Loyal School Board views summer projects, discusses concession stand
The Loyal School Board took a walk-through of the school facilities last Wednesday, led by facility manager Brad Graffunder, to see what changes had been made over the course of the summer. Projects were as follows.
— The auto lift was repaired and serviced. — The hallway floors were stripped and re-waxed, giving a greater shine.
— Both boilers were re-tubed, with 120 tubes per boiler. The motor of one was sent to Wausau to be rebuilt. Boiler 1 received a brand new burner and variable frequency drive, which will control the motor's speed by varying the frequency supplied to it and help with power savings. The school also decreased the number of chemicals being used in the boiler from six to three.
— A new steam injection condensate tank in the boiler room has been delivered and is being installed. It was plumbed in the days leading up to the board meeting and needed to be insulated yet. The old tank was dripping and had holes.
“It should be much more efficient this heating season. It’s a really good system and should last many, many years,” said Graffunder.
The boiler work will be paid for, in part, through a Focus on Energy grant.
— There was a section of exterior brick on the east side of the elementary school, between the elementary office and the first and second grade rooms, that had water/ frost issues. Zvolena Masonry did tuckpointing and replaced some bricks.
“On the lintel, every time it would rain, it would leak in. The caulk and mortar above the lintel was gone. So it would rain down the window pane and onto the windowsill… We had Zvolena in and they were looking at the mortar joints, and they were all cracked. When they started redoing the tuckpointing, all the brick faces started falling off. The small brick joints were bad all the way down. I don’t know how extensive it will be,” said Graffunder.
“We may have to set aside money and just do so much brick work per year,” said District Administrator Chris Lindner.
“They gave it a seal coat to help lengthen the life of it,” said Graffunder. “But I know they were finding it all the way around the building. We do have Zvolena coming in to get a quote for the whole building. They are going to check all the expansion joints.”
— The school district got a new dishwasher, which cost around $51,000, with a grant covering about $30,000. The grant paid for the dishwasher itself and the school had to pay for the plumbing and electrical. The machine maintains a temperature of 180 degrees Fahrenheit, so all items are automatically sanitized.
— The new mini condensate tank in the book room (off the north end of the cafeteria) has arrived and is ready to be installed.
“The pipe had rotted off and we couldn’t get it fixed without tearing up that whole ramp (leading into the cafeteria),” said Graffunder. “So we had Complete Control pipe it directly to the boiler room. And it’s vented out to Room 13. A lot of areas that mini tanks, we sent the motors and pumps out to Wausau and had them rebuilt.”
— A new section of railing was installed behind the elementary school and the blacktop was seal coated. It has been seal coated every three to five years to try and maintain the surface. Lindner estimated it was “probably 15 years” since it was re-asphalted.
— The roofs of three outlying buildings, Vater Hall, the Lions shelter, and the three-car garage, have been replaced with stainless steel roofs.
— Sidewalk was replaced behind the school by the auto shop and a rack was installed to store scrap metal for welding class.
— Two 20-foot sections of the entrance to the driveway of the circle drive and the parking lot on the west side of the building have been repaired.
Please see Summer projects, page 20 Summer projects,
from p. 16
— The business room was remodeled with new dimmable LED lights, a new ceiling, new flooring, new cabinets and a built-in desk. Some of the cabinets were also re-faced. The flooring had to be redone because of an asbestos issue.
— The district office had a new ceiling and LED lights.
— The inside concession stand had new cabinets and countertops installed.
Ongoing/potential future projects — The site has been prepared for the new concession stand. It will be a 24-foot by 60-foot building. The slab was extended far enough that there will be an open area with a covering on the north end of the building, with picnic tables where people can sit. The inside of the concession stand will include a kitchen, maintenance room, athletic storage and restrooms. The blueprint left room on the west end to put restrooms — if not right away, then at a later date.
“The thought was to add them later on. But it is in the original blueprint,” said board member Dennis Roehl when the board was discussing the project on site.
“Our goal is before the snow flies, to at least have the building up. Then the kids and Dusty Zvolena could do the interior during the school year,” said Lindner.
The project was on hold because the school district planned to attend the City of Loyal’s utility committee meeting Sept. 4 at 5:30 p.m., and see if it could receive permission to install a holding tank.
“A holding tank would be the best and the cheapest,” said board member Dave Clintsman Jr. “It would be way easier.”
Lindner received some quotes from Suda Plumbing during the meeting. A 2,000-gallon holding tank, which is the minimum size, would cost about $6,000. A 5,000-gallon tank would cost about $11,000. Alternatively, an inside lift station would cost about $23,000 while an outside one would cost about $30,000.
Some of the board members questioned why the plumbing issue had not been ironed out with the city before the project was started.
“I was told I didn’t need a building permit. I checked with the city and they said I didn’t because it was the school,” said Graffunder.
Board member Derek Weyer also wanted to know the total cost of the baseball field and concession stand projects. Lindner was not prepared to give the cost, as he wanted to double-check some numbers. He said the Zvolenas’ business had donated about $24,000 though. He also said that Suda Plumbing had said they would donate plumbing, but didn’t give an exact number.
Weyer also wanted to know the cost for a boiler for in-floor heating. Graffunder said it would be around $8,000.
— Graffunder asked the board if they felt the district should extend the student parking lot to the south, to the area where the tennis courts used to be (and before that, a house). The board felt that would be a good idea, if the main entrance to the ball fields was going to be moved by the new concession stand. Also, it would help to reduce the number of cars parked on the street. However, they realized they would need to put in a good base beforehand and it could be quite costly, so it will likely be a project for further down the road.
“The elementary parking lot needs to be repaired. I’d much rather see us finish that project first before starting a new project,” said board member Matt Kubista.
— The board also discussed possibly replacing lights at the football field, as three or four were burnt out. There are currently about 54 or 56 fixtures. Board members talked about switching to LED lights, but then Graffunder said the district would almost have to replace a whole pole at a time “or it would look funny.” That will likely be another project for further down the road.
— The basketball courts on the east side of the school by the greenhouse were dug up, because there was a large depression in the middle of them and they were just in rough shape in general. The district is looking at turning that area into more lawn, although it will cost probably more than $4,000 in dirt to fill it in. A couple of the board members also suggested that the agriculture students could eventually do some landscaping in that area.
— The board discussed the old administration building on the east side of the school. Currently it is just being used for storage. Lindner believed the last time staff actually worked in there was when Graeme Williams was superintendent. The furnace and air conditioning have gone out and it needs new doors and windows. The concern was that with paperwork being stored there, the humidity and temperature fluctuations could cause the documents to deteriorate faster. The board talked about moving what’s being stored there somewhere else and using the building for ag storage instead. No action was taken.
— The main building roofs were postponed due to weather and are scheduled to be completed in September. The sections of roof being replaced are on the 1997 additions to the building, and include the library, elementary office, auto shop and weight room.
— While not a maintenance project, Lindner also noted on the building tour that the third grade had been moved to downstairs in the elementary, as well as special education, and now 4K, kindergarten, first and second grade were entirely upstairs.
Editor Valorie Brecht contributed to this report.
VALORIE BRECHT/STAFF PHOTOS
Above and below, the business education room was remodeled this summer, including new dimmable LED lights, a new ceiling, new flooring, new cabinets and a built-in desk. Some of the cabinets were also re-faced. Additional cabinet space will provide a place to store apparel and other items sold through the school store.
At bottom, work continues on the outdoor concession stand. The goal is to have a building erected before winter. School district officials planned to meet with the city’s utility committee Sept. 4 to find out if they could install a holding tank for restrooms.
The Loyal School District had a new dishwasher installed this summer. It cost around $51,000 total, with a grant covering about $30,000. The machine automatically sanitizes dishes.
