Angela Brandt
Havre Daily News
abrandt@havredailynews.com
Construction on a replacement heating and ventilation system for Lincoln-McKinley Primary School is set to begin in June.
At a special meeting Thursday, the Havre Public Schools board awarded a general contractor bid of about $754,000 to Nault Plumbing and Heating Inc.
HPS operations director Ric Floren said the new system is needed because the “only way you get fresh air now is by opening a window.”
The system should be functioning about the time school begins in the fall, Floren said.
The project will include the installation of an additional boiler and four outdoor air-ventilation systems, which will lower heating energy costs by heating outdoor air.
The board considered a bid from Dick Nault Plumbing Inc. for about $804,000.
The heating system will be similar to one used at Sunnyside Intermediate School, a project that was funded by a mill levy approved six years ago.
The project largely will be funded by a mill levy, which was passed in 2003 and raised $550,000 over a three-year period.
On the May 2 ballot is a mill levy that will raise $185,000 each year for the next three years to be added to the district's building reserve to upgrade and replace the roof at Havre Middle School.
Floren said funds remaining in the reserve fund will be used for temporary fixes on the middle school's roof, which is about 20 years old and leaks. The roof does not pose any physical danger to students and staff, he added.
The cost to install a pitched roof, similar to those at Havre High School, Lincoln-McKinley and Sunnyside, will be between $750,000 and $1 million, Floren said.
The levy is phase one of the project. If passed, the funds will be held until a vote on a second levy to raise sufficient funds, he said.
