Du Quoin board awards bids for elementary school work
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<div class="PlainText">Cullen Dace, a representative of Lunsford Architects, spoke to the Du Quoin School Board at last week's meeting about the bids received for work on projects covered by an energy-efficiency grant from the state.<br /> Projects include replacing the boiler and an air-handling system at the elementary school, and installing a Web-based control system for both of those units.<br /> Dace explained that one of the bids, from SI Piping of Carbondale, had been deemed invalid because numbers for two of the three projects had been transposed. Board members agreed that the bid had to be rejected because of that inaccuracy.<br /> The board awarded the bid for the air-handling unit for the gym to Heartland Mechanical Contractors in Murphysboro for $108,000. They awarded the bid for replacing the boiler to HSG Mechanical Contractors in Carterville for $146,995, and they awarded the bid for the control systems to Premium Mechanical and Automation in Jackson, Mo., for $22,518.<br /> Dace told the board that the boiler work will take five to six weeks and the air-handling unit's replacement will take 10 to 12 weeks. All of the work will be done during the summer.<br /> The original grant was for $495,000, and some work has already been paid for using this money, including replacing all of the exterior lighting at the elementary school. The grant money is used to pay for half of each of these projects, and the school must pay the other half.<br /> "After this work, we will have money left from our energy-efficiency grant," Superintendent Gary Kelly told the board. "We should have enough to replace another couple of air handlers next summer."<br /> The board has also submitted an application for a Qualified Zone Academy Bond from the state board of education to fund other upcoming work on the elementary school.<br /> "We would use the county sales tax to fund the QZAB if our application is approved," he said at last month's meeting. "If it's approved, it would allow us to accelerate the roof replacement and other HVAC work beyond the energy efficiency grant."<br /> Lunsford Architects is contractually responsible for work covered under the current energy efficiency grant and for reporting the energy savings for each project to the state. The deadline for this grant work to be completed is the summer of 2018.</div>
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