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District architect outlines $236M building needs; ARPA covered major ventilation and safety work
Summary
Tom Ritzenthaler told the board the 2022 building condition survey identified $236 million in construction needs (realistic total $300–320M including incidental costs); ARPA-funded projects accounted for roughly $75–90 million of that work, with remaining priorities to be phased into future five‑year planning.
Tom Ritzenthaler of CSRH presented the district’s facilities update to the board, reviewing the 2022 building condition survey and progress since that report.
Ritzenthaler said the 2022 survey identified roughly $236 million in construction-value needs; when incidental costs are included that figure could approach $300–$320 million. The district used federal ARPA funds to pay for much of the immediate health-and-safety work, he said, and ARPA-eligible projects — including mechanical and ventilation upgrades, hazardous-material abatement, windows and door replacements, ADA compliance work and security/communications upgrades — accounted for a large share of recent spending. "That was really the breakout of the work that we did across all the district a little over $90 million," he said, noting the $90 million is project cost and the construction-value equivalent is closer to $75 million.
Ritzenthaler walked the board through recent capital projects — HVAC and ventilation upgrades, chiller and boiler replacements under construction, gym-floor and bleacher work, and an auditorium renovation at Ramapo High School — and said the district also replaced roughly 60 drinking fountains with filtered units that signal when filters need replacement. He emphasized that a single unsatisfactory health-and-safety item can cause a building’s rating to be recorded as "unsatisfactory" in the state-required building-condition survey process and reminded the board the district must repeat the survey in 2027.
Board members asked how much of the 2022 estimate has been completed. Ritzenthaler said ARPA covered a significant share and estimated that, on the 2022 construction-value basis, roughly $75 million of the work has been done via ARPA with an overall completion in the neighborhood of $150–160 million of the 236 million tally when including transfers and other projects.
He urged the board to prioritize projects in the five-year capital plan and look for funding sources beyond local levy dollars, including grants and energy performance contracts that can finance certain upgrades without raising taxpayers’ costs.
The presentation concluded with a timeline reminder: the next building condition survey in 2027 will update priorities and costs.
