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KINNELON - New high school wing is dedicated
(by Deborah Walsh - Staff Writer - October 08, 2008)
KINNELON - Two years after voters approved a $12.6 million referendum, the community was able to dedicate the new wing at Kinnelon High School (KHS).
About 50 people attended the Sept. 20 dedication ceremony including local and county school officials, borough officials, representatives of the Home and School Association, Kinnelon Education Foundation and Education Matters.
Though the dedication of the 28,000-square-foot, two-story addition took place on Sept. 20, the weekend’s celebration really began with the Sept. 19 dedication of the upgraded Fred Morse Field at KHS followed by Kinnelon’s first football game. Kinnelon hosted Pingry and handed the Martinsville prep school a 19 to 7 loss.
The weekend’s celebration also included a borough-sponsored Sept. 20 fireworks display. The event, which was attended by hundreds of residents, is normally held as part of a Fourth of July celebration, but was postponed because of the field renovation work. The field was readied with sod, drainage upgrades and an irrigation system.
“It was a great day. Everyone was very enthusiastic," said Alice Robinson, school district business administrator. “Everyone was amazed how well the building fit into the hillside.”
After school officials spoke at the dedication ceremony, KHS students conducted tours of the new wing. One of its extraordinary features is a new library/media center, which boasts a very contemporary look, she indicated.
Though the $12.6 million single question referendum was passed on Sept. 26, 2006 by a vote of 1,425 to 1,016, which represented a record turnout of 37 percent of the borough’s 6,773 registered voters, it was the district’s second stab at garnering public approval for the addition. Voters rejected a $14 million three-question referendum in December of 2005.
The September 2006 referendum was essentially the same as Question One of the December 2005 referendum, which asked for funds to construct a 28,000-square-foot, two-story wing at the rear of KHS. Questions Two and Three, which asked for funds for an artificial turf project and third-floor air conditioning, were eliminated from the September 2006 referendum.
The total referendum cost is $12,654,095. The local taxpayer share is $10,789,517 and the state is kicking in $1,864,578. The cost is $29.58 per $100,000 assessed property value. For the average homeowner with a home assessed at $400,000, the cost will be approximately $120 a year. This projection was based on a 4.75 interest rate on a 25-year bond and an annual contribution rate of 14.7 percent from the state.
On numerous occasions, school officials cited significant enrollment increases as the reason more space was needed. The enrollment at KHS was 614 at the close of the 2005-06 school year. When school reopened in September of 2006, the enrollment had climbed to 672. The capacity of KHS based on state Department of Education standards is 588. The district projected a peak enrollment of 733 in the 2010-11 school year.
The referendum funded the construction of six general classrooms, four small instruction rooms that can be converted to two full-size classrooms, one special education classroom, one art room, two science labs, one instrumental music room, one instructional media center/library, restrooms, storage/mechanical, electrical and boiler room.
The referendum also funded the conversion of a classroom into a nurse’s room and changing the former nurse’s room into guidance offices. It funded converting part of the former library into a classroom and another part of the library into a satellite cafeteria, the replacement of the roof on the existing building, the construction of a 100-space parking lot and site work.
Before the addition was finished for the start of this school year, four classrooms inside two trailers were erected outside the auditorium. The trailers have been removed. The library absorbed student overflow from the cafeteria. The team room by the gym was used as a classroom. Other classrooms were divided to provide for small group instruction areas.
After the bids were opened for the referendum work, Robinson said the bids for the project came under engineering estimates. Without the built-in contingencies required by the state in case a project runs over cost, the original estimate was $9,994,000. The actual bids came in at $9,020,593.
Robinson said many contractors submitted bids for the referendum work. There were 10 general contractors that submitted bids ranging from $5,943,077 to $10,389,000. The successful low bidder was Tormee Construction of Shrewsbury.
Robinson said three companies bid on the steelwork associated with the project. The bids ranged from $563,000 to $597,800. The successful low bidder was J.G. Schmidt of Passaic. Four plumbing bids extending from $530,250 to $652,490 were received. The successful, low bidder was Aero Plumbing of Vienna, NJ.
There were nine companies bidding on the heating, ventilation and air conditioning components of the project. The bids ranged from $987,166 to $1,335,500 with the low bidder being Centralpack Engineering Corp. of Hibernia. A dozen companies bid on the electrical work at prices spanning from $997,100 to $1,749,900. Wojchik Electric of Paterson, the low bidder for the work, was awarded the contract.
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