Construction Update: June 14, 2013
CONSTRUCTION UPDATE: 06/14/13
- If the losing party prevailed, then we were faced with a protracted appeals process that would have put a stop on the construction for at least six months with a subsequent completion date of approximately September 2014, a one-year delay in the project.
- The second outcome was that the request for a stay would be denied, which means we would be bound by the court’s order to award the contract and the work on the project would immediately recommence resulting in the project being close to back on schedule.
As it turned out, both the Superior Court and the Appellate Court denied the initial requests for a stay on the project. Having said that, the contractor still intends to appeal further but the request for a stay may not be heard for more than one month or more from now, at which point the modular construction portion of the project to which this bid pertains will be well along and possibly near completion. Accordingly, as per court order, at the June 13th special meeting, the Board of Education awarded the bid as directed. Fortunately, this means that the completion date has now been projected for a much shorter delayed opening, that being mid-September to mid-October of this year. The pace and progress of the project and the requisite term of the delay will be the determining factors in the contingency plan we implement. If it is only a short-term delay, then our option will be to have a delayed start of the year for the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students. If the delay will be longer, then we will house our students at an appropriate New Jersey Department of Education approved alternate site within our constituent district. We are still waiting to firm up the specifics of the latter plan and will let everyone know as soon as we do. This plan also provides for the 5th grade to move to the Mary Shoemaker School for the beginning of the school year as per the original plan.