Several facility project items for Lincoln Elementary were approved at the recent Washington Community School Board meeting.

The board held a public hearing for a geothermal project, and then approved a bid from Trane Technologies to install a geothermal system in the building for a base price of $616,220 with an alternate for a second year of labor warranty to cover the rooftop units for $13,111. This comes to a total of $629,331, which Superintendent Willie Stone says was reviewed by Carl A. Nelson Company, and their projections show that the district is within budget at this time. Stone explains another Lincoln item that will be on the agenda for a special meeting being held April 27th, “We received pricing for the two additional alternatives to replace the existing rooftop units. We are going to hold off on approving those just because we want to see where the bids come in. If the bids come in low then we’ll approve those. Those units aren’t at the end of their lifetime yet, but if the bids come in low we’ll look to replace them. If they don’t and that’s an area where we save money by not replacing them, that’s what we’ll do.”

Stone says that with the Trane purchase now they will be able to place the equipment order prior to the bids for the project being awarded, allowing equipment to show up early enough for them to complete most of the project before fall. The board also approved a quote from Coleman Construction, Inc. for a new playground equipment pad and storm sewer work at Lincoln at a cost of $56,925.