BY DANI TIETZ
dani@mahometnews.com
Mahomet, Ill. – Mahomet-Seymour Director of Facilities Steve Curtis presented a facilities report, including suggested updates, to the Mahomet-Seymour School Board at the July 15, meeting.
Curtis began his presentation going over the remaining Middletown Prairie Phase II punch list items that were identified early in the fall of 2018.
Flooring issues were identified on the first floor of the first-grade classrooms. Curtis said that Broeren Russo Builders Inc. came back into the building early this month to smooth out the identified areas. The job was expected to be finished early this week.
Over the year, landscaping issues were also identified. Curtis said there were trees that did not survive, and that they would be replaced. Trees within the enclosed playground that did not survive will be replaced with fill and grass.
“The kids need more area to play on rather than a tree to climb,” Curtis said.
Dirt will be brought in before the start of school to create a positive grade away from the school.
A roof drain on the northwest side of the building caused washout conditions, going under the sidewalk during the 2018-19 school year. During the winter months, Curtis said this created “ice rink” conditions. The roof drain is being inspected and repaired.
Middletown Prairie’s kiln, located in the art room, overheated the room early last fall. The kiln works properly, but the air conditioning unit in the art room is undersized. Curtis said the unit is being replaced by its installers.
Other issues include HVAC controls. Curtis said the compressor failures are happening throughout the industry right now. He also reported that the district is making headway with integrating Alpha controls, which will allow monitoring the system in Middletown, Lincoln Trail and Mahomet-Seymour High School from one location possible.
Various electricians, carpenters and painters have been in Middletown over the last year to finish up other minor punch-list items.
Earlier this year, the Mahomet-Seymour School Board put a Mahomet-Seymour High School fieldhouse renovation on the docket.
In December, the board decided to move on a facelift of the fieldhouse, locker rooms and CAIR center. By March, the project was downsized to focus on the fieldhouse floor ($571,490), curtains ($181,125), paint and logos ($118,346), tectum panels ($70,368) and HVAC ($38,804). On April 10, the board learned that the proper processes for funding had not been met, and so the project was tabled.
Chief School Business Official Trent Nuxoll said the district is looking at a November or December discussion of the $980,133 project with a January release date and a February bid opening.
In March, the M-S board also approved $96,423 to repair the M-SHS roof. In an email exchange between the Mahomet Daily and Superintendent Lindsey Hall, she said the project was “just started.”
Nuxoll also reminded board members that tennis courts to the tune of $600,000 were originally bid as an alternative for the west side of Middletown Prairie Elementary Phase II, but were not funded under the project.
Curtis said that the parking lots of the four schools within the Mahomet-Seymour District will be on a 4-year rotation for sealing in order to protect the district’s investment. While Curtis’ figures were based on Google maps and current averages on sealing costs, he believes the high school parking lot would cost, $26,676, the junior high $19,409, Lincoln Trail and the Bus Barn $20,452 and Middletown Prairie $17,484.
An annual bleacher report showed that there is a suggested $40,343 of annual maintenance and code updates that should be considered.
Health life safety funds should be able to be used to replace the visitors’ bleachers on the Mahomet-Seymour football field. Curtis said staff has done a good job in maintaining and repairing the bleachers, as needed, but that it should be a project on the district’s radar.
Replacement bleachers comes with a $30,000 price tag.
He also believes that a new grounds building needs to be considered. While the building located near the bus barn is adequate for protecting equipment, it has “exceed(ed) its life,” according to Curtis.
Other equipment that is reaching its lifespan includes the dishwasher at Mahomet-Seymour High School. Curtis said he believes the dishwasher to be the one that was originally installed in the building in 1981. The dishwasher pump now leaks water onto the tiled floor, causing tiles to loosen and collect dirt.
The kitchen project would entail a $6,000 epoxy flooring replacement, $1,500 to repair and paint the ceiling, $30,000 for a new dishwasher and $7,500 for water, electric and ventilation work. Currently, the space is not ventilated.
Curtis said, “It’s probably the highest priority project that we have right now. There’s also probably a health issue with the moisture on the floor underneath the loose tile.”
Nuxoll said that health, life safety funds probably would not cover the project due to the neglect of the space and that those funds are reserved for student spaces.
Nuxoll said the fix this school year may be to elevate the dishwasher and replace the flooring, then revisit the machine.
Another concern at the high school is the dust collection system in the Industrial Arts wing of the school.
Curtis said that the dust collection system has exceeded its functional life.
“If we don’t have adequate dust collection and disposal, then we can run into a situation with potential explosion from dust,” he said.
The paint booth exhaust in the same area is a potential fire hazard as it takes the fumes from the lacquers used, then dumping them through the duct.
“Anything sitting outside the duct is going to get coated,” he said.
The paint room lighting also needs to be replaced. The lighting in the room is explosion-proof, but the amount of lighting has not been adequate. Users of the space are running in fluorescent lights, which are not explosion-proof.
While health life safety funds could potentially be used for the project BLDD Architect Damien Schlitt said it would not be worth going that route.
“Yes, it may be health life safety applicable, but it doesn’t make sense to request them because you don’t have the funds in that balance today,” he said.
The HVAC control systems at the high school are slated to cost the district $750,000.
“That is a larger number than we thought it would be,” Nuxoll said.
Curtis said with the upgrade, the district hopes to gain back some efficiencies by being able to regulate the temperature of the building better.
Board President Max McComb said the highs and lows that building occupants have experienced in recent years have not accommodated a comfortable learning environment.
With a turf field and new track at Mahomet-Seymour High School on the list of projects, McComb said he hopes this fix will take care of the drainage problem.
Since he was seated in 2007, McComb said the track has been overhauled three times.
“So whatever we do this time needs to fix the drainage problem,” he said.
McComb added that track and field is Mahomet-Seymour’s number one sport in participation numbers between the junior high and high school. The junior high occasionally uses the track for meets, and practices there near the end of its season.
But McComb said in its current condition, Mahomet-Seymour is not able to host an IHSA Sectional Meet.
Board member Lori Larson said that the indoor track is in similar condition.
Curtis said that the stairs on the northeast and southeast corners of Lincoln Trail are in dire need of assistance. He believes it is time for them to be replaced at $25,000.
Other Lincoln Trail projects on the list included art room countertop and faucets ($6,000), water faucets in nine classrooms ($3,200), two fire hydrants replaced ($500 each), a fifth-grade bathroom update ($42,000), a gym facelift ($25,000) and to remove an old boiler.
Nuxoll said the district has projected it will have between $600,000 and $650,000 from sales tax money between the summer of 2020 and 2024. The Mahomet-Seymour School District captures approximately $2.2 million each year in Champaign County’s one-percent sales tax that goes to school district for facility improvements.
The $600,000 is what is left over after bond payments for Middletown Prairie Elementary are paid.
