Bond work begins this summer in District 13

The District 13 Board of Education awarded bids to three separate contractors on May 24, the last action needed before the first phase of bond-funded renovations begin this summer.

Pella General Construction Corp, of Franklin Square, and BBR Contracting Corp, of Brooklyn, were selected to perform the first round of repairs, which will take place over the summer vacation and be completed by the time school reopens in September. The work includes roofing, chimney repairs and masonry work at all four schools, and will cost approximately $1.5 million of the $32 million bond approved by voters in December.

Gerard Antoine, assistant superintendent for business, said that the first phase of the bond work would be about $500,000 under budget, which the district planned for.

“We have a bond for $32 million,” Antoine said. “[But] we have $35 million worth of work.” Roughly $700,000 each year for four years would be spent from the district’s capital budget to help fund the cost of the bond’s outlined projects. Antoine explained that any money that’s left over from this summer’s work would go toward future projects. “Every dollar helps to ensure that we will complete everything that’s included in the bond,” he said.

Projects are scheduled as the New York State Education Department approves them, and Antoine said the most invasive bond work wouldn’t begin until at least 2018.

He said that this summer’s roofing renovations are an example of something that had to come first, since the district will be installing solar panels in subsequent construction phases.

“You don’t want to put solar on a roof that’s not going to last long,” he said, and added that the solar panels the district is interested in buying have a lifespan of 15 to 20 years.

The Board of Education also awarded a bid for Honeywell International Inc. to perform a comprehensive energy audit to determine the scope of savings the new energy contract will yield.

Although the first phase of construction work will be completed in August, Antoine said that renovating the Wheeler Avenue School bathrooms is a priority for the district, and if NYSED approval allows for that work to take place during the 2016-17 school year, it might. “We have to see where we stand [in the fall],” he said.