Buildings & Grounds committee gives consensus to proceed on boiler removal, playground and AV, pursues energy-efficiency grant

The Aurora East USD 131 Buildings & Grounds committee reviewed summer-project progress and gave informal consensus to move forward on several facilities actions, including removal of an unsalvageable boiler at East Aurora High School, purchase and installation of a grant-funded playground at Johnson, issuance of a request for proposals for Waldo Stage audio-visual upgrades and pursuit of a ComEd monitoring-based commissioning grant with Trane.

District facilities staff told the committee that the ongoing summer projects are generally on schedule and highlighted completed and near-complete work: Johnson roofing is close to finished with final coating planned, new windows and rotunda repairs at O'Donnell are installed, and two large HVAC units were recently lifted into place at the high school. Staff said work is progressing with good weather and minimal hindrances.

On the East Aurora High School boiler, a facilities staff member said one of two boilers already inspected is “not salvageable.” Staff described removing parts from that unit for reuse on the remaining boiler and said the district would prefer to remove the unsalvageable unit now to be ahead of next year's HVAC work. Staff reported they solicited multiple quotes for removal; two verbal quotes exceeded $50,000 and one came in at $75,000, while Colfax TEM provided a written price below the $50,000 threshold. The facilities staff asked the committee for permission to proceed and indicated the cost would be covered by contingency funds from this year's HVAC project. A committee member responded that they were comfortable with proceeding.

Committee members also reviewed a proposed playground expansion at Johnson that would add fenced, age-appropriate equipment for children as young as roughly six months through 12 years, aimed to support the Jump Start preschool/early-learning program. Staff said the work would be fully funded by the district's PI (preschool intervention) grant and that the equipment would be purchased through a cooperative procurement (no separate competitive bid needed). Staff asked the committee to move the item to a formal motion; staff and a committee member indicated the timeline aims for installation before the fall term.

On Waldo Stage at another elementary building, staff described the space as lacking microphones, projection and adequate lighting. The committee gave consensus to let the district issue an RFP for AV upgrades, with funds identified in the current technology budget pending a future formal approval to award.

Facilities staff described a potential ComEd monitoring-based commissioning grant program managed by Trane. Staff said Trane would apply for the grant on the district's behalf; if awarded, Trane's monitoring tools would use data analytics to find operational fixes and schedule adjustments and could potentially yield energy-cost savings the vendor estimated at about 10%–15%. Staff characterized the program as effectively no-cost to the district while the grant application is in process and asked for committee consensus to pursue the grant application.

Other informational items included progress on the career and technical center: staff reported recent planning meetings with educators and industry partners, visits to comparable high-school programs, and design work moving from roughly 75% to 90% documents with a target for an August/fall 2027 opening. Staff also noted plans to replace aging computers in East Aurora High School's Lab 202 (machines roughly five to six years old), with three bids collected and funding already in the technology budget. Staff encouraged committee members to review the work-order summary showing ticket reductions and ongoing documentation of facilities work.

The committee meeting was short, and members indicated informal consensus on the items above; no formal vote tallies were recorded in the available transcript.

The district provided these next steps: staff will bring formal motions or contract awards back to the committee or full board for final approval where required, proceed with cooperative procurement for the Johnson playground, issue the Waldo Stage RFP, pursue the ComEd grant application with Trane if authorized and schedule the boiler removal with Colfax TEM pending procurement and funding confirmation.