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Carmichaels Area board awards construction contracts

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CARMICHAELS – Carmichaels Area School Board awarded construction contracts Tuesday for the renovation of the junior-senior high school that will allow work on the project to begin within the next two weeks.

The five contracts totaled $13,943,200, which is $1.5 million under budget.

Board president Thomas Ricco thanked the board for its efforts in getting to this point. “It was a difficult process we’ve just completed in a good and civil manner,” he said. Many other districts have tried to accomplish as much, he said, and failed.

Tom Allen of Accelerated Construction Services LLC, the project construction manager, said the project’s general contractor, Nello Construction, is ready to mobilize its equipment and should have a construction trailer on site this week or next.

The official start date is April 14. However, it’s possible work could begin sooner, he said.

Work will begin on the construction of a new cafeteria and kitchen below the underpass between the two buildings. The work is not expected to impact the use of the buildings for classes through the end of the school year.

At the end of the school year, work will begin on the junior high. Next school year, while the junior high is being renovated, mobile classrooms will be used for classes that can’t be accommodated in the high school. After the junior high is finished, work will begin on the high school.

The board awarded contracts to the low bidders. They accepted additions to the base bids for replacing lockers, refinishing the gym floor, painting the gym roof deck, new gym lighting and extended equipment warranties.

The contract for the general contractor went to Nello Construction, whose base bid was $6,847,000. The additions accepted included refinishing the gym floor, $25,000; replacing lockers, $78,000; and painting the gym roof deck, $20,000.

Nello also offered a deduction for excavating and disposing of coal at the cafeteria site which will save the district $20,000.

The contract for plumbing was awarded to Wheels Mechanical for $1,287,000, and the contract for roofing was awarded to Altoona Roofing for $399,000.

The contract for heating and air conditioning was awarded to R&B Mechanical for $2,900,000. By accepting the use of a different brand of electric controls for the heating and air conditioning system, the district will save $76,000.

The baord accepted additions totaling $13,800 for extended equipment warranties.

The contract for electrical work was awarded to Pitt Electric at $2,449,000. The board accepted additions for lighting fixture warranties, $6,000; and new gymnasium lighting, $14,400.

The board also approved a contract with an independent engineering firm, Skelly and Loy, to conduct air monitoring in the school during construction to ensure the safety of workers, students and staff.

In reviewing the bids at a meeting last week, architect Kevin Hayes of the Hayes Design Group said the “incredibly good” bids the district received resulted from several factors.

The board and administration made timely decisions to allow the project to be ready for bid at a good time, bid documents prepared by his firm were thorough and complete and the construction manager worked hard to get prospective bidders on board with the project.

In addition, few other construction projects were now ready to bid in the region and, as a result, “contractors were hungry for work,” Hayes said.

In other business, the board approved the retirements of Susan Martin, elementary physical education teacher; Rachel Lesako, elementary speech therapist; and Barbara Hathaway, elementary teacher.

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