Edmond plans repairs in advance of new school year

EDMOND — With classes set to start Aug. 18, school district administrators have received school board approval for three repair projects needing emergency attention and costing just over $100,000.

Brown & Root Industrial Services of Edmond will handle two of the jobs. The first involves improvement of gas lines at Angie Debo Elementary. Although not appearing at the special board meeting Monday, Justin Coffelt, director of facilities and district operations, explained the gas line situation in a letter to superintendent Bret Towne.

Coffelt said Oklahoma Natural Gas had done inspections on school gas lines and is enforcing new safety mandates in the aftermath of a 2016 home explosion in Oklahoma City. Those new mandates, Coffelt wrote, are forcing the district to improve the lines. The price tag for the project is $44,006, Coffelt said.

Although Coffelt said the work could be done before school starts, a letter from Brown & Root said it could take 30 days.

Daniel Croasmun, project manager, who was at the meeting, said the schools might be able to shave off $9,000 if the gas lines do not need to be painted.

The second emergency item involves a $33,682 job to fix a water leak beneath Edmond Memorial High School's football stadium. That leak was discovered last month, Coffelt wrote.

Superintendent Towne said the leak was tested and showed the loss of 1,400 gallons of water in a 10-minute period. Instead of fixing just the area of the leak, a new line will be installed. Board President Cynthia Benson asked whether athletic teams and the marching band can use the field during the process.

Croasmun said the work would be done on a sidewalk near the stadium and not affect the field. After the meeting, Christina Hoehn, the district's chief operations officer, said the work would take 10 days to complete.

Five new HVAC units will have to be purchased for Orvis Risner Elementary. That will cost $24,735.

Maintenance supervisor Sylvan Gordon told the board the five units are needed because of a glitch. The original plan was to take five units from Ida Freeman Elementary and move them to Orvis Risner. The Ida Freeman units are two years old.

But workers discovered the Ida Freeman units are not compatible for central computer monitoring. Board member Jamie Underwood questioned why the expenditure was considered an emergency. Gordon said Orvis Risner needs air conditioning for the arrival of staff and students later this month.

Board members also asked what will happen to the five units not used at Orvis Risner. Gordon said they will be used elsewhere in the district.

Each of the items passed 4-0. Board member Kathleen Duncan was absent.