DP News

February 9, 2010

Dallas approves changes for construction project

By Sarah Hite shite@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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DALLAS TWP. – Six change orders for the Dallas Senior High School construction project were approved Monday evening by the School Board.

Five of the six change orders were at a cost to the district totaling $115,105.

Those change orders were for a security fence, installation of a handrail at the loading dock, drywall of two rooms in the maintenance building, finish and paint walls in central storage in the maintenance building and a fire alarm upgrade in the high school and a data rack and fiber cabling.

The other change order was a credit for kitchen equipment in the amount of $55,557.

“What is there that we don’t know about that’s going to come up again?” asked Richard Coslett, a board member.

According to board President Bruce Goeringer, approximately 27 percent of the $1 million in contingency for the project has been used so far. Goeringer said the plan is to stay within the contingency.

“It’s expected up to a point as long as we remain in our contingency,” Goeringer said.

Bob Nesbit, of Crabtree Rohrbaugh & Associates, the project’s architectural firm, said if a client of Crabtree is unhappy at the end of a project, Crabtree will come to a resolution as to how much the client has to pay.

In other news, the board tabled a resolution advocating immediate action by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to enact legislative action regarding the public school district employee pension program reform.

The Dallas School District and the state jointly contribute annually from public funds to the school employee pension program a fixed percentage rate of the eligible school employee’s salary.

The district employer’s percentage rate of contribution for the 2009-2010 school year is 4.78 percent. On July 1, 2010, the rate will jump to 8.22 percent for the 2010-11 school year.

According to the resolution, the school district employer’s rate of contribution is projected to increase significantly in the next four years to a projected 33.60 percent contribution rate in the 2014-15 school year.

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