BELLEFONTE -- After a few weeks of planning, the Bellefonte Area School Board received an update on its elementary building project.
Damion Spahr, of SitelogIQ, attended the meeting via zoom and gave the board an update on what is coming in the next few meetings.
"(This) is an exciting update because of where we are," said Spahr. "We have worked hard and a lot of people have put information in the building program. Through design development we've asked the architect to put in the building what we want."
At this time, the team is in the process of estimating costs for the construction of the project.
"We will go from design to refine as we look at our cost estimate and lay out a list of items that we could design differently so that we could choose to spend less on select finishes," said Spahr.
According to Spahr, they're moving forward with various permits through the borough and land development processes with other entities in order to work towards the bidding that is planned to take place in April or early May.
"I've spoken with Mike Kelly (of KCBA) and we, as a team, are developing a list that we'll be able to review with the administration and the board so that we can choose how we spend our money. We will be putting that in front of the board within the next month or so in presentation form and in many other forms as we work our way towards the construction documents," said Spahr.
Spahr also noted that in Pennsylvania, when a new school is built or an addition greater than 20 percent is added to an existing school, there is a requirement that those involved must present their options and projected costs in a public meeting.
This is called an Act 34 meeting, referring to Act 34 of 1973 wherein it is applicable when a project becomes substantial enough in scope to require public meetings and further cost calculations. During this process, all avenues of building construction, expenditures and building capacity are examined.
The meeting does not require school board attendance.
"There will be an opportunity for the community to give public comments. It is not a dialogue with the board or administration, it's a presentation followed by public comment. That period closes and there's about 30 days (after) where additional comments are to be received by the district," said Spahr.
According to Spahr, the Act 34 meetings are relatively short depending on the amount of public comment received. The presentation should take around 30 minutes, followed by public comment.
The Act 34 meeting is scheduled to be held Thursday, Dec. 7, at 6 p.m., in the Bellefonte Middle School cafeteria.
"It's important to us as the district, the construction manager and the architect that we hold this at a time when folks are going to be available to be there. So we were very thoughtful as we went through to choose that time," said Spahr.
The Bellefonte Area School District School Board will meet again on Oct. 17, 2023, at 7 p.m., at the Bellefonte Middle School.