HFCS Board Scopes Building Project

by Alex Brooks
The Hoosick Falls School Board held a workshop meeting September 27 to consider elements of a possible capital project. A presentation was offered by architects from the firm of Clark Patterson Lee. Their firm did a “building condition survey” for the District about a year ago, an evaluation required by the State Education Department every five years. They have built on the findings in that report to put together a proposed capital project. This initial presentation includes everything that the District might like to get done, with the idea that the District will prioritize and choose which projects to move forward with as they learn more about building needs and costs.
[private]The projects discussed came to a total of about $21 million, but two of the biggest projects included seem to be unfeasible because they are too expensive.
Cost estimates for a geothermal heating system were shown as almost $3 million for wells and $7.5 million for an entirely new HVAC system throughout the school. While this would eliminate the need to purchase heating oil, it would also require a lot of electricity to pump the water throughout the buildings, and the cost of that would wipe out most of the savings on oil.
A photovoltaic system which produced cheaper electricity could be the answer to that, but the cost estimate to install a 900 kw photovoltaic system was $5.85 million. Since the State Education Department (SED) says this would not be “aidable” in the way that other school building projects are, the payback for the District was estimated to be 56 years, which makes it unfeasible unless SED changed its mind about providing building aid for such projects.
This leaves the District looking for other ways to lower heating costs and protect themselves from oil price spikes or exceptionally cold winters. The capital project will probably involve some improvements to the District’s heating system, but research on the best alternatives is still ongoing.
The project will very likely involve lighting upgrades throughout the buildings, aiming to produce better light with less electricity through the use of more efficient modern lighting fixtures. This was budgeted at about $550,000. It will also probably include major bathroom renovations, as most of the bathrooms are still the original 1961 bathrooms. This was budgeted at about $850,000.
One component of the project will be to enlarge and refurbish the two libraries, as well as the art room and music room. Altogether these were budgeted at about $700,000.
One major element of the project still being studied is what to do about asbestos in some of the building materials, such as floor tiles, ceiling tiles and pipe fittings. Removing the floor tiles alone was estimated at $1.7 million and replacing them with new floors at $450,000. The architects and the District are continuing to investigate what should be done in this area.
Since the District is using a lot more technology in recent years, there is a need to upgrade its data networks. Accordingly, upgrading network cables from Cat 5 to Cat 6 was included, at a cost of $520,000. Also, a new wireless network for the building was priced at $97,000.
Another major item on the list is to pave the bus garage parking lot. This was estimated to cost $670,000. The Board is also considering adding a new bus bay to the bus garage, with a lift so they can do more of the work on the buses in-house. This was estimated at $310,000.
There are a number of smaller items on the list, including replacing lockers, replacing some windows and doors and some landscape and drainage work.
This presentation provided a first look at where the District is headed with its next capital project. With the Board now up to speed on the plans under consideration, prioritizing and refining the plan will be the next phase. A time line included in Clark Patterson Lee’s presentation suggested a public vote on the project this coming winter and construction to start in the spring of 2014.[/private]