Lowell Rogers, ABSS Deputy Superintendent, mentioned Dr. Butler had to leave early due to sickness. Mr. Rogers said as of that day 32 schools had mold remediation and were now open. He thanked the Board for approving $20 million in reallocation of funds for mold and remediation. Mr. Rogers shared that the presentation aimed to answer the question of how they were going to keep mold from returning. His staff devised a preventative plan that would focus on HVAC, roofs, dehumidification, water intrusion, windows, and staffing.
Mr. Hook gave the presentation. He said the HVAC maintenance/repair was currently understaffed to provide maintenance. He reiterated that these were ideas, not a financial ask. He shared that last year for HVAC repairs they used contracted services. The cost for those services was $135,000. Mr. Hook mentioned they agreed with the motion to contract with an engineering design firm to inventory and evaluate the current systems and create a capital improvement plan. He mentioned dehumidification system was important to combat the return of mold.
Mr. Hook said they had not done any preventive maintenance on roofs. They needed staff to clean out gutters, clean debris off the roof, and do maintenance on the roofs. He received an estimate from one company of $125,000 to do preventive maintenance twice a year on school roofs.
Mr. Hook next discussed dehumidification. He said it was important to read the humidity numbers in the school buildings. He continued that a fleet of portable dehumidifiers could be placed in areas in the summer, from June through this time of year to prevent humidity. Mr. Hook mentioned that ABSS had planned on using the remaining ESSER funds as another application toward this. Mr. Hook said they could rent through a service contract or buy them following the state purchasing procedures.
Commissioner Turner said 8 schools had HVAC improvements underway. He understood the contractual timeline to complete that work was mid-September 2024. He asked if was possible to complete the HVAC units by Memorial Day so that by next summer the schools would have HAVCS. Mr. Hook responded he could talk to them, but they would be getting different types of equipment around February 2024 for the HAVCS systems. He continued they would be installed through the summer.
Chairman Paisley asked about the cost of renting versus purchasing the dehumidifiers. Mr. Hook replied he had a rough number. It would cost per unit per month to rent a dehumidifier between $890-$2,400. He said that purchasing it would be $2,500.
Vice-Chair Carter had a contact who sent him several different materials on several different processes that would use ultraviolet light to clean air as it goes through the air handling system. He said it may be something they would need to look at because the air-handling system could help kill mold spores.
Mr. Hook moved on to discuss water intrusion. He said they had schools where they had several areas that were below grade. They needed to keep an eye on those areas. He gave the examples of A.O. Elementary and Williams High where they had water intrusion.
Mr. Hook said they discussed windows earlier. He explained they had single-pane windows that were obsolete. He suggested they contact an architectural firm to inventory and evaluate the current windows to determine what was needed. Vice-Chair Carter asked if they had any ESSER funds that they could use towards the window. Mr. Hook said the ESSER funds were all committed except for the million he referred to earlier which they would use towards the rental of the dehumidifiers.
Mr. Hook explained for internal staffing they used to have Building Managers. They would like to go back to having one in every school. That would be a person who would be a supplemental to the maintenance staff. He suggested adding back an Assistant Director who could focus on managing service contracts and monitoring inspection reports. Mr. Hook mentioned the desire to hire service contractors who would provide preventative maintenance on HVAC, roofing, and dehumidification. He said they had 50 chillers and 75 boilers that did not receive preventative maintenance. The estimated cost was between $250,000-$300,000.
Mr. Hook explained the summary and estimated costs were:
HVAC:
Design Firm- $200,000-$250,000
Replace/Installation/Dehumidification - $30 million per year (estimated 8 schools per year)
Roofs:
Design Firm- $250,000-$300,000
Replace/Installation/Repair- $15 million per year (estimated 4 schools per year)
Staffing:
Building Managers (41)- $1,149,548 annual
Assistant Director- $94,170 annual
Commissioner Thompson requested Mr. Bass, of Builder Services discuss and share pictures of the mold remediation that was done at the schools. He said the mold did not happen overnight. He explained they had over 108 dumpsters pulled out of the school and cleaned 16 HVAC systems. They had replaced 750 filters in the schools they had cleaned. Mr. Bass suggested they needed preventive maintenance to be done on everything because time was not on their side. He continued that renting dehumidifiers was a waste of money. He said it would be more cost-effective to purchase them.
County Attorney Stevens mentioned there was a possibility of putting out RFQs depending on the Board's position on whether or not this was a case for a special emergency involving the health and safety of the people.
Commissioner Thompson explained she wanted everyone in the school system to understand this was a crisis. She said they needed to hear the hard things to get to where they needed to be.
Commissioner Turner asked how soon could the county have an RFQ in the works for the engineering process. Mr. Baker, Assistant County Manager, responded they could have an assessment done relatively quickly. Commissioner Turner asked for a RFQ process for the roofing analysis under the expedited procedure in two weeks. Chairman Paisley said they were requesting that as a Board. County Manager York responded they received the direction and will bring back that information at the next meeting.
County Attorney Stevens reiterated the Board could find by vote that the special emergency involving the health and safety of the people and their property exists here, which gave a lot of weight to the position of not using an RFQ as part of the process.