Renovations and additions at Eisenhower Middle High School have come to a screeching halt.
The Physical Plant and Facilities Committee of the Warren County School District's board of directors was slated to deal with several portions of the PlanCon process as well as handle bids that have been received for the work. Those items were tabled because of what the district doesn't have.
"We don't have (the) building permit," Dr. Norbert Kennerknecht, director of buildings and grounds, said during Monday night's committee meeting. He explained that there has been a revision to the drawing that once received must be sent to the state Department of Education for approval.
"(We) also don't have two DEP (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection) permits," Kennerknecht said. As a result of tabling action on the bids, Kennerknecht proposed that the bid period, which was originally scheduled to close this week, be extended until Jan. 22. He also asked that a special meeting be scheduled no sooner than two days after the bid closing so that bids could be processed and brought to the board for approval.
"These items are only being tabled because we are waiting on DEP (permits)," Superintendent Brandon Hufnagel said, "not for any other reason."
"How much will this set the project back?" board member Tom Knapp asked.
Kennerknecht and Hufnagel both indicated that this development will delay the project for approximately one month. "But at this point we have to get moving to hit that tail end deadline," Hufnagel said. The deadline falls at the end of an 18 month construction period.
The district is "right about on that" deadline currently, Hufnagel explained.
The district is also waiting on an approval from the Farmington Township supervisors. "Their engineering firm is reviewing our stormwater management plan," Kennerknecht said. The district has paid the township $5,000 to hire an engineer to review the project.
At Tuesday night's meeting of the Farmington Township supervisors, Chairman Ed Beardsley said that "we're going to get this fixed...(We) will do everything here to get this permitted."
A email shared at the meeting from Clayton J. Fails, vice-president of Hill Engineering, Inc. indicates that "because there are two separate construction contracts, there are also two separate stormwater management plans." One covers the elementary addition while the other addresses the renovations and additions to the current structure.
"The plan for the Elementary School Construction is complete and we are ready to recommend approval by the township," the email said. "The second plan is not yet complete, and the Landscape Architect/Engineer will be submitting a revised plan to us for further review...It is hoped that we will be prepared to recommend Township approval of both plans prior to the January 22 bid opening."
The supervisors set a special meeting for December 29 at 9 a.m. Beardsley said that he is "hoping for approval" of the stormwater plan at that meeting. Once approved, Kennerknecht said that he would then move all the necessary documentation to the DEP.