With the top of the 2023-24 college yr in sight, work on Part II of the Saugerties Central College District’s (SCSD) $22 million capital enchancment mission is getting underway.
Throughout a gathering of the SCSD College Board held on Tuesday, Might 9, Jeff Andrews, a marketing consultant with Albany-based BBL Building Companies, offered an up to date timeline at some point forward of a groundbreaking ceremony at Grant D. Morse Elementary College for a stage addition supposed to present the elementary college an equitable efficiency house when in comparison with others within the district. That work, and that of the complete mission, is being overseen by BBL and Tetra Tech, a Pasadena, California-based consulting and engineering agency.
“Some that’s slightly bit adjusted primarily based on how we’re working with the contractors,” Andrews mentioned. “To this point with every little thing that we’ve received, though we’ve got had some points simply attempting to find the place sure issues are and match them up, we’ve been working very nicely with the contractors and so they’re on track.”
In response to Andrews, hazardous abatement will probably be undertaken throughout summer time breaks each in 2023 and 2024. Roofing work on the Hildebrandt Constructing, which homes the district’s administrative operations, needs to be accomplished this summer time. Work on all different buildings save for Riccardi Elementary will probably be underway throughout the 2023 summer time break, together with completion of Cahill Elementary roofing upgrades. Work at Riccardi will happen subsequent summer time.
Everything of Part II work is scheduled for completion throughout summer time 2024, with mission closeout set for fall 2024.
Voters authorised the native tax-neutral $22,000,390 district-wide amenities enchancment mission in December 2020. In response to the plan, roughly 66 p.c of the mission is roofed by state constructing assist, 32.2 p.c in retiring debt and the remaining 1.8 p.c by way of a capital reserve steadiness.
Part I work included the already-completed resurfacing of the Saugerties Junior and Senior Excessive College monitor and the beginning of roofing tasks which can be nonetheless underway. Elsewhere, home windows and flooring throughout the district are receiving upgrades. Every college entrance will probably be reconfigured to incorporate a safe vestibule the place guests may be safely screened earlier than being allowed to enter the constructing. The highschool auditorium will obtain a complete collection of upgrades, many for the primary time because it was in-built 1958. And likewise at the highschool, deteriorating asphalt will probably be eliminated and repaved. That mission is already underway, if not precisely as deliberate.
“We’ve separated the south car parking zone,” Andrews mentioned. “They’re beginning to do a number of the investigative work. A part of that stuff is absolutely wanted as we’re beginning to understand that a number of the info offered on as-built drawings Tetra Tech is utilizing isn’t as correct as we’d prefer it to be. So we’re engaged on some move-arounds to permit us to maintain progress occurring right here.”
Andrews additionally up to date the district’s vitality efficiency mission, which noticed work achieved on all college buildings, from putting in LED lighting and controls, upgrading boiler crops, putting in demand management air flow, enhancing constructing envelopes, insulating pipes, and different HVAC upgrades. All the vitality efficiency tasks have been accomplished, with round 70 p.c of closeout paperwork submitted, mentioned Andrews.
The anticipated $3,481,424 price of the mission will probably be funded by vitality financial savings, mentioned college officers.
Lastly, Andrews up to date the continued flooring mission at Riccardi Elementary, with the rest of the mission set to be accomplished this June with closeout to comply with throughout the summer time. Abatement work undertaken at Riccardi throughout the spring break in April included the elimination of asbestos tiles from sections of a hallway, the nurse’s workplace, school lounge and one classroom as a part of a district-wide capital mission. The tile elimination mission was accomplished on Thursday, April 6, at which era High quality Environmental Options & Expertise, Inc. (QUEST) performed an air-quality check and the district was given clearance to reopen the constructing as deliberate.
College reopened on Tuesday, April 11, and that afternoon there have been a number of complaints a few robust odor, which specialists decided was the results of a water soluble answer known as Chemsafe 100 used to melt the glue to take away the tile flooring throughout the asbestos abatement, however was not itself associated to asbestos. District officers mentioned the chemical used to take away the ground seeped into porous concrete and adjoining plywood, with “off-gassing” ensuing within the odor.
With each QUEST and Ulster BOCES Well being & Security conducting air exams beginning on Wednesday, April 12, it was decided that there was no want to shut Riccardi, and lessons continued as earlier than. The odor was reportedly strongest within the school lounge, and Ulster BOCES collected air samples from that room over a 48-hour interval to verify for risky natural compounds (VOC), gases emitted into the air from sure merchandise or processes. VOC’s may be present in every little thing from paint, wooden preservatives, cleansers and disinfectants and dry-cleaned clothes. In response to the American Lung Affiliation, VOC’s should not all harmful, however respiration some in concentrated quantities can irritate the eyes, nostril and throat; could cause problem respiration and nausea; can injury the central nervous system and different organs; and may trigger most cancers.
For the primary time because the finish of the COVID-19 pandemic, Riccardi Elementary College shifted to distant studying on Monday, April 17, initially supposed to final three days, however ultimately prolonged for the complete week. That very same day, QUEST collected air samples over an eight-hour interval to check for 72 separate VOC’s utilizing TO-15 canister gadgets, in addition to taking additional measurements utilizing a handheld photoionization detector (PID) to measure ranges of VOC’s within the air at particular occasions. The PID outcomes have been decided to be at regular ranges, and the TO-15 samples have been despatched to a lab in Syracuse, with the outcomes anticipated someday this week. College officers pledged to put up these exams outcomes on a webpage devoted to the odor remediation mission (riccardi.saugerties.k12.ny.us/our-school/riccardi-odor-remediation)
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