A proposed elementary center is one step closer to becoming a reality in Lehighton Area School District.

Years of discussion culminated Monday night with Lehighton's school board approving four prime contracts, totaling $33.04 million, for the construction of the center, which would be located adjacent to the high school and house all K-5 students in the district.The contracts approved included Lobar Inc., general contractor, $23,448,900; JBM Mechanical, mechanical contract, $3,897,000; Jay R. Reynolds, plumbing contract, $1,692,700; and Phillips Brothers, electrical contract, $4,009,200.All four contracts passed by an 8-1 vote, with Richard Beltz the only dissenter.Beltz made a motion to table the votes and have the project put on the referendum in November's primary election. The motion died for lack of a second."I think the taxpayers should have a voice in this," Beltz said. "If they say yes, then it's justified. I know a lot of disgruntled taxpayers and wanted to present this option to the board."If the elementary center is built, Lehighton plans on closing its four current elementary schools: Franklin, Shull-David, East Penn and Mahoning.Lehighton is not required to put the project on the ballot, according to solicitor William Schwab."That is determined by a formula, and if my recollection is correct from two or three years ago, the district wouldn't need to put it on the ballot unless it hit $100 million in total debt," Schwab said.The district currently has just under $60 million in total debt, according to officials.Schwab said even if Lehighton voluntarily decided to have a referendum, the county is not obligated to allow it."The county has to pay to put that on the ballot," Schwab said. "In my 40 years, I've never seen a voluntary referendum allowed from a municipality or school district."Board member Dave Krause thanked Beltz for his comments, saying it was important to hear all sides of the issue."We've been looking at our facilities for eight years and had a number of public meetings," Krause said."There was a tremendous amount of misinformation out there. People were scared, thinking their taxes were going to double or triple. There is no impact to the debt service because of this construction."All of the contract approvals are contingent on a developer's agreement with Lehighton borough and the borough's approval of final land development plans.One of the last remaining decisions for the school board was the type of windows for the elementary center. Based on Monday's vote, it will be wood windows from Pella.Other alternates include:• Vinyl composition tile flooring instead of BCT and linoleum, saving $250,000• Tile carpeting by Mannington instead of Patcraft, saving $13,000• Corian sink countertops instead of Caeserstone, saving $154,000• Adding rigging, curtains and projection screens at the stage, adding $49,700• Going without upholstered seats in the large group instruction rooms, saving $4,300• Adding outdoor play sets by Playworld Systems, adding $165,000• Adding a masonry plaque display wall adjacent to the flagpole, adding $55,800• Adding performance lighting for the stage, adding $83,000• Using metal-clad cable instead of wire and conduit, saving $48,000.The only outstanding contract is for furniture. Lehighton received three bids for furniture, but a fourth had actually arrived to the district in time to be opened, although it originally thought it was late."We rejected all the original furniture bids and will rebid that part of the project," Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said.Before rejecting the bids, Phillips Office Solutions submitted the lowest bid at $538,224.48.