Pine-Richland approves firms for HVAC project at 2 elementary schools

Efforts to replace the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems at Wexford and Richland elementary schools moved forward with the approval of two firms to provide professional services for the project.

Pine-Richland School Board voted unanimously at its March meeting to hire Tower Engineering Inc. of Ross Township and Eckles Construction Services of Zelienople. Both firms’ fees are on a percentage basis predicated on project costs, estimated at between $8 million and $9 million.

Tower will provide schematic design, bidding documents and construction administration for full HVAC system replacements at each of the schools. The fee is 7% of the project’s total HVAC, electrical, plumbing and general construction costs, based on actual bid results.

“Since this is an equipment-heavy project, we selected an engineering firm (rather than an architect) to lead the design process,” the board meeting’s agenda states.

Eckles’ fee for professional construction management services is 4% of total costs. The firm will “provide expertise during the duration of the project, from contract document generation in winter 2024-25 through project close-out in late summer 2026,” according to the agenda.

The schedule calls for a design phase in the spring, bidding and awarding of contracts during the fall and early winter, and two phases of construction, in the summers of 2025 and 2026.

HVAC replacements at the elementary schools and at Pine-Richland Middle School, where work is nearing completion, are budgeted as capital projects, representing long-term investments by the district.

Regarding capital projects in general, Jeff Zimmerman, director of facilities, said the district’s outlay for change orders — deviations from the original scope of a project, usually adding to the overall cost — amounts to far less than the money set aside for such eventualities.

“Whenever you go into a large construction project, multimillion-dollar project, there’s always a contingency that you should hold, about 5%. We’re nowhere near 5% on any change orders for the last five years that I’ve been here. We’re averaging around 2%, actually,” Zimmerman told the school board.

“I know every change order feels like a big mistake,” he said, “But there are so many things to think about, especially when you’re not doing new construction; you’re doing retrofits in an older building.”

Superintendent Brian Miller vouched for Tower’s previous work with the district, including services in connection with the middle school HVAC project.

“They are highly regarded,” he said, “and we 100% believe they should be the firm supporting us.”