W. BRANCH SCHOOLS Board awards contracts

The board turned down general construction and fire-protection bids.
By JoANN JONES
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BELOIT -- The West Branch Board of Education awarded three contracts for construction of the new Damascus Elementary School but rejected other construction bids because they exceeded the architect's estimate for the project.
At a special meeting Wednesday evening, the board awarded a contract for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning work for the school to York Mahoning Mechanical Contractors Inc. of Youngstown for $1,097,000, the lowest amount of seven heating, ventilation and air-conditioning construction bids submitted.
The board awarded a contract for electrical construction to Santon Electric Co. of Youngstown, which submitted the lowest of four electrical bids at $603,998.
Ellyson Plumbing & amp; Heating of Salem, one of seven plumbing contractors who submitted bids, was given a contract for $376,235.
What was turned down
Upon recommendation of Robert Wurdock, the project manager of URS O'Brien Kreitzberg of Canfield, which is overseeing the project, and Ricciuti Balog and Partners Architects of Youngstown, the board rejected all eight general construction bids as they exceeded project estimates by more than 10 percent. They also rejected four bids for fire-protection construction for the same reason.
The approximate cost for the Damascus building, which will be built on state Route 534, exceeds $7.6 million, most of which is being funded by the Ohio School Facilities Commission.
"State law prevents school boards from accepting bids that exceed 10 percent of the estimated cost," Superintendent Louis Ramunno said. "Some were almost 22 percent higher."
Ramunno said the architects will "redesign and revisit the assessment" of the construction areas that must be rebid. They will do the same for the Knox Elementary building before bidding starts because the two buildings are similar, Ramunno said, and those bids would likely also come in too high.
The board also voted to give the girls Fast-Pitch Softball League permission to use the high school, Beloit Elementary (Fifth Street), and Goshen Center softball fields for the 2004 season.