Board OKs $2.5M for repairs, new roof

UPPER POTTSGROVE » The newly re-organized Pottsgrove School Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to spend up to $2.5 million to replace the 20-yearold roof and make other repairs to Pottsgrove Middle School.

The exact price cap on the project, which has been under discussion on the board’s facilities committee for several months, is $2,502,100.

And back in April, the cost estimate was as high as $3.3 million.

About $40,000 was cut off the price when the board agreed to remove the skylight in the hall outside the auditorium and to replace it with regular roofing.

“The roof has reached the end of its expected lifespan,” said board member Robert Lindgren, who also heads up the facilities committee.

In addition to the new roof, new flashing, new capstones (which were the wrong size when installed) the reduction of a retaining wall, a new chimney cap and a new expansion joint near where the pedestrian bridge is located on the upper floor are all

part of the project. Parts of the walls and ceilings had been leaking for years, according to a 28-page presentation on the project by Tremco Roofing and Building Maintanance. The bulk of the work would be undertaken over the summer and the scheduled completion date is in August of 2018.

The middle school building was completed in August of 1999 at a cost of about $28 million.

In other building-related matters, the school board also voted unanimously to replace the chiller at West Pottsgrove Elementary School at a cost not to exceed $160,000.

That piece of equipment was manufactured in 1994 and placed at the school in 1996, according to the meeting agenda.