Pepperell to get new HVAC
The Floyd County BOE sets a goal for the installation to be complete by the start of next school year.
Floyd County Schools is aiming to complete the installation of a new HVAC system at Pepperell High be- fore next school year starts, after issues have arisen with the one currently in place.
During a Floyd County Board of Education work session earlier this week, the $4 million capital project was discussed.
Superintendent John Jackson said the HVAC at the school, which opened in 2006, has had issues since it was installed.
Since the HVAC has proprietary equipment, the school system can only go through one company for maintenance, and it has been a challenge to get the parts necessary for fixes, he added.
After completing a costbenefit analysis and presenting it to the board, it was felt this was a necessary change to ensure dependable heating and cooling, Jackson said.
The school system will try and salvage working parts of the current HVAC and use them in other projects within the system, Jackson added.
The new HVAC system will incorporate water- cooled chillers instead of the air conditioning units the high school has now. Issuing a Request for Proposals for the work is the next step, and is expected to come soon so installation can begin as soon as this school year ends.
The state capital outlay program will provide $ 1,536,000 in reimbursement funding, but the county school system has to pay the total cost of the project up front.
Jackson said the money is in hand to start the project now, since the board approved moving $2.3 million into the capital projects fund, along with the approximately $1.7 million the system received from the sale of 3.443 acres on the old Midway School property to the Georgia Department of Transportation in September.
The property purchase by the state Department of Transportation is part of the planned widening of Rockmart Highway and the construction of the Southeast Rome Bypass.
There are three other capital projects the system is pursuing, and the funds to be reimbursed from the Pepperell High HVAC project will go into a “rolling fund” to pay for them, Jackson said.
A new roof at Model Elementary, estimated to cost $ 1.5 million, will be funded by what the school system was reimbursed.
For this project, the capital outlay program will refund the system $ 300,000, which will be used on roofing work at Cave Spring Elementary. This Cave Spring project will generate $123,000 in reimbursement funds to be used on fixing issues with the roof at Johnson Elementary, estimated to cost $150,000.
When these last three projects will take place is hard to say, since by the time the system is ready to start them students will be back in school for a new school year, Jackson said.
The school system will have to determine what work can be done without disturbing instruction at each different schools.
The timing of the projects is also dependent on when the reimbursement funds come in, Jackson said.