The Eisenhower Middle High School renovation and expansion projects are marching on.
The Physical Plan and Facilities Committee of the Warren County School District's board of directors approved an agreement with Farmington Township on Monday night for the review of the district's stormwater management plan at Eisenhower in advance of converting the facility into a K-12 building.
"As part of the approval project for Eisenhower renovations and additions, there is a stormwater management plan that has to be approved by Farmington Township," district Director of Buildings and Grounds Dr. Norbert Kennerknecht said. Noting that the township recently split with the county zoning office, "the school district will reimburse Farmington's costs to review the district's stormwater plan," he added.
The cost of the review will be $5,000. "That's the amount we're going to place in escrow to be applied to that cost," Superintendent Brandon Hufnagel said.
Board member Nancy McDanel asked, "Does the township then assign the engineer or do we get to choose?"
"They are hiring an engineer to ensure they are in compliance with the township's rules and regulations," Kennerknecht said, adding that the district will be unable to open bids received on the project until the district is in possession of all approvals.
Kennerknecht brought some good news to the board regarding the sewage treatment plant at Eisenhower. He explained that he had some proposals from engineering firms to conduct a study on the plant but, "The cost, I thought, was out of line. DEP (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection) has a service where they will come evaluate a plant and tell you what you need to do." While he said it has taken many months to get a final report, the district received the report at no cost.
Kennerknecht said he has spoken with Hill Engineering and has submitted a proposal to take the recommendations from DEP and put them into bid documents at a considerable savings to the district.
Additionally, a bond resolution for the addition was also approved by the committee and will go before the full board for action.
"As we know, QZAB (Qualified Zone Academy Bond) dollars can only be used for renovation and not for new construction," Kennerknecht said. "Government obligation bonds are required for those projects." The resolution from the board approving the bond issuance will likely be approved at December's meeting.
Kennerknecht also provided a brief update on the Beaty-Warren Middle School project. When asked if the project was on schedule, he said it was "right on schedule. We're not behind. We're not ahead."
"The work is very self-contained," board member Dr. Paul Yourchisin said, and is "non-disruptive of the educational program at Beaty without much noise or disruption from the workers at all. Very impressive."
Kim Angove asked whether construction will have progressed to allow sixth grade to be housed at Beaty next year rather than at Warren Area Elementary Center, where it was relocated this year. Hufnagel said the "current intention" is to move sixth grade back to Beaty next year.