The replacement of playgrounds across Montclair’s public school district, roofs redoes at Bradford and Glenfield schools and improvements at the Aubrey Lewis Sports Complex are among the construction projects Board of Education members heard updates about this week.
The improvements are part of a $187.7 million, six-year plan for 25 construction projects, which voters approved borrowing for in 2022. Contractors have almost completed the last of the district wide playground updates, Conor O’Brien, a project executive at Legacy Construction Management, told the board. O’Brien discussed work at Nishuane School.
“A lot of the playground equipment is installed in the main playground area,” O’Brien said. “The one closest to the field still has structures to be installed.”
‘Significant Delays’
He said his firm must push the contractor to move closer to completing all the other projects. Hillside School experienced “significant delays,” and the district required changes to a playground project at Bullock School, O’Brien said.
“We then decided to not allow them to take all playgrounds offline because of the amount of work that was getting done,” he said.
Board member Eric Scherzer, referencing a discussion in committee, indicated many projects are beset by increasing costs and construction delays.
“It’s becoming more and more clear to all of us about the increasing prices, inflation, the tariffs coming in and all kinds of stuff,” Scherzer said. “Also, the lead times on these things and how the schedule has slowly slipped. We’ve delayed things.”
Woodman Field
Improvements to Woodman Field, including a track at the Aubrey Lewis Sports Complex, are largely complete, according to O’Brien.
“We have warranty items that we’re working through due to the weather,” he said. “As it warms up, we can finish some of those.”
Those items include tree plantings and concrete repair work, O’Brien said. Last week, he said, they addressed “burn marks from fireworks.”
Also at Woodman Field, the district is working toward “substantial completion” of a grandstand and bleachers in August, O’Brien said. However, “substantial completion” does not mean that the amenities can be used, he said, answering a board member’s question.
“For it to be used, we need to have the architects and engineers review it,” O’Brien said. “To make sure it’s safe to use, we have to have the safety certifications.”
The district has awarded a $2.12 million contract for the replacement of the high school bleachers and the installation of a press box, according to an update on the district’s website. Workers have started demolition of the existing bleachers, the district says.
Roof Replacements
O’Brien described a roof replacement at Hillside School.
“The coping was one of the last things to come in after this project,” O’Brien said, referring to a cap that covers the vertical wall around the roof. “They’ve been able to work just the weekends.”
At Bradford School, he said, obtaining the roof material has been a problem. However, workers completed the demolition.
“It has been water-tight for most of the time we’ve had it removed since around Thanksgiving,” O’Brien said. “If there have been any issues, the contractor has come in and addressed them.”
At Northeast School, he said, the roof project is “substantially complete.” At Glenfield School, O’Brien added, another contractor has the roof project “substantially complete.”
Edgemont, High School
At Edgemont School, he said, a contractor wrapped the replacement of a stairway replacement.
For the high school, O’Brien said, the district will bid an HVAC project in the middle of this spring. HVAC replacements at the high school, Buzz Aldrin School, and Glenfield School will take multiple years, O’Brien said.
He said the district awarded a project for a gymnasium at Hillside School and plans to start construction on that project in June. The district has also awarded a contract for construction of the Glenfield School media center.
“We’re pushing for the start of the school year, but the schedule for that does go into a little bit into the school year, but we’re pushing the contractor for that to have it wrapped up,” O’Brien said.
Hillside Gym
On Monday, the school board approved the award of a $4.278 million contract to Billy Contracting & Restoration for the Hillside School auditorium.
O’Brien said the district rejected an initial bid for work at Buzz Aldrin School because the costs were too high. His firm is redesigning the work and hopes to bid the project out in early April, he said.
Scherzer asked O’Brien how to speed up the work.
“I’m not going to ask you to talk about that tonight,” Scherzer said. “But I hope at the next committee meeting you can be prepared to talk about that.”
Email reporter Matt Kadosh at matt@montclairlocal.news
Something feels off about the bidding process as conducted by the school district.
The article does not make clear the amount of bonded funds actually spent or committed to the projects described. Further, it seems that most of the work to date is sports-related, and is not directed at the urgent infrastructure or academic needs that were asserted to justify the massive $187M bond borrowing, which makes one question the BOE’s true priorities. Athletic projects are important, too, but there must be balance and perspective encompassing the district’s pressing deficiencies. In my view, the BOE’s current financial management is a continuation of the nonsense economics that was championed by the Board during the Type I (Board of School Estimate) days when the BOE tried to talk the Council into promiscuous borrowing without even the most meager back-up or rationale. The BOE would present the vaguest plans, no phasing, no timing, no engineering, no financial analysis, and then demand $100 to $200 million in financing, even while they already had $5-10 million in cash that they couldn’t figure out how to spend. By voting to change to an elected BOE, the public removed the supervisory role of the Council and the Finance Committee, essentially leaving no oversight except the gullible voter who relies the BOE’s “professionals.” If they truly have a vision of excellence for our school district, our educators and the BOE must outgrow amateur hour, hire and listen to real professionals, disregard the BS and hyperbole, and strive to ensure that every student in the district gets the maximum benefit from their school experience. Among other things, that means using our $160 million (or so) every year wisely.
Good synopsis from the inside Ira of what we heard about on the outside.
The bestest part is the district is using earned interest from the unspent bond monies to fund operations. I pointed this out last year, but the year they found a new way. Yup, it is just money.
No mention of the windows that wouldn’t open during Covid. But we do have a new press box at Woodman so the Local reporter will have a nice place to sit.
Montclair Public,
I agree with you as far as Edgemont windows that are either painted shut or don’t close all the way. But I don’t understand why you are taking a swipe at the Local? Uncalled for, imo. The Local is an asset to the community. Without it, we would be in the dark on most things. How about a modicum of appreciation and gratitude?
Ira’s comment should be printed out, copied, and mass mailed to every household in town along with the next tax bill.
We love and appreciate Local. But the swipe is clearly at those who have prioritized something ridiculous given the needs elsewhere. That we would have one reporter at most games at Woodman Field, and that reporter would be from Local, is incidental.
MP,
Do you mean that putting playgrounds at the top of the list was silly? I totally agree. Roofs, windows, HVAC, staircases, structural issues first. Playgrounds and bleachers if there is any money left over.
Agree with Flipside and MP 100%. Montclair BOE seems to have misplaced priorities. I’m all for athletics and all, but – please – what is the primary purpose of school? Academic instruction. Athletics are “in addition to”. If you are going to borrow untold millions of dollars, it’s a no-brainer to fix school buildings first before funding pricey athletic projects.
The level of transparency and active project management is unacceptable. This was a HUGE bond and we need to keep the pressure up to get the priorities right. Future bond referendums should be challenged more than this one was.