Middletown Area SD approves retainage reduction for elementary construction

The Middletown Area School District Board of Directors voted to reduce contract retainage from 10% to 5% for three contractors working on the district's elementary-level building project.

District facilities staff told the board the project is past the halfway point and that most materials are already on site. "The retainage is to ensure that we get what we're, the contract says we're gonna get," Facilities staff member Mr. Meiser said. "Once you get 50% of the project...most of the materials are all on, on-site. So they have to get to 50% and most of them are well beyond that." The board approved retainage reduction requests for CH and N Site Construction Incorporated, JR Reynolds Incorporated and ECI Construction.

The board heard a construction status update before the vote: roofs are mostly installed, masonry walls and plumbing, heating and air-conditioning work are underway, and ice tanks have been set. The motion to reduce retainage was moved and seconded from the dais and carried by voice vote.

The board did not provide a roll-call vote tally on the record, and no amendments or conditions were attached to the retainage approvals. The motion as presented cited contract terms allowing a reduction once a contractor reaches 50% completion.