STERLING – Sterling Public Schools will go ahead with its renovation project for Washington Elementary School.
The board of education at its Wednesday meeting selected a contractor’s bid for the renovation and another bid for related asbestos abatement.
Tim Schwingle, director of finance, presented the bid report from the architect, Richard L. Johnson Associates of Rockford, to the board for its review.
Winter Construction of Freeport submitted a low bid of $1.87 million, which the board accepted. That bid was under the project’s anticipated cost of $2.183 million.
Schwingle said that money for the project was coming from county sales tax and from an upcoming bond issue that was presented to the board in September.
The other bids were $1.945 from Larson and Larson Builders of Loves Park, $1.96 million from Sjostrom and Son of Rockford and $2.123 million from Nicam Construction of Freeport.
The project is part of the district’s three-year facility improvement plan. Because of a planned street improvement project by the city of Sterling that will occur simultaneously, the school district will do the renovation in two phases. The first will be the building’s interior during the summer of 2023. The building’s exterior work will be done the following calendar year.
Superintendent Tad Everett said the most important improvement will be the installation of a security entrance. “We will have a safety vestibule like we have Challand (Middle School),” he said. “It will create a double barrier. Prudent for safety. It will improve line of sight for teachers.”
During the meeting, board President Pam Capes pointed out that Washington School was constructed in 1957 and was due for renovation.
Everett said Winter Construction worked on gym and fine arts center projects with the district previously.
The abatement project covers removal of boiler insulation material from Sterling High School and interior remodeling at Washington Elementary. Husar Abatement submitted a low bid of $211,000.
The other business item on the agenda was approval of bid for a five-year lease agreement to provide office machines that can copy, fax, scan and print. Schwingle recommended the slightly higher bid of $471,947 from SBM because of the service and supplies included in the bid. Marco was $462,936. The district did ask for purchase bid options, but staff recommended the lease agreement because there is a dedicated revenue stream in the lease tax levy. Schwingle said the lease agreement will save the district $390,000 in the next five years over the current lease agreement. The bid was accepted unanimously.
Source: The Daily Chronicle
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