Hampton School Board addresses concerns raised at council meeting

Hampton Township School Board held a special meeting Aug. 18 to address concerns regarding the district’s ongoing high school renovation project, as brought to the attention of township council the previous week by municipal manager Chris Lochner.

The issues, primarily regarding storm sewer work, also were communicated to P.J. Dick Inc., the North Side firm serving as project manager.

“There was not intent to make accusations,” Lochner said. “This was a distribution of factual information that was given to township council, so they were aware of the situation and the concern the township staff had relative to the project. That’s it.”

During inspection, staff members took photographs of storm sewer-related connections where boards had been placed or foam insulation applied to cover oversized holes at points of intersection.

“They can do that if they want,” Lochner said. “It is a private system, and that’s what I told council.”

He gave the opinion, though, that the style of insulation used is not acceptable and will most likely fail in three to four years, and said he was trying to avoid having council “caught in the middle of a blame game” because the township inspected the work.

Additional concerns were raised about fire protection at the high school, including alarms, and the repaving of the parking lots.

During the school board meeting, representatives of P.J. Dick and the project’s contractors provided responses. They explained during that the specific concerns about the foam and boards were non-issues because those are temporary measures that would be corrected with mortar before the project was complete.

Contractors also said that issues regarding fire doors were caused by delays related to supply-chain issues and would be addressed in time for the Aug. 25 start of classes.

“Our project at the high school is proceeding on schedule, as planned,” said Hampton Superintendent Dr. Michael Loughead via email. “Our expectation was to have parking available to all students and staff on campus at the start of the school year, and that expectation has been met.

“Additionally, we are meeting all project timelines toward our expected completion date in December 2022, which will include our brand-new, innovative library media center.”

The project also includes new roofing, a redesigned entrance and improved traffic flow around the building. R.A. Glancy & Sons Inc. of Hampton is the general contractor.