Hancock Schools improvement projects to be re-bid
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NEW CUMBERLAND - The Hancock County Board of Education is taking a different approach with its planned improvement projects after bids opened last week came in higher than expected.
The school board met in special session Monday evening, where it approved Superintendent Dawn Petrovich's recommendation to reject the two bids on projects to construct new baseball and softball fields at Weir High School and for the construction of additional physical education class space.
"They were disappointing and very high," Petrovich said of the bids.
Jim Sauer, of J.T. Sauer and Associates, explained ongoing inflation has seen a dramatic increase in cost for construction work and materials, suggesting the board separate portions of the projects by using direct purchases for some aspects and bidding out the larger components.
"This is a specialized skill set," Sauer said of the athletic field projects, noting similar approaches have been taken for work at Wheeling Park and John Marshall high schools.
Sauer said he and representatives of McKinley and Associates, which has been spearheading the project, could meet with school officials next week to decide how to separate the projects.
"That should still keep us on the correct timeline," he said, pointing to a previous plan to begin construction during the summer break.
Mark Dziatkowicz, director of facilities and maintenance, noted the classroom expansion will need to go through a formal bid process, as will physical construction aspects of the ball fields such as the dugouts and press box facilities. The direct purchase, or co-op, method can be used on aspects of the projects such as the turf for the fields.
The baseball field has been proposed for construction on the site of Weir High's current softball field, with the new softball field to be built in an area currently used for parking.
In addition to the Weir High projects, the school board has plans for classroom additions at Weir Middle and New Manchester Elementary, as well as heating, ventilation and air conditioning projects at several county schools.
Funds for the projects, according to previous board discussions, would be derived from the use of bonds, county levy funds and from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund made available by the CARES Act.