual Vision Group).

Issue 3 is a 4.9-mill capital improvement levy by the school district to pay for a new Gilles-Sweet Elementary School, which would house kindergarten through grade five. Grade six will move to Mayer Middle School, which will receive a $3.6 million two-story, 17,000-square-foot addition. The high school would also see extensive renovations. The city would take control of the high school athletic field and replace the grass with state-of-the art artificial turf.

The school district levy would cost a homeowner $12.51 a month per $100,000 valuation of property.

Both bond issues, which run for 25 years, must pass for the Gemini Project to move forward.

Mayor Eileen Patton told West Life she is very optimistic the issues will pass. "This has generated a lot of hopes and excitement throughout the city," she sid.

Gemini Project co-chair Bob Kreps also said he expects Gemini to pass handily. His optimism is based on the number of pro-Gemini signs, turnout at public meetings and the response of people he has spoken with.

"The more people know about this, the more they like it," Kreps said.

Some people who are reflexively opposed to more taxes came around to supporting Gemini after learning about it, he said.

If the Gemini issues fail, don't expect to see them again on the May or November ballot. Kreps has said Gemini is a one-shot deal.

Under the Gemini Program, a new recreation center (A), to be utilized by both the school and public members, would be built just east of the library. The city's Recreation Department would take control of the high school athletic field (B), renovate the stands and replace the grass with state-of-the-art artificial turf. A $3.6 million two-story, 17,000-square-foot addition (C) would be added to Mayer Middel School. Numerous renovations would be made to Fairview High School (D). (Drawing courtesy of Architectual Vision Group).

Kreps said the Gemini Project is the only solution to the trap of either raising taxes or cutting services that many fully-developed suburbs like Fairview Park find themselves in. He also noted Issue 1's tax increase applies only to earned income, not income from Social Security, pensions, interest or dividends.

Kreps said Gemini would be a wise use of taxpayers' money.

"If the property value in Fairview Park goes up by one-sixth of one percent per year more than it would without the project, then the tax money you paid is returned to you in your property value," Kreps said. "Conversely the opposite is also true. If we don't do this, and as a result we have school facilities that are in need of a great deal of repair, and the absence of a rec center, and those factors slow the appreciation of your property by one-sixth of one percent per year, in effect you've paid for this project but you don't have it."

MORE MEETINGS: Residents will have two more opportunities to question city and school leaders about the Gemini Project. Public meetings will be held in the community room at City Hall tomorrow evening at 7 and Saturday morning at 10. Backers of the Gemini Project have held public meetings to inform the public about the ballot issue every Thursday evening since early December. More information is online at www.fairviewgemini.com.