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School board updated on capital improvements Print
Written by Dee Holzel   
Friday, January 27 2012 12:16
WINNEMUCCA — The Humboldt County School District continues to make capital improvements to the county’s aging school buildings.
The Board of Trustees received an update at their Tuesday (Jan. 24) meeting on the capital improvements made during the last season and an outline of future needs.
 
The money for the updates was made possible from an anticipated $8.5 million ten-year rollover bond approved by the voters in 2008. In 2009, the district began using the money for improvement projects.
The update was provided by Kevin Monsey of Mike Mitchell Management, which is the consulting firm overseeing the capital improvement projects.

Monsey outlined the approximate $2 million spent on projects throughout the district last season. 

Because the district prioritized projects that addressed greater safety for the students, $80,000 was spent on upgrading fire alarm systems throughout the district.

Funds were also spent to bring the bathrooms at the McDermitt Combined School and Winnemucca Grammar School into ADA compliance.

Among the other improvements:
  • The Winnemucca Jr. High School gym and auditorium floors were fixed as they had begun to buckle and had various “dead spots”.  The steps were removed from the Lowry High School gym.
  • The retaining walls and front steps at Winnemucca Grammar School were repaired.  The railings were replaced and extended.
  • The dust collection system for the wood working room was replaced at Winnemucca Jr. High School.
Some much needed repair work was completed on the following:
  • Brick work at the District Office.  Additionally, the flashing and downspouts were replace
  • The concrete panels and sidewalks were repaired at Sonoma Heights Elementary School
Parking lots were repaved or resurfaced at:
  • Sonoma Heights Elementary School
  • Lowry High School to include the middle and upper parking lots. Additionally, the asphalt from those lots was mixed with oil and placed on the lower parking lot to improve the surface.
Improvements were made to:
  • French Ford Middle School’s air conditioning unit.
  • Air conditioning was added to Winnemucca Grammar School’s new building.  Electrical improvements were made to WGS to facilitate the heating/air conditioning improvements.
  • Heating improvements were made to Winnemucca Jr. High School.
Monsey explained in the upcoming season they will be looking at the cost of adding air conditioning to Grass Valley Elementary School and Sonoma Heights Elementary School along with a heating system update.  Both schools are aging and need new heating systems; neither school has air conditioning.

However, Monsey said it was unlikely the district will be able to afford the work needed at both schools; though, he added they’ll know more once the mechanical/electrical bids are received.

As Monsey noted, with approximately $885,000 left in the capital improvements fund, and the anticipated transfer of $1.2 million in available ad valorem funds, they will still be short the anticipated $3 million needed to complete both projects.

The older portion of Winnemucca Grammar School is also without air conditioning, but that building has historical issues that make the addition of air conditioning and updating of the heating system complex. Discussion on that issue will continue in the future.
The majority of LHS and all of  WJHS have no air conditioning, and those are considered big projects which were considered on the back burner.

Other issues the district will have to address down the road include bringing the bathrooms at the Paradise Valley School into ADA compliance.  There are also problems with the woods floors at the Paradise School, but Monsey said he’s not sure the problem is fixable due to water damage from flooding.

Not all of the projects completed were paid for from bond money. For example, the addition of air conditioning to the LHS Math & Science building were paid for from federal grant funds under the ARRA program.

The addition of solar panels were paid for through the Nevada Energy rebate program.  While the district put up the initial costs through a loan program, NV Energy paid back the vast majority through a $5.1 million  rebate.
 
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