Building inspectors tour River Ridge facilities
By Correne Martin
The River Ridge Building and Grounds Committee held a special three-hour facilities tour Tuesday morning of both its Patch Grove and Bloomington sites. The three school board members on the committee as well as two other individuals running for board attended. Also touring were three state building inspectors, District Administrator/Elementary Principal Jeff Athey and representatives from contractor McKinstry and one from the community.
The tour served two purposes, according to Athey: 1) It covered the annual walk-through of both buildings with maintenance supervisor, Troy Marshall, and addressed the need to determine what projects the district may want to tackle during the summer, and 2) it allowed the building inspectors to see what’s happened at the facilities since state code updates were mandated.
“What was nice was that Tony Tadysak, one of the inspectors, said he was real pleased with the progress being made. We’re two to three weeks out from finishing what needs to be done with the electrical and HVAC in some of the classrooms,” Athey said. He also noted that a lot of work that has yet to be completed includes labeling of some of the surfaces and boxes.
Athey added that air quality tests of the facilities are expected to take place on Tuesday, April 5, though he is unsure when results might follow.
The next construction meeting with McKinstry will take place at the high school on Wednesday, April 13, at 2 p.m. That evening, there are also building and grounds committee and school board meetings at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively.
Recently, a board approved (4-3) mailing was sent out to residents. The board wanted to inform the public about the repairs and where the project now stands. However, the board was split on when that mailing should go out to the public, as the minority wanted to wait until all work was completed, state inspectors toured the sites, air quality tests were conducted, and the full board reviewed it before distribution. The mailing was sent about mid-day, Thursday, March 24, Athey said.
Furthermore, according to Athey, McKinstry recently installed LED lighting in three classrooms: Mrs. Faurote’s 4K, Mrs. Bailey’s ninth grade science and Mrs. Petrowitz’s fifth grade. The purpose of this installation, at no cost to the district, was for everyone to see what an LED upgrade would look like.
