Expects to receive over $40k in discounts
By Joseph Goral
Staff Writer
jgoral@mihomepaper.com
LAKE ORION — The Lake Orion Community Schools Board of Education authorized bid awards and a resolution worth $909,203 during its meeting on March 12.
The authorizations cover projects, equipment and more that will be used throughout the district.
The board approved a performance resolution from the Michigan Department of Transportation requiring LOCS to reroute district fiber lines due to construction of Rigel Terrace town homes along M-24. The work will cost $14,328.40, according to LOCS documents.
“It will be performed by Fiber Link and paid from the sinking fund,” LOCS Assistant Superintendent of Business and Finance Andrea Curtis said.
Board Treasurer Jake Singer asked why the district needs to pay for the work if Rigel Terrace’s development is causing the fiber to be moved.
“We would have to repair it if it was fixed,” Curtis said. “That’s just the way it works, is what I’ve been told.”
The board also approved a new administration fiber bid award worth $35,369.35 to add new fiber to the Orion Center, which will be used as the district’s new administration building. This bid was awarded to Fiber Link, according to Curtis.
Curtis said LOCS expects a 50% rebate as part of the USFE rate in the following year, meaning the district can be expected to pay $17,684.75 total. LOCS documents list this project’s funding source as the 2024 bond. Administration still asked the board to approve $35,369.35.
Third was an approval for uninterruptible power-supply (UPS) equipment in the CERC building’s server room to protect technology power supply in case of a power outage before generator back-ups start. The contract with Power Techniques for the equipment is for a procurement total of $63,117.89 to be paid from series two or three of the 2018 bond, according to district documents.
“As a part of the USF rebate, again, we will receive approximately $22,000, and that would bring our project costs and total to approximately $40,000,” Curtis said.
The rebate would kick in the following year. The savings from the UPS and fiber rebates would total $40,324.25.
Six 53-passenger special-needs busses and two 77-passenger busses from Hoekstra Transportation were approved for purchase next for $632,300. The bill will be paid from the district’s sinking fund, according to Curtis.
The special-needs busses are listed in LOCS documents as 2023 or newer with less than 60,000 miles while the 77-passenger busses are listed as 2023 or newer with less than 30,000 miles. The district has already been leasing the busses and maintaining them.
“The need for these busses comes from a current lease agreement which will end June 30,” Curtis said.
Board Vice President Heather Sinawi asked Curtis why the district is not extending the busses’ lease agreement instead. Curtis said part of the reason is “cost,” plus purchasing the busses mean the district will not need to “change over equipment.”
Finally, the board approved new furniture and instillation for Paint Creek Elementary School and Lake Orion High School totaling $164,087.66, which Curtis said is expected to be paid by series three of the 2018 bond funds.
“This makes up approved bidders of Custer for $40,998.17, Interior Environments for $13,975 even, Great Lakes Furniture for $7,486 even, Dew-EL for $63,270.25, ISCG for $13,961.32, Yeo and Yeo for $493.94 and Interphase for $23,903.15,” Curtis said.
The furniture will be placed in Paint Creek’s media center, ELA and STEM class rooms, and LOHS’s AUX gym team room, according to Curtis.