Public invited to attend tours as school referendum nears

At approximately 3:30 p.m. Tuesday officials at Boscobel High School reported a water main break at the southeast corner of the school. District Operations Manager Steve Wacker, Jerry Vial of Al Oman Plumbing and Head of Maintenance Jim Trumm are seen inspecting the area of the break. Vial said it appeared the schools 4-inch service line from the citys 8-inch main on Chestnut Street had ruptured in an area where a similar break occurred about seven years ago. The line was scheduled to be replaced this summer prior to the start of school next Tuesday, but work was delayed when the district was ordered to go to referendum by the Government Accountability Board on April 29.

Water main — At approximately 3:30 p.m. Tuesday officials at Boscobel High School reported a water main break at the southeast corner of the school. District Operations Manager Steve Wacker, Jerry Vial of Al Oman Plumbing and Head of Maintenance Jim Trumm are seen inspecting the area of the break. Vial said it appeared the schools 4-inch service line from the citys 8-inch main on Chestnut Street had ruptured in an area where a similar break occurred about seven years ago. The line was scheduled to be replaced this summer prior to the start of school next Tuesday, but work was delayed when the district was ordered to go to referendum by the Government Accountability Board on April 29.

The first of three public walk-throughs for the upcoming Boscobel Area School Referendum is today, Thursday, August 27 at 6 p.m. followed by an informational meeting at 7 p.m.

Walk-through and meeting attendees should gather at the Boscobel High School gymnasium by the designated times.

The referendum seeks to allow the school district to issue $6.9 million in general obligation funds for repairs, upgrades, and improvements to the districts five buildings.

Additional walk-throughs and meetings are planned for Wednesdays, September 23 and October 28, at the same time.

Many of the items in the project are long-needed repairs that have accumulated over time, according to Steve Wacker, the Operations Manager at Boscobel School District. Others are items that the board and administrative leadership view as viable ways to cut operating costs over coming years.

“The schools face budget cuts almost every year,” Wacker said. “Energy savings are a very direct and immediate way to reduce our expenses.”

A group of presenters assembled by H&H Energy Services will explain the projects that would be funded if the referendum passes.

H & H Energy Services were contracted in the summer of 2014 to conduct a facilities study as part of the school district’s long term planning.

“They wanted us specifically to look for operational and energy savings, all of which are capital savings for the district,” explained Josh Kaurich, a Certified Energy Manager with H&H Energy Consulting.

At the time, Act 32 allowed for school districts to exceed their revenue limits for projects that saved the school on energy expenses. The bill also specified specific life, safety and other operational savings items for the firm to assess, according to Kaurich, setting some of the parameters of the report.

The walk-throughs and meetings will address lighting and audiovisual upgrades; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning upgrades and cleaning; plumbing upgrades and repairs; safety and communication improvements; and building exterior envelope repairs and weatherproofing.

Fellow H & H Energy employees Eric Truelove, Director of Sustainable Design, and Dave McGinnis, Project Manager and Designer will join Kaurich. McGinnis specializes in electrical design. Truelove is an HVAC engineer.

All three will address electrical upgrades and general report questions.

Also present will be Bill McGann, Account Executive at Omni Technologies, and Dan Maki, Principal Engineer at Facility Engineering Inc. McGann will speak about life, safety, and communication technologies. Maki will address the building shell analysis and restoration needs.

Time to ask questions and receive answers is planned at the end of each meeting presentation.

The referendum vote will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

-----------

Photo: At approximately 3:30 p.m. Tuesday officials at Boscobel High School reported a water main break at the southeast corner of the school. District Operations Manager Steve Wacker, Jerry Vial of Al Oman Plumbing and Head of Maintenance Jim Trumm are seen inspecting the area of the break. Vial said it appeared the school’s 4-inch service line from the city’s 8-inch main on Chestnut Street had ruptured in an area where a similar break occurred about seven years ago. The line was scheduled to be replaced this summer prior to the start of school next Tuesday, but work was delayed when the district was ordered to go to referendum by the Government Accountability Board on April 29.

Education

Education