District outlines multi-year facilities plan; flags million-dollar HVAC, roofs and playground costs

Operations and safety staff presented a detailed facilities review at the March 9 meeting, walking the board through campus-by-campus needs and a five-year capital plan.

Dr. Bidding and Mr. Basham summarized building envelopes, mechanical systems, pavement, playground surfacing and specialty systems (elevators, pool filtration, stadium lights). They stressed that many mechanical and roof systems are in or approaching a roughly 20-year replacement window and highlighted items already on the near-term list: several roof phases at multiple campuses, pavement mill-and-overlay work, replacement/retrofit of playground equipment and surfacing, and targeted boiler/chiller projects at Cedar Canyon and Eel River.

The presenters called out Carol Highs west-side HVAC (a campus area served largely by rooftop units) as a major long-term project. They said replacing many rooftop units with a centralized boiler/chiller plant would remove dozens of roof-mounted units, improve reliability and enable a more effective reroofing strategy, but would likely be a several-million-dollar undertaking that staff plan to scope and return to the board with cost options.

They also noted long lead-time or diminishing-supplier issues for some items (playground-part vendors, stadium-light parts and elevator-control components) and encouraged multi-year budgeting to avoid acute failures. The board requested additional cash-flow and financing scenarios to evaluate project timing and affordability given legislative and valuation uncertainties.

Staff said project lists and the presentation will be posted to the district website and that staff will return with a more detailed budgetary plan and timing recommendations in subsequent meetings.