West Greene OKs contracts for addition
NEW FREEPORT – Contracts awarded Thursday by West Greene School Board for construction of the district’s new elementary center were well under project estimates.
The board awarded four contracts totaling $10,996,765 for construction of the center, which will be built as a three-story addition to the middle-senior high school.
Superintendent Thelma Szarell said the district had received a number of bids from contractors interested in the work and the board was happy with the outcome.
Rob Rensi of The Hayes Design Group, the district’s architect, said contracts were about $1.5 million under the estimates.
The board awarded contracts to the lowest bidders. They were Liokareas Construction, general construction, $7,702,740; Wheels Mechanical Contraction and Supply Inc., plumbing, $598,730; Pitt Electric Inc., electrical, $1,117,995; and Lugalia Mechanical Inc., heat and air conditioning, $1,577,300.
Work could begin after next week, when classes end for the summer, Szarell said. The district had been waiting for the required permits, including one from the state Department of Environmental Protection, but has received confirmation they have been approved, she said.
The district plans to build the center and consolidate all grades at one campus. The board earlier completed the process necessary to close its existing two elementary schools, Graysville and Springhill-Freeport, at the end of the 2014-15 school year.
In other business, the board approved a 2013-14 tentative budget that calls for no increase in property taxes. The district’s current tax rate is 19.5 mills.
The budget is for $15,125,302. Business manager Shannon Rutan said the spending plan is about $465,000 less than the current budget. Part of the savings resulted from the district providing a special education program in house that previously was offered under a contract with Transformational Learning, she said.
Board President Regina MacDowell and board member Joe Coss voted against the budget. Coss said later he believed there were just too many “unknowns” in the budget included those listed under the heading miscellaneous.
The board accepted the resignations of Amy Keeler, the district’s director of food services, and Harry Inghram, its security supervisor. Both were thanked for their services to the district.
The board hired Paul Kreuzer as head varsity football coach and accepted the resignation of John Coss, head varsity boys baseball coach.
The board voted to table action on a resolution to offer a real estate tax abatement on new construction involving business, commercial and industrial properties until more information on its impact was provided. The district now offers the abatement for residential properties. A resident said the lack of an abatement for commercial and industrial properties hurts farmers who build new buildings, such as barns, that now are not covered by an abatement.