Change order approved for lime to help dry soil

The mild and wet winter necessitated the cost overrun.
WARREN -- The board of education has approved a $115,241 change order for the kindergarten-through-eighth-grade building being built behind Lincoln Elementary School off Atlantic Street Northeast.
The change order, to be paid for out of project contingency funds, is for dehydrated lime to be mixed with the soil to dry it out so construction can proceed on schedule, explained Bill Schurman, senior manager with Carbone, Ozanne and Hammond of Canton, the construction management firm for the project.
The drying of the soil over the two acres the building will occupy is necessary because of this year's mild and wet winter, he said.
Underground utility installation is already well under way, and concrete is expected to be poured for the building foundation in late April, he said. Jack Gibson Construction Co. of Warren is the general contractor for the building, which is scheduled to open in fall 2007.
The $17.1 million building will be the first of four new kindergarten-through-eighth-grade buildings to be built in the school district's $153 million schools construction project, which will also include a new Warren G. Harding High School.
Each new building has a 5 percent contingency fund for cost overruns. The five new buildings will replace 13 school buildings by mid-2009.
The board also accepted the resignations of three teachers who are retiring. Allan Orr, art teacher at Western Reserve Middle School, will retire May 31. Special education teachers Sharen Scherer at Western Reserve and Julia Guarnieri at Harding will retire May 31 and July 31, respectively.