Board awards contracts for school repair projects

Work included in budget includes

roofing at Woods Road School
By:Donna Lukiw
   The Board of Education on Monday awarded contracts for three school maintenance projects totaling $581,250 that will get under way in June when school closes.
   Cost of the projects was included in the 2005-2006 budget.
   Woods Road Elementary School will get a new roof, even though voters rejected the September referendum that included the roof work and other school maintenance projects.
   Assistant Superintendent for Business Tom Venanzi said the Woods Road Elementary School reroofing project is expected to begin in June and be completed by Aug. 15.
   Mr. Venanzi received the bids for the reroofing project on May 2 and board members approved and awarded a contract to East Gate Construction for its low bid of $387,175.
   Included in the project are replacing roof drains with aluminum gutters, new masonry flashing, repointing the brick wall and new vinyl soffit, Mr. Venanzi said.
   Rejected bids included Chris Anderson for $416,700, J. Murphy for $417,900, VMG Group for $440,000, Spring Valley for $464,000, JDG General Contractors for $479,500 and one from a company listed only as Barrett for $494,600.
   Since the roof at Woods Road Elementary School is in dire need of repair, the reroofing of the school will be included in the 2006-07 regular school budget.
   "When we have rainstorms, we’ve had large leaks and water come in the hallway," Woods Road School Principal Scott Rocco said. "We’ve patched it up, but sometimes that doesn’t work. It can cause mold and sickness in the building."
   In addition to the reroofing project, two other vendors were awarded contracts during Monday’s Board of Education meeting.
   Mr. Venanzi also received bids on May 9 for repaving of the driveway and parking lot at Triangle Elementary School. The completion date for this project is August 15 and will also include a sidewalk replacement on the north side of the lot.
   On Monday, members approved awarding a contract to Halecon Inc. for its low bid of $48,500 to complete the project. Other vendors included Pave Rite Inc. for $61,150, Gres Paving Co. for $63,995 and Penaloza and Calderone for $70,170.
   The project was also included in the defeated referendum.
   "There are a number of potholes and cracks throughout the driveway and parking lot," Mr. Venanzi said. "It was repaved over 15 years ago and needs it again."
   While resurfacing the tennis courts Amsterdam Elementary School was not included in the September referendum, Mr. Venanzi said, there has been a lot of concern over the condition of the tennis courts voiced by residents living near the school.
   "They asked us to consider to resurface the courts and we did," Mr. Venanzi said. "The community gets a lot of use out of it."
   The re-surfacing of the tennis courts and placing a vinyl fabric cover on the fence at Amsterdam Elementary School are also expected to begin this summer after school administrators awarded the $145,350 contract to low-bidder Halecon Inc.
   The other bid was from Petty Construction for $211,040.
   The completion date for the tennis courts is Aug. 25.
   "Our goal is to have the projects completed before the school year begins," Mr. Venanzi said. "We had to get a jump on it now so we could begin the projects."
   Since there is no state funding left, Mr. Venanzi said these projects will be included in the 2006-2007 regular school budget.
   In June, the district is expected to have bids for resurfacing the high school track and replacing carpet with vinyl tile at Hillsborough Elementary School, Sunnymead Elementary School and Triangle Elementary School.