Horizon gets look at possible school upgrades

By Cole Parkinson
Vauxhall Advance
cparkinson@tabertimes.com

Several schools are potentially going to see some upgrades if Horizon School Division receives expected Infrastructure Maintenance and Renewal (IMR) funding.

The IMR Funding formula is based on 50 per cent enrollment, 24 per cent of the building, 24 per cent of eligible school space and two per cent for non-refundable GST and other factors.

A minimum of 30 per cent of a school jurisdiction’s IMR funding must be capitalized and applied to projects that meet capitalization eligibility requirements.

An additional criterion is Alberta Education must receive and approve a school jurisdiction’s “Capitalized IMR Expenditure Plan”.

Horizon’s estimated 2019/2020 IMR allocation is slotted at $1,101,589 with an estimated carry-over of $120,000 for a total of $1,221,589.

In their most recent draft, they have a contingency for things like failed boilers/water heaters, furnaces and other similar items of $125,089.

Within the list are potential items the board would like to see completed but may not be done if the funding doesn’t come at the total they expect.

“What we’ve done is, the ones in red are the ones that we feel if we don’t get what we are anticipating, then we will look at the red items as the ones we could possibly cut out,” explained Bruce Francis, vice-chair.

In terms of schools with red, Arden T. Litt has $16,500 for upgrades to LED lighting, Central School has $28,000 for replacing sealer to envelop the entire perimeter of the facility, Dr. Hamman has $100,000 for an upgrade to BCMS controls/devices, Lomond School needs repairs to exterior damage to wall membrane covered with steel siding.

Meanwhile, Vauxhall Elementary has $25,000 to replace all waterless urinals, adding water supply and extending drainage, cleaning existing lines of debris and replace as needed with two washrooms and five urinals.

Vauxhall High School needs the same, though they have three washrooms with a total of seven urinals for $35,000.

With these projects on the chopping block, there is a potential for deletion of $477,500.

“There are years where IMR has went up 50 per cent and years where it has gone down 50 per cent. That is why there is about $477,000 worth of red. Much of this won’t start, even though the date is September 1, the vast majority of it won’t get started until after the budget. If need be, this will come back to the board in November with the fall update,” said Wilco Tymensen, superintendent.

W.R. Myers/D.A. Ferguson needs $33,000 to replace railings, patch and finish concrete stair structure, repair to the railing, and $240,000 for 500 light fixture upgrades to LED lighting.

With a handful of schools looking at the possibility of upgrading to LED lighting, the board is hoping to continue to make improvements in that department.

“We are looking at putting in as much LED lighting as we can possibly afford,” added Francis.

Projects going forward with IMR funding include Central School’s envelope improvements, sealing exterior walls to prevent HAZMAT material to exposure for $45,000 and replacing gym lighting to LED for $18,000.

Chamberlain School will see patch and school painting in the interior for $80,000 and Dr. Hamman will get an exhaust fan in the gas metre room and air conditioning in the LAN room for $20,000.

Enchant School will see $55,000 for replacement of stucco and parging on the front of the two-story section, regrade landscaping and an additional two metres of concrete along the front.

Hays School will have to install a back flow preventer for $8,000, Erle Rivers High School will have flooring replaced in the 1971 space for $9,000 and L.T. Westlake will need $36,000 to upgrade BCMS head end controller and corridor flooring replaced.

Lomond School will have barrier-free access with construction of a ramp to main entrance, portable stair climber and install of two barrier-free door operators for $64,000.

Finally, W.R. Myers/D.A. Ferguson will see $65,000 for replacement of stucco and parging on the front of the 1949 section, regrade landscaping and two metres of concrete on the front, $20,000 for resilient stair finishes in the 1949 section and replacement of stair risers in the art room and $85,000 for replacement and added acoustic ceiling treatment in the gyms, art rooms and band room.

A motion to approve the IMR funding was unanimous.

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