Bolandi: Tentative schools deal in place

Tentative deal reached with bonding company

By: Kip Berman
   HIGHTSTOWN — Schools Superintendent Ron Bolandi said Thursday that a tentative deal has been reached with a bonding company to complete the long-delayed renovations to the Perry L. Drew Elementary School and Melvin H. Kreps Middle School by March, while enclosing an unfinished elementary school by February.
   "What I can gather from my conversations with Robbie MacPherson (the district’s construction attorney) is that we have a tentative agreement with Ohio (Casualty) … and there are merely some language issues they’re refining," he said "I’m pretty confident we will be able to announce a final agreement on Monday."
   The East Windsor Regional School District hired TriRidge Construction, of Ridgewood, to perform $9.8 million worth of renovations to Kreps, $3.5 million in renovations to Drew and about $8 million to build an elementary school next the Ethel McKnight Elementary School, according to Business Administrator David Shafter. Ohio Casualty is essentially the insurance company for that work.
   The school board — citing construction delays which forced Drew to open two days late — fired TriRidge in late September. The next month, TriRidge canceled its contract, claiming fraud, mismanagement and nonpayment of bills on the part of the district.
   Last month, Mr. MacPherson said the district had rejected two proposals from TriRidge to complete the work because Ohio Casualty had not offered to back those plans.
   Mr. Bolandi said last week that he expected a deal in place by last Friday.
   [vmo: optional ending: ]Mr. Bolandi said Thursday he is hopeful that a meeting can be held next week between the district, Ohio Casualty and the yet-to-be-named contractor, which could be TriRidge, to map out a strategy for performing the construction, while avoiding any danger or distraction to the normal operation of the schools.
   Though he wouldn’t rule out the possibility that construction could resume next week, he said he felt confident with the timeline he previously stated, with a March completion for Kreps and Drew and a February enclosure of the new school.
   In other news, Mr. Bolandi said hot lunches are now being served at Drew and Kreps. Previously, students were compelled to eat cold lunches, due to the unfinished cafeterias at both schools. He also said the physical education program at Drew is working well, with students there utilizing the cafeteria for the time being.