OXFORD – By focusing on “the nuts and bolts” and holding off on the “bells and whistles,” the Oxford school board and Facility Advisory Committee have managed to shave close to $3 million off phase one of the district’s two-part capital project, originally estimated at $7.1 million.
District residents could be voting on the resulting $4.1 million building project by late September.
Last night, the board and committee met with three representatives from the Bernier Carr Group, the architectural consulting firm retained by the district. As a group, they spent three hours reviewing a 16-page document prepared by architect Jason Jantzi, which priced out 42 items identified either during the building condition study or by district staff members as potentials for the first phase of the proposed project. They had met previously to review close to 70 items that were identified in the first part of the process.
“Do these fall under the Phase I umbrella, or can they wait?” asked Superintendent Randy Squier, as Jantzi discussed each item from the list in turn.
By the end of the meeting, approximately 13 items had been rejected as either needing to be refined more or qualifying as a Phase II “bells and whistle.”
In the Middle School, an $82,500 reconfiguration of the main office, $40,000 for replacing whiteboards and $50,000 for installing multi-level classroom lighting in the building were among the items cut, as were several smaller items such as providing tack boards in the hallways and replacing the controller unit for the bell tower.
Items that will remain in the scope of work for the historic building will include repairing the structure’s wooden gutters and replacing roofing systems in some areas. They will also replace the key cores on exterior doors, which Squier said was a safety concern for the district. “There are a lot of keys out and about,” he explained.
Other items which will be addressed include replacing the drapes in the auditorium, which BCG CEO Bernard Brown, Jr. said could pose a fire hazard in their current condition, and installing a roll-up divider curtain between the gym and the stage to prevent balls from causing damage. Wall padding will also be replaced in the gym itself.
Improvements will also be made to the Middle School’s electrical system including providing additional data drops and power to classrooms, relocating CAT V cables within the rooms and adding additional security cameras throughout the building.
Maintaining the school’s current steam heating system could add as much as $184,400 to the project, according to Jantzi. That amount includes replacing roughly 150 steam traps, insulating existing pipes and purchasing an upgrade to the building management system which controls the heating system. The current control system, according to BCG Chairperson Pam Beyor, is “marginal at best.”
Despite difficulties in contacting the company which installed the system, Beyor said that because of the proprietary nature of the equipment and software, the district would be better off if they could improve on what they have rather than replace it completely.
While the work will help mitigate some of the problems with the existing steam heat system, which is difficult to regulate, Mark Hodge, the district’s superintendent of buildings and grounds, is a strong proponent of replacing the current system with a hot water heating system. The board, however, deemed its $1.4 million price tag too high for the Phase I project. It will remain as a consideration for the second phase.
At the Primary/High School, the board also rejected the idea of spending $10,000 to provide additional ventilation to accommodate vending machines in the cafeteria, $150,000 to upgrade the building management system which controls the facility’s mechanical system and roughly $60,000 for replacing the lighting in the high school’s cafeteria and gym.
One of the items which will be included with the Phase I project is the removal of some of the support poles from the building’s exterior canopy. According to Primary School Teacher Holly Abbott, the area becomes congested at the end of the day and she has witnessed students walking into the poles which support the canopy. Additional supports will be added to cantilever the roof, making it safer for students.
Looking at the list of proposed items in the high school, several committee members were outraged at the idea of having to spend money on improvements to a building which is only five years old. Dawn Golden, who will join the school board on July 1, commented that many of the items should have been done when the high school was constructed. “We’re fixing a mistake,” she said.
The additional items approved account for $742,355 in construction costs, bringing the total project cost, including contingencies and incidentals, to $4.1 million. According to Squier, once the district has received BCG’s updates from the meeting, the board will ask its legal counsel to begin drafting a resolution for a voter referendum. The board will then call a special meeting in July to adopt the resolution in order to allow adequate time for a September 24 vote.
To view the complete report and see itemized lists of items which are included in the Phase I project, visit the district’s website at www.oxac.org.