Lone Oak ISD, city at odds over storm shelter requirement

May 31—A number of projects under a $41 million Lone Oak ISD bond program are in jeopardy of being trimmed or eliminated after a recent decision by the Lone Oak City Council requires the school district to construct a $4 million storm shelter.

In November 2021, Lone Oak voters approved two bonds for their school district: one for $3.9 million in improvements to their football stadium/field and another for $41 million in upgrades to the high school.

When the proposed bond projects were being developed by a 50-member committee in July and August 2021, many members believed the city was using the 2012 International Building Code, or IBC, which the city adopted in 2017.

However, in May 2021 the city council actually had adopted the 2021version of the IBC but failed to set an effective date. Meanwhile, the City of Lone Oak's website still stated that Lone Oak used the 2012 IBC standards

One of the key differences between the 2012 and 2021 versions is that the latter would require Lone Oak ISD to include a storm shelter in its plans, an adjustment estimated to cost about $4 million.

"A storm shelter for the high school was not what our taxpayers voted to be done when prioritizing the needs the bond should address for LOISD," said a post shared by Lone Oak ISD Supt. Janee Carter on the district's Facebook group page. "The addition of a storm shelter would cause the district to not be able to complete all the projects the taxpayers voted for."

Carter and those who were part of the bond project planning process also felt blindsided by the IBC discrepancy because Councilman (and then-Mayor Pro Tem/Acting Mayor) Wes Owen was a member of the bond committee.

"The acting mayor assured the committee that this did not need to be a concern because the school would be eligible for a waiver due to the extraordinary cost the mandate would put on the school," Carter's post stated. "Several schools in our region have been granted a waiver under similar circumstances."

Along with the storm shelter issue, those working to get started on the bond projects have been frustrated by the city not approving the district's multiple applications for permits, a situation that has cost the district more than $60,000, Carter said.

Two weeks ago on May 20, the Lone Oak City Council voted to amend the minutes from their May 11, 2021 meeting and retroactively establish May 11, 2021 as the effective date for the ordinance.

At the May 20 meeting, the Lone Oak Civic Center was filled with residents critical of the city council, many of whom took issue with the fact that the bond projects they had supported could be severely altered if the school district is forced to accommodate a storm shelter.

"I think it would be good to have this (a storm shelter) ... but we ought to set the effective date so that the school doesn't have to worry about it," said Hunt County Commissioner Phillip Martin when the floor was open for public comment. "We all make mistakes ... and we can correct this by making today (May 20, 2022) the effective date, so it won't affect the school being built."

Several people also expressed distaste with how the whole situation pits the school district and city against each other.

"You're about to have a situation where it's the city against the school district and the school district against the city," said LOISD teacher Randy Cummings. "People in the community voted on this, and before that they met and talked about it ... Let's work this out and not let it blow up."

Some of the commenters, especially those who were contractors or developers, questioned the necessity of a city of Lone Oak's size (1.11 square miles, with a population of about 650 people) adopting the 2021 IBC, arguing that a majority of municipalities are still under earlier editions of the code. For example, Greenville is currently using the 2018 IBC for new construction, and the city was still using the 2006 edition up until 2019, when the 2018 standards were adopted.

"I've worked all over the Dallas area ... and most cities are now on the 2012 through 2015 codes, and no further than 2018," said building consultant John Dooley. "The reason why most cities don't go past 2018 is because of major increases in costs to the contractors and developers.

"Do we want kids to be safe, and are improvements in building being made daily? Yes, but there's still nothing right about backdating, and I'm concerned that with the 2021 code in place, that Lone Oak residents won't be able to afford to build," Dooley added. "If cities like Frisco (adopted 2018 IBC standards) can't justify the cost, then it doesn't make sense for us to adopt them."

At the same meeting, the Lone Oak City Council played clips from televised news reports about tornadoes in Moore, Okla. (in 1999) and Jacksboro, Texas (in March 2022).

"Without a storm shelter, you're going to have dead people," said engineer Mark Kestner, who spoke on behalf of the council. "The second report we saw (from Jacksboro in 2022) shows something like what we're wanting to have. Even though the school's storm shelter was pretty much destroyed, it was still standing and it helped make sure that people walked away."

Shortly before the council voted, Councilman Owen from LOISD's bond advisory committee, said he had mentioned that the city was under the 2021 IBC.

"The whole thing about giving a waiver is, if you remember from the first video (from Moore, Okla., in 1999), you saw almost all of the yellow jackets (disaster relief workers wearing safety vests) at the school," Owen said. "The district would have to sell to the council the idea of not meeting the 2021 codes ... but all you have to do is Google the top 10 devastating tornadoes in Texas, and four of them were recorded as being an F5, which is the highest rating.

"It's a matter of when, not if, a tornado hits, so we have to think about the safety of both our kids and our first responders to help make sure everyone gets to go home," he added.

The city council then voted 3-1 in favor of amending the minutes from their May 11, 2021, to set May 11, 2021 as the effective date for Lone Oak's adoption of the 2021 International Building Codes. Councilman Morgan Duncan was the lone dissenting vote.

Over the course of the week since the vote, Lone Oak ISD has made attempts to schedule another meeting with the city council on the matter, but a date has not been decided yet.

The projects planned for Lone Oak ISD's voter-approved $41 million bond are as follows:

—Relocating the baseball and softball fields to make room for high school expansions.

—Building a multipurpose facility for classes, athletics and assemblies.

—Building a new band hall.

—Converting current band hall and weight room (a new weight room will be in the multipurpose facility) into expansions for career and technical education.

—Multiple classroom, lab and restroom additions and renovations.

—Parking lot expansions and rerouting of bus and car traffic.

—Safety and security upgrades.