At 57 years old, it’s time to pay attention to some equipment at Batavia Middle School or risk the site’s future closure, Business Administrator Scott Rozanski says.
He presented the issue Thursday along with a recommendation to spend more than $57,500 for the repair of three pumps for the boiler at the Ross Street school.
“When the boiler is working, condensation is working, and it captures that and reuses it throughout the system. It was installed in 1964 and started to show its age. The tank itself is leaking, along with return pumps,” Rozanski said during the board’s public hearing at the Batavia High School library. “If the tank and pumps were to fail, we wouldn’t be able to have school, and would have to shut down.”
Rozanski was asking for authorization to make the necessary repairs at a total cost of $57,583.52.
No one from the public showed up to the hearing. Rozanski explained that the price tag is part of a “piggyback bid” with the town of Greece. The pump problems were identified in a 2020 building conditions survey that’s to be performed every five years to assess facility needs and status.
If the repairs are not made now, the issue could be a recurring expense, he said. A total of nearly $200,000 is currently in the Repair Reserve Fund, and this transfer of funds would leave $141,619.51, he said.
“If there are funds at the end of the year, we will replenish the Repair Reserve for funds used,” he said.
There was no discussion before a unanimous vote by Board President Alice Benedict and members Barbara Bowman, John Marucci, Jennifer Lendvay, and Chezeray Rolle to approve the use of funds.
The board also voted to approve contracts or memorandums of agreement with:
— Firland Management/Batavia Ice Arena for use by Batavia Notre Dame United Hockey Team for practices and games.
— Notre Dame Board of Directors for interscholastic boys and girls swimming.
— Shared resources with the school districts of Pembroke and Byron-Bergen for Winterguard.
— Attica Central School District for interscholastic wrestling.
— Kimberly Gingrich for bilingual psycho-educational evaluations.
Updated 11/19/21: The Batavian reached out to Business Administrator Scott Rozanski for further clarification of the "piggyback bid" with Greece. The town of Greece had conducted a statewide bid for various New York State municipalities and schools. Bids were awarded by region to prime contractors for heating/ventilation/air conditioning, general contractor, electrical and plumbing work, Rozanski said.
“We were able to use this bid to secure a contractor instead of processing our own bid,” he said. “We did receive a quote initially to help assist with the initial planning of this project, which was approximately $18,000 higher.”
Photo above: Newly hired Superintendent Jason Smith reviews a board packet with District Clerk Brittany Witkop Thursday before the Batavia City Schools board meeting. Photo by Howard Owens.
