Facilities committee forwards radio-tower demolition, Cowen contract amendments and pedestrian study to work session

The North Penn School District facilities and operations committee voted Jan. 27 to forward four items for further review at an upcoming work session or action meeting: permission to advertise for demolition of four of five radio towers at the WPBN site; two amendments to Cowen & Associates contracts for additional survey work related to the North Penn High School Transportation Center; and approval of a pedestrian-crossing study quote requested by Talmadge Township.

Why it matters: each item moves toward contract or bid actions that would affect the high school construction schedule, site preparation and township coordination. The committee recorded no formal roll-call tallies during the meeting; each motion passed by voice vote.

The committee approved permission to advertise a bid package to demolish four of five AM radio towers at the WPBN site so that the site can be used for construction staging. “The radio tower site will become the major construction staging area for construction at the school,” said a district presenter, and the demolition is intended to create a stone staging area for trailers, equipment and storage containers. Committee members clarified that cell-phone tower income is unaffected by that demolition; the district receives income only from the cell tower, not the AM towers.

Two separate amendments to the Cowen & Associates contract for the North Penn High School Transportation Center were also forwarded. One amendment covers a township-required tree survey to inventory tree species and sizes so the district can meet the township’s replacement requirements. The other covers additional survey work requested by the Montgomery County Soil Conservation Service for existing basins and a dam at the lower end of the property; those areas were originally omitted from the as-built survey because they were “existing to remain.” The presenter said those agency requests were additional to the original contract scope and therefore require contract amendments.

Finally the committee approved a quote proposal from HCA Associates for a pedestrian-crossing study at Somnietown Pike and Bridle Path Drive (the township-provided spelling varies in the transcript). The study cost is $4,500. The presenter said the study would define the scope (for example, whether the solution is a marked crosswalk, flashing beacons, or a signal) and that the district did not yet know the full construction cost because that depends on the study outcomes; the township had requested the study and the district expects the township to bear construction costs if the crossing has no direct bearing on the district’s core project.

Votes at a glance: all four motions were approved by voice vote with no recorded opposition during the meeting. The motions on the record were: permission to advertise the radio tower demolition bid; amendment to Cowen & Associates for a township-required tree survey; amendment to Cowen & Associates for additional survey services requested by Montgomery County Soil Conservation Service; approval of the HCA Associates quote for a pedestrian study ($4,500). The meeting record includes spoken motions and seconds but does not list individual mover/second names in the public transcript.

Background and next steps: each item will appear on the work-session or action agenda for formal contract award or further board action. The presenters said the tower demolition would be a short spring job and that the tree and soil-conservation surveys are agency-driven additions to the original survey scope. The pedestrian study will return with a scope and (if needed) cost estimates for potential crossing improvements after the $4,500 study is complete.

The committee heard several clarifying questions about who would pay for future construction tied to the pedestrian study and how the tree-survey replacement calculations work; presenters said replacement quantities depend on tree size and township multipliers. No additional public comment addressed these four items.