Uniontown school board to again bid project
The Uniontown Area School Board instructed the district architect to move forward with another bidding process for the Marclay School project after several initial rounds of bidding came in too high. And Architect Mark Altman of Altman and Altman told the board that with cost cutting measures of about $335,000 in the latest proposal, the project should come in near the estimated $4 million cost for the new school.
The board had to re-bid the Marclay School project since bids received were at least 30 percent higher than projected.
The project, which was estimated by district architect Mark Altman to cost around $4.1 million, includes the demolition of the existing school, which is in general disrepair. A new building is scheduled for construction at the same location, but preliminary work on the facility remains delayed as the board works to trim the school’s cost.
Altman told the directors that the new plans for the school, including using different materials for the roof and the elimination of a school-wide sprinkler system, should reduce the overages. According to Altman, the two measures will cut about $150,000 and reductions in grading for the new facility as well as a smaller parking lot will also cut the cost by about $100,000.
While the board agreed to move forward with the new proposal and put the project out for bid, Director Ronald Machesky said he is concerned regarding the elimination of the sprinkler system in favor of firewalls.
“With the volunteer fire departments spread out in the mountains, that really concerns me,” Machesky said. “I still think this is needed.”
Altman said that Franklin School, also in the Uniontown Area School District, is a similar size and type of building and despite recent upgrades, also does not have a sprinkler system.
“I certainly don’t think this compromises the safety of the students,” Altman said.
Altman said that the project should be awarded in the spring and that once construction begins, it should take about one year to complete the new $4 million building.
He added that students will continue to use the existing school while the new school is built and then once they are moved into the new facility the old building will be demolished and the area graded.
The school project has been on the table for the district for about three years after the building was found to be in disrepair in 2001. The district initially considered moving the students to A.J. McMullen School and creating a K-8 facility, but the idea was squelched by outcry from Markleysburg residents opposed to the initiative.
As the board discussed the proposed school, the usual ruffling of papers and scribbling sounds associated with board meetings had been replaced with the clicking and tapping of keys as directors worked to grow accustomed to their new “paperless” meetings.
The directors, hunkered down behind a dozen silver and black Compaq laptops, represent the first school district in Fayette County to go to a paperless board meeting using the school’s system to create an electronic meeting agenda.
While the system is still in early stages, Board President Harry “Dutch” Kaufman said the new program allows parents to access the agenda online at the school’s Web site as well as allow the school board members to preview attachments to the agenda prior to the meeting.
“This is wonderful,” Kaufman said. “It is a step toward a more efficient meeting.”
The new electronic meeting saved an estimated 1,400 sheets of paper, according to school officials.