Facilities director outlines near‑term projects, flags urgent safety repairs

District facilities staff told the Prior Lake‑Savage Area Schools Board they are concentrating the Long‑Term Facilities Maintenance plan on projects the district can complete or affect in the next two years and flagged several urgent safety and reliability issues.

Director Powers, presenting the LTFM schedule, said the first two years focus on work that extends asset life—“that’s why you see a lot of seal coating” to extend parking‑lot life and defer full replacement. He described higher‑priority repairs where safety or imminent failure drove scheduling changes: replacement of egress doors at 5 Hawks to correct a fire‑code violation; a failing fire alarm panel at Glendale functioning at about 85% and described as likely to need replacement before it fails; roof and HVAC lifecycle replacements; and a movable gym wall and curtain‑wall components with replacement parts unavailable because the original manufacturer (Huffcor) is no longer in business.

Powers said a boiler replacement originally planned for Hidden Oaks was redirected to Jeffers Pond because a unit failed before winter; installing the replacement averted loss of the building for heating. He also noted work connected to pool closures and consolidations: plans to do necessary work at Hidden Oaks while two pools were still operational, with Twin Oaks planned for closure.

Board members pressed for detail on items added to the near‑term list since the last plan. Director Atkinson asked why some items (for example, replacing egress doors at 5 Hawks) were moved forward; Powers said the 5 Hawks work was programmed because it corrected a fire‑code violation. Atkinson also asked about several items now on the two‑year list: the Glendale fire‑alarm panel, movable gym wall repair, cracked ceilings and seal coating; Powers said the Glendale panel had degraded this winter and must be replaced to avoid losing occupancy of the building. Powers estimated that replacing a like‑for‑like curtain wall door could cost “just shy of a hundred and 80,000,” and that other replacement options would be less expensive.

Director Mason and others asked how potential building closures would affect LTFM priorities; Powers said some items could be delayed if a property is sold, but urgent safety and systems work (roofs, HVAC, boilers) would still need to be addressed. Powers also said some items are ineligible for LTFM funds — for example, whole‑fixture lighting replacements, security entry renovations that are new construction, and camera servers — and he will pursue alternative funding for those.

Staff did not present a new total budget authorization for the 10‑year plan in the study session; Director Atkinson said the schedule’s two‑year totals appear higher than the prior plan (he referenced figures of about 1.4 million previously vs. 1.582 million in the new schedule) and asked for further visibility; Powers said priorities are still being refined and that the overall 10‑year snapshot may change as inspections continue.