Brownsville school renovations project to start in December
BROWNSVILLE – The Brownsville Area School District high school/middle school renovation project is expected to begin in December. However, at a buildings and grounds committee meeting Tuesday, Superintendent Dr. Gerry Grant seemed disappointed with that date, which is three months later than the original projected start date of September.
“We feel the board has been given dates to make us happy,” Grant said.
Director John Evans agreed.
“(Architect Michael Molnar) has been cavalier about the dates,” he said, noting the board has been given three different months that the project would start.
Jeanine Russell of Molnar and Associates said that a summer renovation project at the high school/middle school that will include asbestos abatement, roof repairs, pyrite removal, handrail replacements and elevator renovations has greatly slowed the overall project.
“The problem now is we are doubling the work because we are bidding out two jobs,” Russell said, adding that the overall renovation project is very extensive because of the size of the building and the fact that it includes two schools.
Plans for the summer renovation project came about because the district has to spend a $1.4 million renovation grant before Oct. 30.
Grant said she told Molnar that the money had to be obligated by September and spent by October; however, Russell said she found out only in March that the district had to do the summer project to keep that grant.
Reviewing the summer project, Russell said the work will begin June 30, with the asbestos abatement completed by Aug. 13, roof repair, pyrite removal and handrail replacement by Aug. 20 and elevator renovation Sept. 30.
She noted that contractors are concerned that the projected date to finish the roof is not a realistic time frame for the amount of work needed. She also said the elevator will be out of service all summer during the renovation.
Russell said bids for the summer renovation project will be opened June 17, and the deadline for receiving bids is 3 p.m. that same day at Hiller Elementary School. The district will award contracts June 19.
The board is expected to approve the PlanCon D and E forms for the overall renovation project June 23, at which time, Russell said, they will be presented “design development and floor plans.”
She said the PlanCon forms will be sent to the state Department of Education for review on June 25.
Russell explained that her firm cannot begin the actual construction documents, which is 40 percent of their contract price, until the forms are sent to the state. She said the construction documents will take at least three to four months to complete.
Russell anticipates opening bids and beginning construction in December on the high school/middle school renovation project.
“The point I’m trying to stress is we’re not trying to delay this project. This is how long a project of this size takes,” she said.
Accepting the new projected start date, Evans said, “We have specific dates that we now want to keep… no more changes of dates.”
He asked if beginning a renovation project in the winter will have any effect on cost.
Jay Paroda of Maccabee Industrial Inc., the district’s construction manager, said projects typically experience a 5 percent increase in costs when crews work in the winter months.