Charles City school board discusses concrete, roofing

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City School District approved Director of Operations Jerry Mitchell to utilize a low bid totaling $55,000 from Jed Construction for the cement project outside the new transportation building at Monday’s meeting.

Mitchell told the board he received two bids for the project. The other bid was $61,000 from Nolt’s Custom Concrete.

Jed Construction is out of Elma and has been in business for more than 18 years. Mitchell said that Jed is “very reputable” and is currently doing all the cement work for the new high school in Cedar Falls.

“They are at a spot right now where they have some time before they go back to Cedar Falls,” Mitchell said. “They also do all the cement work for all the Casey’s in this region.”

Mitchell said the cement itself would come locally from Croell.

The exterior cement driveway is for the grounds building and the vehicle garage, as well as the new central services building, which was approved in January as part of the district’s $900,000 facilities project package for the school year.

The board also held a public hearing Monday regarding plans for the North Grand Roof Project. There was no public comment at the hearing.

In October, the board gave SA Architects of Mason City the go-ahead to seek bids on re-roofing two sections of the east end of the North Grand building. The estimated cost of the project is $325,000.

The roof project includes the 26,000-square foot roof over the gym and pool, as well as the 12,000-square-foot section of roofing over classrooms that are going to be remodeled for TLC: The Learning Center. Bids will be submitted by Nov. 11 and presented to the board for approval at the meeting now scheduled for Nov. 29.

Once approved, construction is expected to begin no later than Dec. 1, with the portion of the roof over the TLC classrooms to be completed by Dec. 31 and the roof over the gym and pool finished in April.

The roofing project is part of the $750,000 the district budgeted for the newer section of the North Grand building. Part of the agreement with TLC was that the district would take care of the “envelope” of that portion of the North Grand building, which includes the roof.

In other business Monday, the school board:
— Held a closed session prior to the meeting to “review the superintendents goal settings.”
— Approved moving the Nov. 22 board meeting to Nov. 29 at 6:15 p.m. to allow people the ability to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday.
— Approved the resignations of Megan Williams, para-educator, effective Nov. 12, and Elizabeth Flick, bus driver, effective Dec. 22.
— Approved stipends in the amount of $150 each for Isaak Jensen and Antonia Lopes for instrumental fill-ins for the fall musical.
— Approved the appointment of Jeffrey Gelner, 12-month custodian and 2nd shift bus driver, at a wage of $17.07 per hour effective Nov. 9.
— Approved the appointment of Drew Mitchell, assistant varsity bowling coach, at a salary of $2,184, effective Nov. 9.
— Approved volunteer coaches Payton Reams, girls basketball and Alex Mitchell, wrestling, effective Nov. 8.