by Alex Brooks
The Berlin Central School Board of Education held a round table discussion about the District’s facilities.on Thursday, June 4.
Superintendent of Buildings Cyril Grant said a survey of the District’s buildings that is required every five years is due by November 15 of this year (the last one was done in 2010), so it should be set in motion very soon. [private] This must be done by an architect or licensed engineer, and Grant recommended that the Board not seek just to find the lowest possible bid, but to find someone who will do a thorough and thoughtful assessment which can form the basis of the District’s Facilities planning over the next few years.
He said the required Building Condition Survey is 100% reimbursable by state aid up to a certain limit, but any subsequent assessment or planning that the District may hire an architect or engineer to do to help make decisions about the facilities may not be aidable.
Frank Zwack agreed, saying the Building Condition Survey will give the Board a prioritized list of facilities issues, with associated costs attached, and the Board will be able to make informed decisions based on that information. He said, “SED may want this to be done by November, but I want it sooner than that.”
The District has about $800,000 that it has not yet spent from the last Capital Project approved by the voters, which was for a total of $6,825,000. The Board is interested in seeking professional guidance on how best to spend that remaining $800,000, or possibly also to look into a new capital project. [/private]
The Board discussed two proposals that have been floated recently. One is to have the District rent the old Berlin Town Garage, and the other is to move some of the relocatable modular buildings that the District has to upgrade the offices at the bus garage. Grant said either of these projects would require approvals from the State Education Department. this would require filing a “full project submission” by an architect, which might get expensive, and the projects may not get state aid, as a capital project would.
The Board came to no definite conclusions about these matters, but the consensus seemed to be that getting their Building Condition Survey done soon would be a good start toward evaluating the options. The Board then adjourned to go tour the bus garage facility, so that they can remind themselves about the condition and configuration of those buildings.
At this meeting, the Board also unanimously approved Memorandums of Agreement concerning several teacher retirements. They accepted notice of retirement from Music Teacher Josh Greenberg, Elementary Teacher Patricia DiPierro, Microcomputer Technician Catherine Phillips, and Custodial Worker Mary Devine. [/private]