FREEPORT _ With a potential vote looming in November, the Regional School Unit 5 board of directors is expecting to hear from the Facilities Advisory Committee this week on the results of a recent telephone survey to determine the support behind a revamped $16.9 million bond for renovations and upgrades to Freeport High School.

A previous measure was narrowly defeated by voters on June 11.

According to RSU 5 Superintendent Shannon Welsh, the survey was designed to figure out what, if any, options the board should pursue.

“The intent is for the board and the public to hear the results, get information, and then if any action is taken it wouldn’t be done until Sept. 25,” said Welsh. “It will give the community time to ask questions and generate ideas.”

The results will be discussed at the board’s Sept. 11 meeting, after the Tri-Town Weekly’s deadline.

Possible scenarios include scaling back the scope of the project or separating the renovation component from a proposal to create new athletic fields – a point of contention for some voters, who felt the fields were being piggybacked onto the bond question.

The expansion plan called for a 31,000-square-foot addition that would have been constructed to replace the industrial arts building on the northwest side of the school.

The new athletic complex, which would have been built behind the high school, would have had an eight-lane track, as well as competition and practice spaces for discus, high jump, javelin, long jump, pole vault and shot put. The track and athletic fields also would be open to use by residents of Freeport, Pownal and Durham.

The results on the expansion proposal from Freeport, Durham and Pownal put the total votes on the school project at 2,202 against and 2,028 in favor. In Freeport, 1,623 were in favor, 902 opposed. Pownal trounced the bond, 472 to 118, and it was the same story in Durham, where 828 were against and 287 in favor.

Pownal and Durham voters also rejected the $25.8 million 2013-2014 budget.

In total, the survey firm Triton Polling and Research, an Oregon-based company hired at a cost of $5,000, contacted 445 voters in the tri-town area.

“They asked voters if they approved the renovation plan. If the answer was no, they then asked what options they would consider,” said Welsh.

The recommendations are expected to include a timeline to get the issue back before voters, which may include a special election, a ballot measure this November, or possibly a June 2014 vote.

“The survey was designed to get detailed information and input from people in their own words,” said RSU 5 Board Chairman Nelson Larkins.

The results will shape what direction, if any, a revamped ballot question will point.

“We want to make sure the voters are informed and detail what impact that would have on the community,” said Welsh.

As was done in the spring, the RSU 5 board would hold public meetings in all three towns and go before the selectmen in Pownal and Durham and the Freeport Town Council.

While the debate continues regarding which options may be in store for the high school, the Freeport Town Council is expected to decide on the feasibility of withdrawing entirely from the school district. In July, the town hired two consultants to explore the financial and educational impact of exiting the four-year-old district. Though still in the hypothetical stage, the RSU 5 board does consider any and all developments.

“The board has to look at what’s best for the students in the RSU. Everything that impacts our citizens, we have to take into consideration,” said Welsh.