Board of education awards pacts to buy new furniture

Both bids came in somewhat higher than the architect's estimates.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown Board of Education has awarded contracts for nearly $650,000 worth of furniture for its Kirkmere Elementary School and P. Ross Berry Middle School projects.
The contracts are contingent upon the approval of the Ohio School Facilities Commission, which is expected to pick up 80 percent of the cost. The schools are part of a nearly $200 million district rebuilding program.
The board learned Tuesday that both projects had just a single bidder -- Krueger International Inc. of Green Bay, Wis. The company got the jobs at $243,114 for Kirkmere and $408,617 for Berry.
Steven Ludwinski, senior project manager for Heery International Inc., construction manager, said it was unclear why no other companies submitted proposals.
Within allocation
The Kirkmere bid came in $33,000 higher than estimated while the Berry bid was $8,600 over the estimate. Both bids, however, were within the OSFC allocation for the furniture, said Anthony DeNiro, assistant superintendent of school business affairs.
Both buildings are slated to open this fall.
Kirkmere, on the city's West Side, is a renovation/expansion with a cost of $5.3 million, while Berry is a new building on the East Side with a $14 million price tag.
The board also agreed to seek bids for the removal of asbestos from the second floor of Choffin Career and Technical Center. That job is estimated at $42,000, and the OSFC will pick up 80 percent of the expense.
School districts are required to remove or encapsulate asbestos materials in major renovation projects.
Choffin also is a renovation/expansion project with a total cost of $10.4 million. The work is to be completed by fall 2009.