KC Board moves ahead with new Liberty Curtin building; accepts bids
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MILL HALL – In a 6-1 vote, the Keystone Central School District Board of Directors accepted three out of four bids to begin its construction of a new Liberty Curtin Elementary School Building.
The board approved three bids for the project that include:
-- Lobar, Inc., of Dillsburg, Pa., for $13,211,600 for general construction of the new Liberty Curtin building.
-- Hosler Corp., of Berwick, Pa., for $2,898,300 for mechanical construction of the building.
-- Hallstrome-Clark Electric, Inc., of Dubois, Pa., for $2,670,700 for electrical construction of the building.
It voted down accepting the lone bid for its plumbing construction for $3,790,000 from Wayne Crouse, Inc. of Pittsburgh.
The bid would have pushed the cost of the project 12 percent over budget. At its work session, Jeff Straub, of Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Assoc., said the project would be over budget by 10 percent without accepting the bid. He noted the board can rebid the project and still remain on its current timeline.
Board member Rick Schulze was the lone no vote. Members Dave Dietrich and Elisabeth Lynch were absent from Thursday's voting session.
Following the approval, Board member Polly Donahay – who represents the region Liberty Curtin is located – expressed her gratitude for the project moving forward.
"This is a project very near and dear to my heart," Donahay said. "I'm so happy and I'm so happy to be a part of it. Thank you all so much."
Prior to the vote, during public comment, Liberty Curtin Administrative Secretary Wendy Zimmerman expressed her gratitude for the board's move to build a new facility.
Zimmerman noted the issues that the aging building – which was constructed in 1966 – has faced. This includes shingles falling off the roof, gutters becoming detached due to rotting wood, an aging HVAC system and water damage.
Since the board began discussions about new construction, Zimmerman said she has received multiple calls regarding future students.
"I'm happy to report I'm getting calls about the Liberty Curtin project... people asking the boundaries to attend," she said.
Zimmerman said many families are looking to move and find the prospect of a new building to be very attractive.
Board member Butch Knauff noted anyone within the school district has the ability to send their child to any of its schools – with superintendent permission.
"Maybe we can draw some students from different areas – like the charter and cyber charter," Knauff said. "Draw them into that brick and mortar that's going to be a wonderful place for education."
Board member Jeff Johnston, who has chaired the facilities committee for two years, said he's excited to see the project move forward after it was slowed due to COVID-19.
"It's definitely something that needs to be done. I want to thank everyone on the committee and the board for their support of this," Johnston said. "It's something that the community needs and it will be a magnet to draw more families and more individuals intou our school district."
With Liberty Curtin's new construction, Johnston said all of the district's buildings will be "in really pretty good shape."
Superintendent Dr. Jacquelyn Martin noted the board's indepth participation in considering between new construction, renovation or moving students to another building.
"I know that this board did not take this decision lightly," she said. "I feel that you did your due diligence and I can attest that you've asked many questions."
Martin noted the reasoning behind the board's choice to construct new, rather than renovate.
"Take into account that we do not have space anywhere to temporarily house the Liberty Curtin students while a construction project is taking place," she said. "But we can construct a new building on the same lot with proeprty that we own and continue instruction."
Martin added that, when it comes to the argument of sending students to another school, "we have students who are on a bus for over an hour just to get to Liberty Curtin Elementary Schol. These students are five years old."
"Thank you so much for taking everything into consideration. You're volunteers but you have put countless hours on this project to this point," she concluded.
Board Vice President Roger Elling echoed all the statements made.
"Everything that has been said here is exactly what I'm feeling. I appreciate all the work and time that has been put into this," Elling said. "It's one of those things that is going to help out Liberty Curtin, and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of this. It'll be awesome."
The district's timeline sees Liberty Curtin's construction being complete before the start of the 2025-2026 school year.
The costs of construction will be paid for using a combination of two series of long-term financing combined with cash from the General Fund Balance 10.