While plans for renovations and expansion at Eisenhower and Sheffield middle/high schools are moving forward, the Beaty-Warren Middle School renovation project appears to have hit a snag.
Dr. Norbert Kennerknecht, district director of building and grounds, informed the Warren County School District board of directors' Physical Plant and Facilities Committee on Monday night that the bid process has been delayed.
"All approvals (have to) be in hand before the district receives bids. (We) cannot receive bids until all the approvals are in," he said.
One of those approvals is review of the plans to ensure compliance with all relevant building codes.
"The City of Warren is the authority with jurisdiction," he said. "With all good intentions, as the drawings were submitted, they told us they were really swamped."
Alan Gustafson, the city's building code officer, said Tuesday evening that the material had been "sent out for plan review."
"The next date that we have is the 26th (Tuesday). We're supposed to have the list of items that may or may not be in conflict with the code," Kennerknecht said. "That puts us further behind. We had to postpone the bid date until July 10. (That) should give us enough time to address any concerns they have.
"It's out of our control. It's something we can't control. We're doing the best we can," he added.
After July 10, the board will be able to review bids and proceed with the project.
According to a project update spread sheet provided for Monday's committee meetings, the original bid date to accept proposals was June 12.
The delays won't likely affect the upcoming school year in any additional way.
"As far as the timeline for the start of school in August, it won't affect that," Kennerknecht said.
The $16.2 million Qualified Zone Academy Bond (QZAB) project was approved by the school board last September.
If all goes well, the project could be complete in 18 months, according to Kennerknecht. He clarified for the committee that the change in completion date relative to the delays would be "equivalent to the amount of time we've lost, which is about a month."
To allow for flexibility in construction, the district has decided to keep central attendance area sixth graders at the Warren Area Elementary Center for the next school year. That change is only intended to last one year.