Shippensburg SD hears construction update; water‑meter vault and telecom pedestals could delay middle‑school entrance

Shippensburg Area School District trustees were told Wednesday that work on the district’s high‑school and middle‑school additions is proceeding but faces two site issues that could affect the middle‑school parent drop‑off loop before the start of school.

Jason Erb, a Site Logic representative who gave the Committee of the Whole construction update, said crews have milled and begun prep work on parking and the bus loop, and that interior work in the high‑school STEM lab, music room and the middle‑school band room is advancing. "We did do a schedule update through the month of May. The high school, classroom edition the STEM lab still remains about 11 days behind," Erb said. "But we do have some milestone dates that are achievable to finish the ceiling as well as performing above‑ceiling inspection ... that will bring that back online with the original schedule." He said overall pay applications show the project about 48% complete and "we're right around 60" on schedule metrics.

Nut graf: The district’s contractor and staff described two site constraints that could force a temporary traffic plan for the middle‑school loop: (1) a larger‑than‑expected water‑meter vault and a borough requirement that the contractor supply the meter, which raised a quoted cost, and (2) three Brightspeed telephone pedestals located on the footprint of the planned new entrance. Both items are being handled as potential change orders or directives and could require short‑term circulation changes for parents and buses if not resolved before school starts.

On the meter vault, Erb said borough reviewers requested a bypass in the vault that increased its size and cost; he reported an original quote "over $27,000 for the meter vault changes" and that a construction change directive (CCD) was issued because the district and contractor had not agreed on pricing. "Typically, the borough will provide that, but Shippensburg [is] requiring the contractor to supply it," Erb said, explaining why the district is treating the item as a time‑and‑material change under a CCD. Erb also noted the Kleinfelder testing invoice for concrete and steel inspections has not been submitted with proper documentation and will be released after paperwork is complete.

The second potential delay involves three existing telephone pedestals the contractor says are owned by Brightspeed and sit where the new exit from the stadium and the new middle‑school loop would be built. Erb described repeated attempts to schedule relocation: "We started calling them to coordinate the relocation of those pedestals. They never got back to us until towards the May." He said district staff are unsure whether the pedestals serve just the school’s fire‑alarm circuits or the wider community; Troy, the district IT manager, told the meeting he believes the lines serve the school’s fire alarm, but that Brightspeed did not confirm.

The district is pursuing two parallel paths: continuing to press Brightspeed for a survey and relocation proposal while working with the architect (EI Associates) and K&W to develop a temporary or alternate entrance solution if the pedestals are not moved in time. "Worst case scenario for the middle school will have to use the existing entrance," Erb said, describing a plan to open the site using the current driveway until the pedestal relocation is complete.

Contract and budget context: Erb said the project has "a little over $200,000" remaining in contingency and that ECI Change Order 1 was drafted for district review; he emphasized Site Logic is vetting contractor proposals to ensure labor and material prices are reasonable. Board members pressed on whether the project is at risk of exceeding budget; Erb responded, "No. No. We're not like I said, we're not nearly even close to that 200,000." Erb also said the music and band additions are "cracking on schedule."

Separately, the board discussed electrical and access‑control wiring the district requested after initial bids. Tim Straub, representing Mid State Electric, explained a change order request to supply additional wiring, mag‑strikes and card‑readers for several doors; the work was described as parts, labor and materials for access control and was presented to the board as a needed but previously overlooked scope.

At the Planning and Action meeting later in the evening the board debated a facilities change order (GC‑01) tied to the project. The board voted to remove from GC‑01 a $4,000 countertop replacement item for a mail‑area reveal and approved proceeding to address the remaining items separately; the amendment to remove the countertop passed on a roll call vote of 6–1.

Ending: District staff said they will continue pressing Brightspeed and will present alternative traffic plans to the board if pedestal relocation is not complete before school opens; they also will return to the board with refined change‑order pricing for the meter vault, access control and the countertop fix.