By JARRAD HEDES

jmhedes@tnonline.comA public hearing on the proposed new Lehighton Area School District K-5 elementary center will be held at 7 p.m. on March 17 at the administration building.In preparation for that meeting, the board on Monday night unanimously approved the Act 34 booklet for the project. Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said the booklet is required to move forward with securing partial state reimbursement for construction.The booklet is available to the public at the administration building.Based on Act 34 booklets submitted by other school districts, the document will contain a proposed project description, summary of options considered, maximum construction and project cost estimates and a proposed debt and millage impact, among other details."Basically, the booklet takes a snapshot look at our options based on the last feasibility study," Cleaver said.District officials said the information within is a little misleading.Solicitor William Schwab said the Pennsylvania Department of Education requires the district to paint a "worst case scenario" in terms of the details of the project."For example, the booklet uses a 3.95 percent bond rate and we just settled at a 2.5 percent rate for the middle and high school renovations," Business Manager Brian Feick said.For that reason, the board also authorized the administration to draft a supplement to the PDE-required booklet with more "realistic expected costs.""This is a tremendous amount of money to just assume things and we need accurate numbers to make a rational decision for the future of our town," said board member Rocky Ahner."We've been telling people $32.5 million all along and now I see $35 million. The direction of refinancing two years ago reduced the years and debt of our existing bond, but with a proposed 26-year bond we're heading in the opposite direction."Cleaver said the $35 million number thrown out at Monday's meeting included a lot of other fees and contingencies."There is also a $2 million Alternative and Clean Energy grant you have to throw in there," he said. "The bond issue is projected to be $32.8 million, so right around where we have been talking about the whole time."Cleaver lamented the order in which the state requires things be done. Even the more realistic estimates may change, he said."Until those construction documents come in and the bids come in, the scope of the project can change depending on what the board decides it wants to do," he said. "We can't even approve a schematic design without going through this Act 34 hearing."If built, the elementary center would replace the four elementary schools the district currently uses; Franklin, Shull-David, Mahoning and East Penn.Wilmer Everetts, district taxpayer, spoke Monday night against the project."You're going to have this public hearing, but we've been giving you public input all along," he told the board. "I don't think the school is a popular idea. What is the sense of having this hearing if you aren't going to listen to the people.""That's your opinion," Cleaver told Everetts.Cleaver said representatives from Public Financial Management Inc., the district's financial advisors on the project, and EI Associates, project architect, will be at the March 17 hearing.Members of the public can sign up with the district ahead of time or on the day of the hearing if they wish to be placed on the agenda.