Part of the presentation presented by Prairie Engineering for the replacement of the heating and cooling system at CMS. (Photo by Andrew Benjamin)
The Devils Lake School Board held their meeting on Monday, February 12. Here are some highlights from the meeting:
CMS paraprofessional Dustin Brunner is one of three finalists in the Educational Support Professional of the year. There will be a ceremony on Feb. 21 at 2:30 p.m. where he and his nominator will speak. Superintendent Ned Clooten described Bruner as an “excellent paraprofessional.”
The bulk of the board meeting was a presentation from representatives from Prairie Engineering to present an overview, costs, and considerations on the replacement of the boilers at CMS and air conditioning systems at CMS.
The first option that was recommended by Prairie Engineering was a hot water unit ventilator with chilled water cooling. The boiler would be replaced with a hot water boiler and steam unit ventilators would be replaced with hot water UV that included chilled water coils. Prairie Engineering said this would be best due to “better climate control and ease of maintenance.” The estimated cost of it would be $2,902,631.
The second option would replace the steam boiler facility heating system would remain as is and no cooling system would be provided. Existing steam boilers would be removed and replaced with new boilers of similar size and capacity. All piping in the facility would remain. Also, recommend moving the boiler room to another section of the school for easier access. Another is to put new steam boilers in the existing boiler. The estimated cost would be $4,012,750.
A third option would be a hot water UV with direct expansion cooling. Estimated cost would be $3,487,247.
The fourth option is to rebuild the existing steam boiler which is not recommended. It is not recommended as replacing the burners would cost a lot of money and new burners don’t have the longevity as the old burners and it wouldn’t include AV. The estimated cost would be $2,902,631.
One of the challenges would be to not interrupt school operations. After the meeting, Clooten spoke to the DLJ and said “he was really pleased with the price estimates. We have so much we need to do in that building. We need to restore that building, we have a lot of ADA and handicap compliance issues to address in that building. It’s not just heating and air.”
Clooten recommended approving only the student loan forgiveness portion of the Forward Devils Lake ND Career Builders program that was presented by Brad Barth at a previous meeting. Clooten said, “it’s more fiscally responsible for the district.” The board unanimously approved that portion.
Tuesday, June 11 will be the date for the school board election at the Memorial Building.
