School board appoints consultant
The Uniontown Area School Board hired Foreman Architects of Zelienople as a consultant to assess the high school renovation project, agreeing to pay the firm’s proposed $89,500 fee for the work as a result. The architect/engineering firm’s scope of work will include a review of current drawings for high school additions and renovations as designed by Altman & Altman Architects and an assessment for quality, cost overruns, division of work and contracts among other items.
The study is proposed for completion in 90 days after the contract is signed. Any work done after 90 days will be billed as an additional hourly service.
The fee is to perform a study of just renovating/adding to the high school.
CEO of Foreman Architects Philip Foreman, after doing a walk-through of the high school, presented to the board Monday night, and the board made the decision to hire the firm after exiting from an hour-and-a-half executive session.
Foreman told the board there is a lot of work to be done at the high school, which proposes a very difficult site. He noted the high school is in “very poor condition” and told the board they may want to look at building in a whole other site because of how the building is set up.
“Your architect (Mark Altman of Altman & Altman) did the best he could with the constraints he had to deal with,” Foreman said.
He said a major problem at the high school is its heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, noting the system does not circulate throughout the building because of the building’s “sprawl.”
Foreman answered Director Dorothy Grahek’s question about whether $35 million would be a sufficient amount to take care of the building’s needs by saying the board will probably have to cut something, such as the gym, from the project.
“At the end of the day, I think you’re going to have to make some decisions on cutting the size of the gym,” he said.
Foreman Architects specializes in public school building construction with specialists in many areas, decreasing the need to contract out certain work. The group also has an office in Harrisburg whose staff can help with PLANCON paperwork, said Foreman.
The firm is currently working with Greene County’s Central Greene School District to design renovations to Waynesburg Central High School. Examples of the firm’s work can be found on the Web site www.foremangroup.com
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The board chose Monday not to hear from Altman & Altman Architects on a new $35 million plan for the high school and feasibility studies on renovating Ben Franklin and Lafayette schools, instead favoring to review the proposals first and giving Foreman Architects the chance to review them as well.
In July, the school board authorized Altman & Altman Architects to assess the feasibility of renovations for Ben Franklin and Lafayette schools.
The board also approved to amend the contract between the district and Fairchance Construction to provide $5,000 plus an hourly rate of $75 per hour effective Sept. 1 until contracts are awarded for the high school project. Fairchance Construction’s Sam Denney has been on board as construction manager from the start of the project.
In other business, the board opted to save $200,000 over the life of a 30-year loan by agreeing to a proposal from John McShane and Anthony Ditka, who represent the district’s bond counsel.
Director William Rittenhouse Jr., chair of finance, said the move does not involve the district incurring any additional debt, but explained it as a “tool of refinancing” used to take advantage of lower interest rates, which will save the district money in the long run.
The board also hired several teachers at Monday night’s meeting. The list is as follows: Michael A. Guthrie, district-wide special education teacher; Joseph Foster, high school mathematics teacher; Nancy A. Glad, high school family and consumer science teacher; William Dice, Lafayette School health/physical education teacher; Katie Payla-Price, Lafayette math/computer literacy teacher; Robert D. Vilencia, alternative education/incarceration instructor at Haddenville School and the Fayette County Prison; Paula S. Lancas, high school French teacher; and Melissa Stoots, special education teacher.
The board also approved the resignation of the following: Jordan Johns, high school special education teacher; Tanya M. Brown, Lafayette elementary teacher; Andrea Wydo-Barchetti, guidance counselor at A.J. McMullen, Marclay and Wharton schools; Michael Rozgony, alternative education teacher at Haddenville School/Fayette County Prison; and Sarah M. Trenk, high school family and consumer science teacher.