Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Construction And Grants topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
High-school construction on schedule; district pursues 500‑kW solar grant and Safe Routes funding
Summary
The district reported the high-school construction is on budget and largely on schedule, with asbestos abatement complete in one area, and staff said they submitted a Solar for Schools notice and secured a Safe Routes to School grant; the solar project would be fully grant-funded if selected.
Nathan Norton, ICS project manager, updated the board on the high-school construction project and said the work is proceeding on schedule and on budget.
Norton reported that air-handling units are installed on the fifth floor and electrical hookups are in progress; fourth-floor carpeting is about 90% complete and remaining asbestos has been abated. He said the third floor is ahead of schedule and that maintenance staff will begin moving in as areas are cleaned. “We are on budget and on and on schedule,” Norton told the board.
Board members asked about specific items such as stairwell lighting; Norton said approximately 31 lights were reviewed and will be replaced with code-compliant fixtures as part of the project.
Separately, district staff updated the board on grants and sustainability projects. Staff said the district submitted a notice of intent for the Solar for Schools program and that the current application round allows larger arrays (around a 500 kilowatt production scale, as discussed at the meeting) compared with earlier rounds. Staff said the proposed arrays are ground-mounted and may produce more than some roof-mounted arrays because of steeper tilt angles. Staff said Ideal Energy is a project partner and that CERTs (Clean Energy Resource Teams) — a partner affiliated with the University of Minnesota referenced in the meeting — is assisting applicants. A board speaker said the program would be fully grant-funded and would incur no out-of-pocket cost to the district.
Staff also reported the district received a Safe Routes to School grant to redesign drop-off and bus/parent traffic patterns at West and East schools; plans will go out to bid this winter for construction next summer.
District staff said they are continuing vendor conversations, addressing panel quality and hail protection in procurement documents, and waiting for the state to invite applications to the second round.
The board received the updates and had no formal vote on the solar application at this meeting.
