$8M Budgeted To Fix Toms River Intermediate South Water Woes

TOMS RIVER, NJ — After years of chronic problems with water getting into parts of the building at Toms River Intermediate South, the district is preparing to move forward with what officials hope will be a permanent solution to the problem.

The $8 million, to be funded from the Toms River Schools' capital reserve account, will be used "for the repair and renovation of the building envelope and necessary areas within the building for Intermediate South," according to the budget resolution.

The board meeting is set for 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Toms River High School North.

The school, which cost $27.5 million to build and opened in September 2005, is the newest school in the district. It was built to address overcrowding in the elementary schools and Intermediate North and East as the population in the area was rising.

But the district has been dealing with water leaks during and after rainstorms since November 2008, according to records of work orders obtained by Patch.

More than 100 work orders, from issues as limited as water running down the wall in a single classroom to repeated leaks in the girls locker room, have been documented in the 17 years the building has been open.

The board and its professionals have been discussing the issues with Intermediate South dating back to at least 2017, and $250,000 to fix the building was included in the $147 million bond package approved by voters in January 2019 to repair the buildings.

However, as work progressed in examining Intermediate South, the amount of work needed to permanently fix the issues with the building envelope — the outside portion of the building that protects the inner part of the building — to stop water from getting in made it clear that the costs would well exceed the money budgeted in the referendum, district officials said.

At the March 9 meeting of the Toms River school board's buildings and grounds committee, Derek Jordan of Colliers Engineering described some of the solutions under consideration, from a rubberized coating to the removal in some areas of the existing brick facade so prefabricated metal panels can be installed that they believe will permanently fix the issue.

Jordan said the report the district has received on the problems at Intermediate South "indicates there are different conditions happening at various areas of the building," with water intrusion more extensive in some areas than others, from cracks in the exterior walls to significant problems with the gutters on the interior courtyard.

In response to a question from board member Joe Nardini, Jordan said the rubberized sealant is anticipated to have a warranty of 10 to 20 years.

A full engineering report on the extent of the issues has been sent to the district, but the district has declined to release the report, citing security concerns.

Business Administrator William Doering said that while the problems are extensive, "the percentage of areas that are horrendous is a small percentage of the building," which is why a singular solution isn't the answer.

Jordan said the mixture of solutions will save the district money, a point Doering echoed.

"It’s not that a one-size-fits-all," Doering said. "This allows us to reduce the cost without reducing the quality and without it being a cheap fix that will cost us more in 5 to 10 years."

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