Hopatcong Schools Start $750K Construction Project

The Hopatcong school district has completed about 15 percent of a capital improvement project it expects to cost about $750,000 over as many as six years, Director of Grounds Neil Piro said at Monday night's Board of Education meeting at the .

The 15 percent totals about $90,000, which has been used to make repairs at just about every district building, including major leaks at two of the schools, Piro said. The project is considered a "longterm solution" to the district's "masonry problems, some of which are severe," Superintendent Dr. Charles Maranzano said.

"This is a necessary project," he said.

"You have got to make an investment in your critical infrastructure in order to maintain the assets, meaning the buildings. These are hidden expenses. … I think that Neil and his crew have done an excellent job maintaining. But these things have been out of sight, out of mind. We can no longer put these things aside. We have got to address them."

Piro said the district has begun to address some its most pressing problems, such as water intrusion in the 's gymnasium and auditorium and moisture issues at and . Bill Everett, owner of the Thermo Group, an infrared inspection service, showed the Board of Education and crowd photos of damage to Hopatcong's schools and explained how they would be addressed.

A delay in repairs could come at a higher price—and a higher price tag—Piro said.

"Before I came to Hopatcong I worked in Byram," he said. "[It cost] $16 million to build a school. So we're talking about peanuts in protecting the asset if we ever had to replace it."