Capital project goes forward
The Board of Education has awarded six contracts totaling almost $17 million for the capital project set to start at O’Neill High School in May.
The bids were awarded at the Feb. 7 Board of Education meeting, with unanimous approvals on three components of the project and a lone ‘no’ vote on three other components. Board Vice President Ned Kopald was the ‘no’ vote, on both the interior and exterior electrical contracts, and the site construction contract.
The work will be done by:
• General construction – ML Inc. of Passaic, NJ – $4,235,000. (Bids were as high as $6.2 million.)
• Mechanical construction – MDS HVAC-R, Inc. of Walden – $915,234. (Bids were as high as $1.6 million.)
• Plumbing construction – Ashley Mechanical, Inc. of Kingston – $899.770. (Bids were as high as $1.4 million.)
• Electrical construction (interior) – Foremost Electric Corp. of Brewster – $1,244,400. (Bids were as high as $1.6 million.)
• Site construction – Whispering Pines Development Corp. of Vails Gate – $8,945,000. (Bids were as high as $9.8 million.)
• Electrical site construction (exterior) – Foremost Electric Corp. of Brewster – $612,200. (Bids were as high as $1.5 million.)
Forty contractors bid on the six different components of the project, Project Manager Joe Tola told the board at the meeting. He said reference checks of the winning bidders “came back positive”.
Board President Anne Lawless said she was pleased that the bids came in “very much in line with what the estimates set by our architects and engineers”. She said the good bids received will allow the district to do some of the ‘add on’ work, such as signage, air conditioning in science classrooms, and additional lighting in the auditorium, for instance. In addition, there is money built into each of the components of the project for unexpected costs such as additional rock removal during field work.
“We are looking forward to a great project,” Lawless said.
Voters approved the $23.4 million project in 2017. Construction costs are expected to total just over $19 million (including items for the project purchased on state bid), with ‘incidental and contingency costs — legal, architecture and engineering fees, the project manager, etc. — making up the difference.
Outside the school, two athletic fields will be redone, putting artificial turf on them, as well as the replacement of the old tennis courts, laying a new track, and putting in new bleachers and lighting on the football field. Also a concessions/bathroom building press box will be added; this is one of the components of the project cost in which Kopald was unhappy.
Parking lots and driveways are also to be redone, outdoor lighting improved around the school (Kopald also expressed concern about installing LED lighting because of “health issues that have been raised that haven’t been finalized”), and a pole barn erected for the storage of buildings and grounds materials.
Inside, science classrooms will be modernized, bathrooms redone, locker rooms redone, health and safety projects completed, and additional classroom space be created for physical education classes.
Ground-breaking on the project is expected in very early May, Tola told the board. While work will last through the fall of 2020, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Sheboy has said repeatedly that it will be done so as to not disrupt student academic time and extracurricular events.
