The Mineral Point School Board held a special meeting Monday, January 30 as Board President, Larry Steffes, said he would like clear direction from the Board on how to proceed with repairs that need to be made to facilities after the Board voted January 9 to terminate the long-term facilities planning contract it had with Nexus Solutions. (Scroll past video for more article text)

Steffes stated the item at the top of his list was the roof at the middle/high school with the tech ed dust collector second.

Steffes stated he and Roger Palzkill, head of maintenance, coordinated a few contractors and an engineer to come and look at the roof, obtaining ballpark cost estimates and expert opinions as to what needs to be done.

He added the consensus opinion was the steel portion of the roof is still in good shape, but Gary McGuire, whose construction company built the school, stated that every problem is with the control joints and the flashing.

Superintendent Luke Francois agreed that any potential solution needs to take a look at the flashing, citing 30 drip pans currently in use to catch leaks. He also reminded the Board of Board Policy that states competitive bids must be solicited for projects in excess of $10,000 and bids must be sealed for projects in excess of $100,000. Francois also stated it is important to fix all the leaks. “If we bring in a solution, let’s bring in someone to fix it all. We would like a guarantee,” he stated.

Board member Lisa Hay questioned if the District would need specifications in order for a bid to be made.

McGuire offered to provide project specifications at no cost that could be used by others to bid on the project. He added he would plan to bid on the project himself.

McGuire also added that the company that made the flashing used on the building went out of business right away after the school was built. He stated they have had problems with this flashing on other schools they built around this same time.

Francois stated if the Board wanted to pay for the project this year, the money would likely need to come from fund balance. “There’s no assurance we have the dollars to do a roofing project from the maintenance budget,” he said.

If not desiring to use fund balance, the Board could use Act 32, the energy efficiency limit revenue exemption, or a referendum.

Board member Glenn Kinch made a motion to have McGuire draw up the specifications for bids on fixing the flashing on the roof. This passed unanimously.

Steffes asked McGuire to have the specifications to the Board in two weeks, in time for the February meeting.

Next to discuss was the dust collector in the tech ed department.

Palzkill stated he looked at Riverdale’s new dust collector, and one recommended would cost about $65,000. “Everything is done by new state and federal codes,” he said, reminding the Board Mineral Point’s current dust collector cannot be fixed or repaired because it doesn’t meet state code.

Francois stated a Request for Proposal is important so vendors are bidding apples to apples on the same dust collector. In addition, he suggested the Board consider looking at also replacing the air handling unit at the same time, which may present energy efficiency savings.

Hay said she would like to see a task force formed to solicit community input and Palzkill said he has spoken to people around town.

Board member Jeff Basting made the motion to have Palzkill work with Francois to write a bid proposal for a dust collector. This passed unanimously with Kinch having left the meeting at this point.

Steffes then concluded the meeting by asking the Board what to do with the rest of the needs outlined in Nexus’ long-term facilities plan. Hay suggested the Buildings & Grounds Committee comb through the list to prioritize the projects and bring them before the Board.

Audience members in attendance seemed optimistic that the Board was implementing a plan to address facility needs and not completely abandoning the long-term facilities plan.