Triad Schools’ project maintenance, IT updates
Walls are starting to form at the new Triad Middle School site on US 40. This image was taken on Nov. 26. (Ray Popkess photo)
By Charles Bolinger
Editor
At the Nov. 24 Triad School District Board Meeting, Brian Mattingly, director of facilities, gave updates to the board and Superintendent, Dr. Jason Henderson.
“I wanted to provide an update on our new chiller system at the high school as we move into the colder months,” he said. “Our plan is to keep the pumps running continuously so the water doesn’t become stagnant and freeze in the lines. Following our request, alarms have now been installed to notify us if the pumps stop running during freezing conditions.
“After consulting with Veregy and Jen Mechanical, both recommend adding glycol to the system as an additional layer of protection. We are recommending approval of the proposal from Jen Mechanical to add glycol, which will help prevent freezing—especially in areas where water flow may slow or temperatures drop lower than expected. We are planning to add glycol at a concentration of 20%.”
He then turned to the construction at the new middle school site.
“We have another exciting few weeks ahead out at the middle school,” he said. “Gelly (pronounced ‘jelly’) is currently installing the underground drainage piping across the site, and the firewall on the 7th/8th grade side is scheduled to start going up soon.
“Foundation for Area E will also begin being set next week. In addition to all of this, the electricians will be onsite next week to start roughing in the parking lot lights. Everything has been running smoothly to this point and that’s a credit to the great work from Holland, FGM, an all of the contractors involved. We’re excited to see the continued progress out there.”
There will be a pre-bid walk through at the high school, he added prior to the construction of the new addition, which should start in February or March. Also, Marine Elementary School’s roof project went out to bid on Nov. 25.
On the information technology side, Director Mike Wielgus was equally enthusiastic.
“We’ve recently begun the process of exploring options for a refresh of the district’s phone system,” he said. “One of the vendors that we’ve engaged is Windstream, our current provider. During our initial call, it came to light that a reduction in services that was instituted in May 2021 had not been adjusted properly on our monthly bill. As a result, we have overpaid since that change was made. Upon this revelation, our Windstream rep opened a case with their legal and financial departments and as a result, we’ve just received a credit on our account for $71,820.68.”
In other news, Wielgus had an update to share about the district’s buses.
“Installers (NetCom) recently completed power and antenna upgrades on Triad’s fleet of buses, which has led to more consistent coverage and retrieval of needed video footage. They also replaced a component on the solar systems that are used to power the six pole mounted cameras that are in use throughout the district. This was done to resolve an issue that was preventing the cameras from powering back on after batteries had been depleted.”
Switching back to school maintenance projects, the intercom system at Henning Elementary no longer functions and will need to be replaced.
“Everyone’s going to get the new intercom system,” Superintendent Dr. Jason Henderson said. “We’ll wait until the [new] middle school is built though; we’re not going to put a brand-new intercom system in the last year of a middle school.”
“We would like to put the other buildings into the community oriented policing services (COPS) grant next year if we can, that’s our goal. If something breaks, we might have to move forward a little quicker. It makes sense to do it as we finish the projects in Marine and at the high school and the middle school.”
Board member Ken Miller asked Wielgus why Silver Creek has Cat 5 lines while St. Jacob and Henning don’t.
“I can’t speak on St. Jacob because I don’t know the answer,” Wielgus responded. “But I can say that Henning does not have Cat 5; they have speaker wire. That question you asked is the $1 million question because that was in 2008, when most of us were not in these positions. I was teaching. Somehow, in 2008, when those buildings were built, they were built three different ways with regards to speakers. That’s the major explanation why Silver Creek’s cost came in definitely lower than what Henning’s is going to be.”
The board voted 6-0 to approve the new intercom system installation at Henning Elementary School.
The next Triad School District Board Meeting is Dec. 15 at 6:30 p.m. in the administration building, 203 E. Throp Street.
