By Megan Kelley

Review Writer

As summer approaches, Lake Orion Community Schools is preparing to lay out their construction projects for Carpenter Elementary, Orion Oaks Elementary and for new Astro-Turf on the high school soccer field.

During their Feb. 11 meeting, the Lake Orion Board of Education approved bid awards for the two school bond improvement and one sinking fund project.

In a letter from the district’s construction manager, Frank Rewold & Sons Inc., to LOCS Executive Operations Director Wes Goodman, Rewold & Sons explains that 171 bids were received for the 57 contracts within those three projects.

According to the letter, the total contract awards were $9,276,537 with an additional allowance and contingency cost of $1,552,676, for a grand total of $10,829,213.

“Just from a summary perspective and from an accurate projects to date — from a timeline, we are on time and from a budgetary perspective, we are on budget,” said Assistant Superintendent of Business and Finance John Fitzgerald.

“We are actually at this point slightly under budget, it’s early, so I’ll use the phrase ‘we are on budget.’ Things are going well in terms of accurate planning for all the projects coming in,” said Fitzgerald.

Construction on both Carpenter and Orion Oaks is expected to begin spring of 2020 and conclude in fall of 2020.