Board considers pausing non-construction facility projects and seeks clearer metrics; directors resist withholding payment on near-complete contracts

Directors Chace Lingo and Jayne Finch brought forward a facilities master-plan resolution on April 28 that would pause FMP 2.3 projects not already under construction until the board deems the district financially stable. The resolution would keep active construction moving but require board approval before advancing other projects.

Director Finch and others said the goal is transparency and prioritization. "Every facility project is priority to someone," Finch said, adding that the board needs a full accounting of needs, timelines and justification before committing scarce funds. She noted that available PPEL capacity was substantially smaller than the original FMP 2.3 estimates.

Several directors pushed back on language that could interfere with projects in late contract stages (steps seven through nine). Director Lisa Horn-Frasier and others warned against using the resolution to withhold payment for work already completed or at final punch-list stages. "I am absolutely not comfortable entertaining the possibility" of not paying vendors for finished work, one director said, arguing that such action would breach trust and create legal exposure.

Board members asked staff to work with the resolution authors to remove or clarify the paragraph that could affect step-seven-to-nine projects and to add measurable criteria for when the pause would lift. Suggestions included tying resumption to completion of audits, delivery of reconciliations, and updated forecasts for PPEL and SAVE capacity.

No final vote on the pause resolution was taken April 28. Directors agreed to refine language and return a revised draft with clearer metrics and an explicit carve-out for contracts that are complete or in final punch-list stages. The discussion also tied into the district's wider capital-planning decisions, including the Coralville natatorium conversation, and underscored community expectations that the board make explicit its priorities while avoiding actions that would violate existing contracts.