Burrell School District officials think bidding their boiler projects a different way will result in lower costs.
The school board on Tuesday rejected bids for a boiler replacement at Burrell High School and a rebuild at Bon Air Elementary School. It authorized administrators to rebid the project.
Superintendent Shannon Wagner said the district received six or seven bids for the project. Those bids came in slightly higher than what the district’s architect, HHSDR Inc., was anticipating, she said.
The architects suggested rebidding the project, she said, to have the high school boiler replacement and the Bon Air boiler rebuild advertised as separate projects. Doing so could lower the costs.
“He thinks that we’ll get clearer numbers on how much each thing costs, and we may find out that the rebuild of the Bon Air boiler could be done with the Bon Air heating and ventilation system,” Wagner said.
District officials say the boiler replacement and rebuilds are necessary. Burrell High School’s boilers are from 1964; the same year the building opened. Bon Air’s boilers were installed in 1997.
Wagner said rebidding the projects does not change the time frame for the project’s completion.
She anticipated advertising for the new projects later this month and opening the new bids in early February. The school board could then consider awarding contracts at its Feb. 18 meeting.
“Construction would start in June, and finish in late July,” Wagner said.
The boiler projects are the district’s first phase of proposed upcoming construction projects.
School directors previously approved taking out a $10 million bond to pay for construction projects in the district, with the boiler projects being completed first. District officials also anticipate taking out another $10 million bond.
An HHSDR representative will attend the board’s Feb. 11 meeting to present drafts of projects, including heating and ventilation at Burrell High School and Bon Air, and additional kitchen space and six more classrooms at Bon Air.
In the spring, the board will consider seeking construction bids, Wagner said.
The construction proposals also come at a time where the district is working through a reconfiguration at Bon Air and Charles A. Huston Middle School due to the closing of Stewart Elementary this fall. Fifth graders will attend Huston next year and fourth graders will be sent to Bon Air.
Huston can accommodate the additional grade level, and all that would be needed at Bon Air is additional cafeteria and kitchen space. If the district wanted to place fifth grade classes at Bon Air, six additional classrooms would be needed, district officials said.
Task forces for Bon Air and Huston continue to meet to discuss proposed schedules at each school. Building reconfigurations have been finalized. The task forces are slated to give a presentation to the school board in March.