MANDATA - Four different firms will work on bringing a new heating and air conditioning system to the Line Mountain Junior-Senior High School as part of a new remodeling project at the school.
Line Mountain School Board approved a $9.7 million construction project that will bring geothermal wells and the new HVAC system to the Mandata campus, along with other renovations, including the replacement of the wooden windows in the building, construction of a free-standing maintenance garage with a salt shed and resurfacing of the main access road and the parking lot where about 100 geothermal wells will be drilled.
Following a 90-minute discussion at Tuesday's meeting, the board voted 7-2 to award $9,726,812 in contracts to drill geothermal wells on the campus and install a new HVAC system throughout the school.
The firms awarded the contracts and the amounts approved, including the alternates are:
General construction - Zartman Construction Inc., of Lewisburg, $776,000 base bid, $54,000 for driveway resurfacing, $78,000 for driveway/parking lot resurfacing, $270,000 to construct the maintenance building, and $185,000 for window replacement;
HVAC construction - Frey Lutz Corporation, of Lancaster, $4,069,000 base bid, reduction of $48,900 for geothermal vault, $277,000 for Climacool Water Source heatpump, $23,000 for maintenance building work;
Plumbing construction - Silvertip, Inc., of Lewisburg, $49,600 base bid;
Electrical construction - G.R. Noto Electrical Construction of Clarks Summit, $388,000 base bid, $37,000 for maintenance building work.
Voting to award the contracts were directors Troy Laudenslager, Dennis Erdman, Lawrence Neidig, David Bartholomew, Lauren Hackenburg, Ronald Neidig and Daniel Zablosky. Directors Lamont Masser and Marlin Yeager Jr. voted against the project.
In a geothermal HVAC system, a liquid called glycol - a coolant similar to antifreeze - is distributed in and out of wells through a series of pipes and cycled through the building in a closed loop to either heat or cool the rooms, depending on the need.
Energy recovery units are placed on the roof to allow fresh air into the building.
At Trevorton Elementary, the wells are underneath the school's playground.
The new system will give climate control to each classroom, something superintendent Dave Campbell wanted to see.
"You see businesses doing renovations to create a better working environment for their employees," Campbell said. "We are trying to create a learning environment for the 21st century. Students that are sitting here sweating and uncomfortable are not productive and learning."
Secondary school principal Jeffrey Roadcap made an impassioned plea for the new system.
"When we did the renovation back in 1998, we had the opportunity to do this right, and it wasn't done," Roadcap said. "In April, May and September, it does get miserable in here, and the more bodies we have in this school, the warmer it gets."
The total amount of all the projects comes to $11,226,812, but the district is planning on using $1.5 million in capital reserve funds for the projects, bringing the total down to $9.7 million. A bond issue is needed for the rest with an annual payment of $398,588. The district had originally budgeted $280,000 for it, so the additional money needed equates to a possible 1,29-mill tax hike.
"You have a bare bones budget now," the superintendent told the board. "I just want to prepare you for the sticker shock next year when figures go up and we don't take action to prepare ourselves."
In other business, the board agreed to:
- Advertise for bids on voice/data network switches at the school buildings in Mandata and Trevorton, approved on a 9-0 vote.
- Purchase 75 Lenovo laptop batteries for replacement in the Classroom for the Future laptops at the junior/senior high school at a cost of $6,600 from CDWG, of Vernon Hills, Ill, approved on an 8-1 vote with David Bartholomew casting the lone no vote.
- Approve the 2013-14 breakfast and lunch prices, with only a change in one ala carte item, the participation in a employer-sponsored 529 college savings plan, and rates for medical, vision and dental insurance, all on 9-0 votes.
- Donate soccer net cages at Leck Kill and Dalmatia Elementary School to local AYSO soccer groups and accept a donation of a new batting cage for the softball team on school grounds.