Four school construction plans were presented to the Lyle School Board at its meeting Monday.

The plans, drafted by Smiley, Glotter and Nyberg architects of Minneapolis, differ significantly from the $11.1 million plan voted down by district residents last fall, but board members and the Lyle principal voiced concerns over costs.

All plans keep portions of the building and will not affect the playing fields like last year's plan. The plans also call for the school to contain two floors.

Only Plan A would take about a year to complete. The others would take at least two years.

The most expensive plan, Plan A, costs about $9.9 million. It keeps only the gymnasium, band room and industrial tech room and reconstructs new rooms to the north of the school.

The least expensive plan, Plan C, costs $8.7 million and would keep the current elementary wing along with the current gymnasium. It, however, would not remodel the elementary classrooms, keeping the rooms below state guidelines for size. Bringing the elementary classrooms to state guidelines was considered one of the benefits of last fall's plan.

Plan B costs about $9.5 million and keeps the elementary wing and gym. It also adds on to the elementary wing, remodeling classrooms to meet state guidelines. Plan D differs slightly from Plan B in that it separates grades nine-12 classrooms from K-8 rooms. That plan would cost about $9.3 million.

The costs, however, are just estimates. Board member Doug Young said often construction plans are bid under projected costs. Medford School, which SGN planned, was estimated at $14 million, but was done for $10.9 million.

"It's hard to convince (the public) it's going to come in lower than they say," Young said.

But Gary Nyberg, president of SGN, said of six plans the company worked on last year, all came in under, except for one.

"That's why they call them estimates because until you bid them, you don't know what they're going to come in at," Nyberg said.

Another feature of the plans is ground source heating, which would also air-condition the school. That heating source is more energy efficient and will save the school money in heating and cooling costs. But it also adds roughly $1 million to each plan.

"That sounds really good, environmentally sound, but it depends on the money," said board member Kent Golberg. "Can we afford it?"

Superintendent Jerry Reshetar said the school could probably negotiate with Alliant Energy, the city of Lyle's energy provider, to get a reduced rate for the electricity needed to run the system.

The plans also do not include furniture costs, except for the cafeteria and media center. To furnish one classroom would cost roughly $6,000, Nyberg said. Reshetar said the school would want to use as much of its current furniture as possible. In last fall's plan, new furniture was included in the $11.1 million estimate.

The cost estimates also do not include the state's contribution. In last fall's plan, the state would have paid 38.56 percent of the $11.1 million. The less the project costs, the less the state contributes, Nyberg said.

Reshetar would like to set up a community meeting to discuss the plans by the end of the month. He said he would like anyone who wants to be involved in the planning process to have input.

Last year a committee of community members was put together to study plans. The district residents were not presented the plans until the fall.

"What I like is we're going to get the community involved more," Golberg said.

Principal Royce Helmbrecht said he and some board members thought the cost estimates would be lower, but said the plans were a good start.

"We're going to make it work," he said.

Cari Quam can be reached at 434-2235 or by e-mail at cari.quam@austindailyherald.com