District notes summer projects complete; city approves guardrail at Myers Wilkins

ISD 709 facilities staff told the HR Business Services Committee on Sept. 8 that summer projects are complete and that bids for a First Street building project were opened on Aug. 6 at the District Services Center with preconstruction work beginning and an early September start planned. The committee was told a conditional‑use permit for a guardrail installation at Myers Wilkins was approved by the City of Duluth planning commission in August. The facilities report said the guardrail is intended “to protect the sidewalk at Myers Wilkins where there's often children walking and staff walking” following an accident about a year earlier; the district is awaiting next steps from the city. Facilities staff highlighted that building operations completed approximately 1,753,095 square feet of summer cleaning while supporting summer building activities, and that multiple projects across district sites — including Denfeld, East, Lincoln Park, Lowell, Myers Wilkins, Congdon, Lakewood and Laura MacArthur in Stowe — are underway or completed. The district said a terrazzo tile change order at Denfeld was required when additional damage was discovered during work; staff reported the project finished before the school year began. Committee members asked for and were told the number of custodial staff who worked over the summer: “70 custodial staff ... plus the additional 15 building engineers,” staff said. No committee action was recorded at the meeting.