OXFORD – Superintendent Rick Colpitts told the Oxford Hills School District Board of Directors on Monday night that the $1 million mold removal project at the Otisfield Community School will be completed by Friday.
The finish date is seven days later than anticipated and the project came in with only two change orders totally $36,230. A total of $66,000 was put in a contingency fund to take care of change orders during the project.
“Teachers are overjoyed their school is getting this medical check,” Colpitts said. The two-month project has erased any sign of mold and moisture from the top of the chimney stacks to the baseboards on the school floors.
The three-stage project was begun after tests confirmed the presence of mold throughout the walls of the school from the interior of the Sheetrock to the brick exterior walls, including a heavy concentration in the windows, which were all replaced.
The project included the removal of the interior walls and windows where most of the mold was found. The change orders were the removal of all interior baseboard, where four inches of mold was detected, and the replacement of all interior window sills to ensure there would be no more leaking.
On Wednesday, an air quality test will be taken.
This weekend, custodians are expected to come into the building to do some cleaning. Teachers will be allowed in their classrooms next week as they prepare for the first day of school on Aug. 29.
On June 14, voters approved the plan to fund the $1,012,659 Otisfield Community School project through renovation revolving funds, market rate bonds and district Capital Reserve.
Under the financing plan, the district borrowed $793,993 through the state’s Revolving Renovation Fund program. The state will pick up $405,492 of the loan while the district will pay $388,500 with no interest. The district will also issue bonds for $156,666 and use $62,000 in the capital reserve fund that voters already established.
Colpitts said teachers, students and others can return to school confident that the problem has been resolved.
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