School parking, utility upgrades set for summer

Expect lots of construction work at local schools this summer, as the district puts its remaining capital-improvement bond money to work.
The Clarkston Board of Education voted Monday to authorize for bid $910,000 in high-priority projects districtwide.
Clarkston High School and Junior High School projects include:
? Resurface auxiliary lot, CJH, $40,000;
? Air conditioning to keep equipment cool in CHS Head End Room, and generator hookup, $30,000;
? Lighting system upgrade, CHS, $75,000;
? Resurface CJH track, $75,000;
? Replace fence around CJH stadium, track, $50,000;
? Portable bleachers, CHS/CJH, $60,000;
? Two ride-on floor scrubbers, CHS, $25,000;
Work at elementary schools include:
? Re-asphalt parking lot, Bailey Lake, $150,000;
? Re-asphalt entrance drive, North Sashabaw, $50,000;
? Lighting upgrade, Independence, $35,000;
? Energy-efficient, digital HVAC controls, Springfield Plains, $60,000;
? Replace flag pole, Bailey Lake, $5,000.
District-wide projects include:
? Seven test-scoring scanners for elementaries, $35,000;
? Concrete pads for bleachers at Alternative Junior High, $50,000;
? New exterior signs at various schools, $70,000.
The list also includes $100,000 for demolition and asbestos abatement at the former South Sashabaw Elementary School.
‘Whatever we do, all asbestos will have to be removed,? said Bruce Beamer, executive director of business services.
It will probably not be renovated as an interim senior center, so its best use may be as additional athletic fields for Sashabaw Middle School, Beamer said.
Added to $600,000 previously approved for computer replacement at CHS and $45,300 for unforeseen costs, high-priority projects will cost $1,555,300.
Medium and low-priority projects would account for the rest of the $6.5 million in bond funds. Most are district-wide, energy-efficiency projects.
The high-priority projects will go out for bid immediately, he said.
Responses are due by early June for discussion and approval by the school board.
Beamer will present additional details on medium- and low-priority project at a future meeting.
Voters approved the bond issue in 2003, borrowing $83.7 million from the state. Conditions placed by the state limit use of the funds to capital improvements.