Board looks at firm: Wapak School District may retain lawyers to assist with construction matters
Wapakoneta Daily News March 23, 2010
Wapakoneta City Schools Board of Education members plan to vote this week on professional services of a law firm specializing in construction matters.
Tonight’s board agenda includes the approval of the services of Kegler, Brown, Hill & Ritter, of Columbus.
Superintendent Keith Horner said the district plans to retain the firm as they prepare to deal with a construction dispute as part of the Wapakoneta City Schools OSFC (Ohio Schools Facilities Commission) construction and renovation project.
The district already retains professional services of firms from Columbus and Cleveland who specialize in other areas of school law.
At a school board meeting earlier this month, board member Ron Mertz briefly mentioned a problem at Cridersville Elementary School and said it is still being worked out.
Mertz said the problem is with terrazzo flooring, which was already laid, and they were working with the construction manager, architects and the state to resolve the issue.
He described the final product as “unacceptable.”
Mertz said he would let the public know more about the situation as it evolved, but school officials have declined to comment further for the meantime.
Terrazzo was used in hallways and common areas of the new building.
The long-lasting flooring originally installed in the existing Cridersville Elementary is still in use. “We are going to bring this up to the high quality standards we expect,” Mertz said of the flooring. In other issues related to school construction, board members plan to award a bid for asphalt work at all but Cridersville Elementary, which was awarded earlier.
Horner said asphalt was bid out in the fall, but because bids came in so high, the board only accepted a bid for Cridersville, which they needed to get moving on more quickly. By waiting, bids came in lower for the other buildings.
In other business, board members:
- Approve administrator contracts for Northridge Elementary School Principal Mark Selvaggio and Wapakoneta High School Assistant Principal Jason Kline.
- Approve a contract with the Auglaize County Educational Service Center. Although the contract has been in place for many years on a continual basis, Horner said they want to switch that to an annual agreement with more formality and transparency.