Watkins bids are $2.3M under budget

WATKINS GLEN—The bids for the Watkins Glen Central School District improvement and consolidation project came in approximately $2.3 million under the construction budget.
The Watkins school board authorized the bids at the regular meeting, Monday, May 20. District residents previously approved the project at approximately $24 million. Superintendent Tom Phillips said the extra funds will be used as needed if unexpected costs arise during construction.
He added the board will review what other work the funds could cover not currently included. Phillips suggested Watkins could use the money to improve the auditorium’s sound and lighting systems, or add a public restroom to the concession stand next to the football and soccer fields.
Phillips said an official groundbreaking will be held June 3, at 4:30 p.m. outside the district office. The site work starts June 10 and Phillips added work will really get underway when school is out for the summer. Part of the project includes changes to the school to make room for all the middle school students relocating to the main campus. Work is expected to be completed by September of 2014 and the middle school building closed in June of the same year.
Welliver, serving as the construction manager, suggested the Watkins Glen school board approve seven contractors to do the work: Aria Contracting Corp for asbestos abatement; Holdsworth Klimowski Construction, LLC for general trades work; Apple Roofing Corp. for roof work; King & King Mechanical Inc. for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning; Frey & Campbell Inc. for plumbing; John Mills Electric Inc. for electrical; and Janson Industries for theater sound and rigging work.
Phillips also read a prepared statement about the project during the meeting. He said, “this board considered the needs of students and how best to contain costs in an environment of extreme revenue reduction. The implementation of a single bus run, closing parts of the middle school that are not being used, right sizing staff/student ratios, all have resulted in maintaining a high quality academic program.”