District Moving Forward with MMS Projects

The Millburn School District is gearing up for projects at Millburn Middle School that could be completed over the course of the summer.

The Board of Education recently approved several projects, including replacing the upper gym floor at Millburn Middle School, replacing doors and hardware at the middle school and fixing the geothermal system at the middle school.

The board approved a $54,245 bid to redo the upper gym floor at the middle school. District Business Administrator Robert Zeglarski said school officials looked at alternate methods, but the wood floor option seemed the best fit.

Samuel Levy, a board member, said there have been discussions among the Joint Facilities Committee about a contribution from the township to the cost to rehabilitate the floor. Nothing has been finalized, but there has been a verbal commitment to provide some funding. The gym is not only used by the school but also the township's recreation programs.

Zeglarski said the project would be complete by September. Any money contributed by the Joint Facilities Committee would be placed back in the Capital Reserve Fund, which is what pays for the projects.

The board also accepted a $124,145 bid for the door and hardware project. The project would include new locks on doors that would lock from inside and out. It would be in compliance with the district's security plans, said ohn Van Teeckelenburgh, director of school buildings and grounds. It's part of a larger project for all of the schools. The high school, middle school and Hartshorn Elementary School would have the replacement complete with four elementary schools remaining with the middle school project.

Zeglarski said district officials are seeking state funding for the project.

School officials also have secured repairs to the middle school's geothermal system at no cost. Zeglarski reported in January the geothermal system needed to be fixed or potentially replaced and could cost $125,000. The problems are because of fittings on the system.

Zeglarski said the district has negotiated for the two companies involved with the system to do the work for free, though. The fittings for the project were not installed correctly, so the two companies agreed to fix the problem.