The Examiner U-46 News FeedEmergency repair work ratified at two schools By Seth Hancock
The Board of Education in School District U-46 approved a pair of emergency proposals totaling $158,117 at its meeting on Monday, Aug. 26.
Both items were on work completed over the summer by Diemer Plumbing and Excavating, Ltd., and both were paid for by the operations and maintenance fund. The board voted 6-0 on both items, board member Melissa Owens was absent.
Costing $108,577, Diemer performed work on Aug. 7 at Lowrie Elementary School in Elgin.
The proposal stated that there was trapped moisture in the wall of Lowrie’s library and Diemer was already performing work and “the area was excavated in an endeavor to weatherproof the exterior brick and fill in any gaps in the masonry.”
“During the excavation, however, it was discovered that a section of footing was missing and an emergency repair was needed to ensure the structural integrity of the building,” the proposal added. “This repair was completed and verified by the engineering firm as well as district staff.”
Sue Kerr, the board’s president, asked if the missing footing was part of the original building.
“It’s part of the original building,” said Bruce Phelps, senior business official. “Once they started digging, they had detected that the foundation has deteriorated more than what they thought, so they can only dig so many feet at a time and repair that back fill with concrete and then move on to the next section to do the whole wall.”
Board member Kate Thommes asked when Lowrie was built and U-46 CEO Tony Sanders said in 1896.
Diemer also performed emergency work at Tefft Middle School in Streamwood on July 31 costing $49,540.
The proposal stated that water had been discovered flowing into one of Tefft’s classrooms at the end of the last school year, and the water was leaking below the floor tile. U-46 worked with Diemer “to diagnose the issue, regrade the area, redirect the water, and install additional catch basins.”
Diemer was the only business to provide a quote.
“Due to the urgency of this needed repair, we accepted Diemer’s quote and proceeded with the repair in order to have the project completed before the return of students,” the proposal stated. “We also needed to expedite this project in order to monitor the space before reinstalling the flooring.”
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