School Board Votes To Fix Gym Floor Crack

PHOTO BY RICK PECK Ann Miller, Nabholz Construction, and Bob Campbell, McDonald County School District, look at a sample of carpet being considered as an option to cover a crack in a concrete floor at the entrance of the new Pineville safe room/gymnasium.
PHOTO BY RICK PECK Ann Miller, Nabholz Construction, and Bob Campbell, McDonald County School District, look at a sample of carpet being considered as an option to cover a crack in a concrete floor at the entrance of the new Pineville safe room/gymnasium.

The McDonald County Board of Education voted 5-2 at its regular meeting on July 9 to accept a fix to a cracked concrete floor at the new tornado safe room/gymnasium at Pineville Elementary School.

The crack, which poses no structural threat and is only cosmetic, is located in the entrance outside the tornado safe room/gymnasium. The plan was to paint the floor, but with a crack in the concrete that would show, the board sought other options.

Bob Campbell, facilities and maintenance director, provided options that included stain, epoxy, diamond grinding the crack away, and tile, or carpet. All options other than carpet were either considerably more expensive or would allow the crack to show eventually.

Campbell said the carpet, which is the same that was installed in the new library at the High School, wears very well and would look good. He said refunds from the concrete subcontractor and the construction management firm will just about cover the cost of the carpet.

Voting for the carpet were Dr. Scott Goldstein, Frank Woods, David Bunch, Chris Smith and Kim Harrell. Opposing the carpet were Angie Reece and Jeff Cooper. Reece said she had hopes of a beautiful floor on the entrance like you see at high-end stores, but realized the district would probably have to settle for the carpet at this point.

The board also discussed a collapse of a wall during construction of the FEMA shelter and performing arts center at the high school. Ann Miller, representing Nabholz Construction, the company overseeing the project, told the board that the collapse has been analyzed and findings were presented to the proper agencies.

She said steps to correct the problem to make sure this would not happen in the future have been implemented. She said instead of setting a beam on top of partial precast wall sections, a full wall section must also be installed to provide stability. She said grout used to tie the two partial sections together was not properly set and only one brace was used instead of the two required by specifications.

No one was injured in the incident, which occurred the middle of June.

The precast walls for the performing arts center are now all installed expect for the final two, which will be installed at a later date in order for material access and for work to be completed inside the structure.

Miller noted that punch lists for Pineville and Southwest City projects are to be finished next week. The board approved her recommendation not to pay any more bills from A-1 Air Conditioning until the company's work is completed.

The board accepted a bid of $89,500 from Gator International for demolition of gymnasiums at Pineville and Southwest City.

Bids Approved

Campbell received the OK to solicit bids for two improvement projects at the high school. The first is for replacement of the alarm system. He said the current system is obsolete and poses a safety issue due to so many false alarms that the alarms are ignored.

The second bid will be for the repair of dead spots and repair of rotten wood on the gym floor.

Cafeteria Prices

Dr. Mark Stanton, superintendent, told the board that the formula used for setting cafeteria prices will require an increase of 10 cents for lunch and 5 cents for breakfast. Lunches will now cost students $2.15 at the high school and $1.85 at elementary schools. Breakfast prices will now be $1.35 and $1.10, respectively.

Other Business

The board heard from Nick Martin, athletic director, regarding fundraisers that include a punt, pass and kick contest for kids at Mustang Pride Day.

Also, signage placement at all sports events will be offered. The 3-foot by 5-foot vinyl signs will cost $400 for placement at various sports stadiums throughout the year or $300 per year for two years. Individual sports would cost $200 for the season or $150 per year for that sport for two years.

Fred Nelson told the board a truck and car show he organizes annually raised $1,200 for the McDonald County 6 Community Choir. The school allowed use of property for some of the activities.

The board also:

• Approved contracting with Access Family Care for dental services;

• Approved purchasing Kid Guard insurance for student athletes at a cost of $10,780 (or $1,500 more if each junior high is required to participate);

• Voted to publish the notice of asbestos and free and reduced lunch form; and

• Paid bills in the amount of $250,656.38.

General News on 07/16/2015