Goodings Grove School will get nearly $3 million in internal upgrades while students and teachers are away this summer.
The decision to replace the heating and cooling system was made in January. But the Homer Community Consolidated School District 33C board opted to also replace the school’s hot and cold water pipes, bathroom fixtures and water fountains.
“You are doing so much work in that building over the summer with taking ceilings out, that this is the best time to do that water piping,” Jacob Been, a senior associate at architectural consulting firm, Healy, Bender & Associates, told the board at its May 14 meeting. “It’s going to be much harder to come in down the road and replace that stuff.”
The board voted 6-0 to accept a $2.97 million bid from Alsip-based Talsma Builders. Two other contractors made proposals that topped $3 million, and a fourth bid exceeded $4 million.
Board member Patrick Dwyer said Talsma’s bid still came in 17 percent above Healy’s earlier estimates.
“There’s a couple reasons why we think it’s a little bit high,” Been said.
Contractor prices are rising, a sign the industry is rebounding from recession, he said, and material prices are climbing for the aluminum that will be used in the heating and cooling system and for the new copper water pipes.
“The water piping is original to the building – about 40 years old,” Been said. “And galvanized (steel pipe), as it ages, it rusts from the inside out.”
The water pipe portion of the project will cost $185,900, compared to $55,800 for the new water fixtures and $2.7 million for the heating and cooling work.
“It’s more than we wanted it to be, but we can certainly make it work,” said John Lavelle, the district’s assistant superintendent of business.
Plus, Lavelle said, the new pipes and fixtures should be easier on the district’s water bill.
“Down the road, we know that water is probably going to be the hottest commodity going,” said Superintendent J. Michel Morrow.
Meanwhile, the board, which gained four new members in the April 9 election, decided to attend an Illinois Association of School Boards boot camp June 14 and 15. The board also will schedule IASB staff to visit for further training in a closed meeting.
New board President Angela Adolf also decided to invite each of the district’s six schools to make presentations before the board twice a year.
“It’d be nice to recognize some great achievements or something a school is very proud of,” Adolf said.
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