close

Central Greene OKs bids for high school renovation project

By Mike Jones newsroom@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read
article image -

The Central Greene School Board unanimously approved several bids for its high school renovation project, which came in under budget after school officials pared down the plans last month.

School directors agreed to five separate construction bids totaling $2.47 million as they plan to update the high school and move students from the aging Margaret Bell Miller Middle School in Waynesburg into it following the winter holiday break at the end of the calendar year.

Superintendent Kevin Monaghan said Wednesday that the bids came in about $400,000 under the expected budget, which was a welcome surprise to school officials after a more robust construction project was divided into separate phases when the district failed to receive enough bids for the renovations in April.

“This has been such a big relief,” Monaghan said. “Bids came in under the overall estimate, so we were very pleased with the bidding process this time.”

The school board was forced to reject the bids during its April 5 meeting when no companies submitted offers to be the general contractor or to perform electrical work. Some construction companies raised concerns about the scope of the project, supply-chain problems and the aggressive timeline to renovate the high school while also converting its indoor pool into an auxiliary gym. In response, the school board decided to separate construction of the new gymnasium from the classroom renovations, while also moving back the completion date to the end of the calendar year.

That prompted enough bidders to show interest in the smaller project, allowing Central Greene to move forward, albeit in a slightly delayed pace.

“There was definitely some nervousness through the whole thing,” said Matt Blair, who serves as the assistant to the superintendent. “Everyone worked hard to make this bid successful.”

With the bids now approved, district officials hope to begin construction on the high school in June or July after the students are out of the classrooms when the school year ends. The last day of classes is June 2.

“The transition at this point will probably be over Christmas break,” Blair said. “After we got responsible bids in all the categories, it sure does make us feel better. We’ll be starting the major part of the construction as soon as the kids are out of the building.”

Monaghan said they expect to be able to use the extended winter holiday break to transfer school supplies and furniture from the middle school into the high school. The students would then begin classes there at the beginning of the second semester. He added the district may need to alter its calendar depending on the construction schedule.

The approved bids were $1.275 million to Waller Corp. to serve as the general construction contractor; $83,000 to Weider Services for HVAC construction; $169,700 to First American Industries for plumbing work; $356,000 to Westmoreland Electric for electrical upgrade; and $93,642 to purchase new classroom furniture from P.E.M. Co. through the state’s cooperative purchasing program.

Also during the meeting, the board approved its preliminary 2022-23 general fund budget of $35.026 million that would keep taxes steady at 29.1175 mills. The board is expected to adopt the final budget next month.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.

Subscribe Today