School board approves request for proposals on high school roof

In a Feb. 26 work session, School District 6 school board members approved a request for proposals for the Columbia Falls High School roof.

The current roof over east side classrooms has been leaking through its rubber membrane and has rusted the steel corrugated panels underneath. Previously, the board agreed to submit a question imposing a building reserve levy of 20.53 mills per year to raise approximately $2.8 million over two years to fund the project, which would pay for replacing the existing roof over the east side of the high school. The question is expected to appear on the ballot May 7. 

Should the levy proposition pass, it is estimated that property taxes on homes assessed at $100,000 market value would increase $27.72 per year, $300,000 value increase $83.16 per year and $600,000 value increase $166.32 per year. 

The current timeline is to distribute the request for proposals in March, with a deadline for proposal submission April 1 at 3 p.m. A contractor will be selected at the April 15 board meeting and the contract will be approved May 14, after votes are in for the levy. 

The fact that funding will not be solidified until the May ballot may dissuade some contractors from putting in a proposal at all. 

“That in and of itself may have some contractors say, ‘I’m not even going to go through the efforts if we don’t even know if this project is going to happen,’” district clerk Dustin Zuffelato said. Tyler Tonjum with Jackola Engineering, who presented roof replacement plans, guessed that there would be one bid on the project after calling multiple contractors around the valley.

Another problem is the short timeline to completely remove and replace the roof. Work would be expected to start June 7, after school gets out, and be completed by Aug. 26. A preliminary request from staff would be to start school after Labor Day, though superintendent Cory Dziowgo suggested it was too early to decide in case construction was completed before then. 

“Bare bones” was the name of the game as far as new roof designs go. 

“The goal is to return it to how it was before, We’re not going to try to add anything extra,” Tonjum said.

The roof leak was discovered during the school’s $5 million federally funded HVAC project, and an open structure design will be implemented over the main corridor and stairwell in order to maintain access for ongoing ventilation work. Acoustic ceiling tile will be over classrooms so that any future electric work can be done by removing tiles. Penetrations will have to be made in the new roof for HVAC penthouses. Lay-in lights for the classrooms would require retrofitting to fit on the old the current switch system, so linear lights will be used to retain the switching system and overall use less light fixtures, a cheaper option. 

New joists will be steel, and the old wood ones will be considered for other projects — the wood shop program was suggested. 

In other school board news, a unanimous vote at the Feb. 12 meeting supported a three-year renewal (July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2027) of superintendent Dziowgo’s contract, with the Negotiations Committee authorized to determine contract terms. 

May 7 mail ballot plans for annual trustee election and general fund over-base levy were also approved last regular meeting.