Conneaut rejects bids for building work, project to change

Keith Gushard, The Meadville Tribune, Pa.
·2 min read

Apr. 24—LINESVILLE — Conneaut School Board members unanimously have rejected a combined bid package for building safety and security updates coupled with a kitchen upgrade at Conneaut Valley Elementary School.

However, the board now intends to seek bids for the kitchen project separately, so it may move forward next month.

At a special public meeting Monday at the Alice Schafer Annex building, board members voted 6-0 to reject the combined bid package as too costly. The combined bid package had totaled $803,800.

Dorothy Luckock, G.W. Hall, Tim McQuiston, Ryan Klink, David Schaef and Ed Williamson voted to reject the bids. John Burnham, Adam Horne and Steve Nader were absent from the meeting.

The project called for security upgrades at Conneaut Area Senior High School, Alice Schafer Annex, Conneaut Area Middle School, Conneaut Lake Elementary School and Conneaut Valley Elementary School. The proposed upgrades included door replacements, access control software and hardware, data control management, and installation of security video intercom systems in the buildings.

In addition, the bundled project includes kitchen upgrades at Conneaut Valley Elementary School of electric, plumbing and mechanical work as well as installation of a grease trap and a walk-in cooler and freezer.

The bundled bid package included: general contractor, Considine Biebel and Co. $387,000; electrical, Connecto Electric, $373,000; plumbing, Gildea Group, $32,900; and heating, ventilation and air conditioning, Gildea Group, $10,900.

The kitchen upgrade at Conneaut Valley Elementary School, though, will move forward, Luckock told The Meadville Tribune following the vote.

The school's kitchen needs to be upgraded over the summer to a full-service kitchen by September due to the closure of Conneaut Valley Middle School and that school's full-service kitchen at the end of this school year, she said.

Conneaut Valley Elementary School's facility has been a satellite kitchen serving meals prepared at the middle school which then are transported to the elementary school.

The school board is looking at getting bids for the kitchen project through Pennsylvania's COSTARS system, Luckock said.

COSTARS is Pennsylvania's cooperative purchasing program for government and member agencies. It's billed as a way for government and agencies to save money through competitive pricing while allowing suppliers of any size to compete for members' business.

Luckock and Frank Kimmel, the district's director of buildings and grounds, expect to have COSTARS bids for the kitchen ready for a vote at the school board's May 8 meeting.

Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.