BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Monitor Editor
GREEN COVE SPRINGS— Three Lake Region construction projects are on the agenda for tonight’s Clay County School Board meeting.
High school baseball press box
Orange Park Architect Brian Boatright is asking the board to approve a $166,768 cost estimate for replacing the press box at the Keystone Heights High School baseball field. The estimate includes $50,000 for impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Boatright wrote that the additional money is intended to account for increased demand for materials, supply chain delays and increased costs due to factory shutdowns, reduced manpower and transportation shortages.
He wrote that while it is impossible to accurately forecast the amount of cost increases due to the pandemic, other projects recently bid suggest that bids for the press box project may come in at around 50% above normal costs.
Elementary school cafeteria and classrooms
The board will vote on approving a contract with Paul Stressing and Associates Inc. of Alachua to design a new and renovated cafeteria and additional classrooms for the school.
Board member Janice Kerekes noted during an Oct. 26 school board workshop that the Keystone cafeteria is now the smallest in the district.
Board member Tina Bullock said during the workshop that she viewed the cafeteria renovation and additional classrooms as a temporary fix.
She said that maintenance problems on the campus will continue even after the renovation.
Bullock said that when she was principal at the school, maintenance issues took administrative time away from time devoted to educational concerns.
“I know it’s probably gotten worse,” she said. “We’ve built new facilities there and then we’ve still had issues with water pipes and all kinds of things.”
High school stadium scoreboard
The cost estimate for the new scoreboard is $62,262 which includes a $20,754 cost increase estimate for COVID-19 impacts.
