Construction equipment can be seen stationed atop the roof of Gwyn Nor Elementary School in Upper Gwynedd, while workers take a lunch break, on Wednesday August 2 2023. Photo by Dan Sokil | The Reporter.
Elementary, middle and high school roofs could be scanned using grant funds
Several North Penn schools could see a boost from a grant application that could seek millions in state funding for long-discussed roof repairs.
“We’ll be applying for a grant for five schools: North Wales, Pennfield, Pennbrook, Oak Park, and for bid package three of the high school,” said Director of Facilities and operations Bill Slawter.
In recent years, district facilities staff have developed a long-term capital project list of needed infrastructure repairs and upgrades at every district building, and rated each project based on several criteria, updating the list as those projects are finished. Each summer staff typically recommend smaller projects based off of that list, which are typically paid for by the district’s capital fund; that fund is typically replenished each year by the year-to-year operating surplus once annual financial audits are finalized.
Last fall the board authorized a facilities study meant to update that list for all buildings aside from North Penn High School, where a long-discussed $260 million renovation project kicked off last May, and at that time staff said the last full district study had been done in 2001, and their total estimate for all projects outside the high school was roughly $144 million.
During the board’s facilities and operations committee meeting in late January, Slawter asked for approval to allow staff to apply for a grant from the state’s Department of Community and Economic Development to seek a maximum of $5 million in grant funding to scan the roofs at the two elementary, two middle, and parts of the high school, to determine the scope of repairs or replacements needed. Total areas to be scanned total roughly 117,000 at Pennfield, just over 103,000 square feet at the high school, just under 62,000 square feet at Oak Park, roughly 52,000 at Pennbrook and just over 40,000 at North Wales Elementary, according to Slawter.
“We would have to do this work anyway, if we were going to bring it out to public bid. And all of the roof items that are on this list, are on the capital list as an ‘elevated’ — not the highest level of scoring for replacement, but very near that,” he said.
Costs to the district are estimated at roughly $35,200 for the scanning, and the process would involve getting quotes from three or four roofing contractors prior to submitting the grant application; the district would then be required to also contribute 25 percent to the cost of the roof repair work. Roofing contractor Tremco Roofing will partner with the district on the grant application and has agreed to charge no fees for submitting the application or managing the project, and has had success scoring similar grants.
“Last year, they were able to get $8.6 million for five districts,” he said.
Board member Dan Bell said he fully backed the grant request, “especially when it’s something that we’re going to have to do anyways,” and asked how competitive the grant application process would be. Slawter answered that grant applications are processed and judged as they’re received, “so we don’t want to wait for the deadline” to file the application.
“They’ve already evaluated all of the schools, we’ve already put budgets together, we’ve already reached out to four roofing contractors, so our goal would be to get this (submitted) sometime in February,” Slawter said.
Resident Jason Lanier asked for specifics on how much the district could have to pay compared to the grant funding, and Slawter said the district would have to pay 25 percent of any total project cost, with the grant covering 75 percent, and the total work could be scaled down depending on how much funding is awarded and on the conditions found by the scans.
“The scans would be needed in order to prove that a restoration is viable. So, a lot of those roofs are seeking restoration, not full replacement: very similar warranty, but the costs are much less,” Slawter said.
“The roof scan is basically looking to see that there’s any moisture below the roof, in the insulation. if this was a replacement, we wouldn’t need to do the roof scans, but because we’re doing a restoration we need to prove there’s no moisture underneath the roof for it to be compatible,” he said.
Slawter also gave an update on the long-term capital project list itself: on the latest version of the list, several projects that are currently underway are now highlighted in blue, those currently in design are now highlighted in green, and those already done are now highlighted in purple.
Each project on the chart has been graded by staff on a one-to-five scale examining the safety, physical condition, educational impact, age, and life expectancy of the system or equipment, and the list is sorted by average score, with the highest-rated items scoring four out of five points. Projects currently underway include a $250,000 districtwide automatic control system upgrade rated four out of five, and a $3.6 million districtwide elementary school door upgrade project ranked 3.6 out of five, with recently completed projects including a $63,000 hot water heater and $412,000 boiler repair at Penndale Middle School, a $30,000 new heater for the North Penn High School natatorium, and $180,000 in upgrades to HVAC units in modular classrooms at Pennfield Middle School.
North Penn’s school board next meets at 7 p.m. on Feb. 19 and the facilities and operations committee next meets at 7 p.m. on Feb. 24; for more information visit www.NPenn.org.
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