As fall sets in, the cafeterias at Franklin County’s Glade Hill and Sontag elementary schools will still be waiting on new heat and air conditioning units.
The schools’ old HVAC units — which were original to the buildings — were removed over the summer as part of cafeteria renovations.
“Glade Hill and Sontag cafeterias both had original floor mount unit ventilators that were heating only. These are the units that are being replaced with a rooftop unit that will have both heating and cooling. Two heaters in the kitchen area at Glade Hill also were replaced,” Darryl Spencer, the construction manager for Franklin County Public Schools, wrote in an Aug. 19 email to The Roanoke Times.
As of mid-March, the division expected those renovations to wrap up near the end of July, with time to spare before the Aug. 10 return to school. However, the ship date for the new Sontag unit was recently pushed back to the end of October, with shipment of the Glade Hill unit slated for September.
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At the Franklin County School Board Aug. 8 meeting, a representative from HVAC unit manufacturer Trane Technologies said the company will, if necessary, help set up temporary heat as fall progresses and temperatures drop.
“We’re already working with the engineer and the installing contractor to come up with a plan to provide heat. That’s the worst case scenario,” Rodney Bryant, a Trane account manager, said.
The division is using federal COVID-19 funds to pay for the new units, priced roughly at $627,000 for Glade Hill and $502,000 for Sontag. Bryant said the availability of federal COVID-19 aid — which can be used for HVAC projects to improve air circulation — has fueled demand for HVAC units.
“A lot of that funding has gone to HVAC upgrades in our schools so it’s put a lot of stress on our factories, coupled with the supply chain issues and … the recent COVID outbreaks that we’ve seen that have affected our labor forces in our plants,” Bryant said.
The Franklin County division is also using federal COVID-19 funds for an HVAC and roof renovation project at Benjamin Franklin Middle School.
“(The) Middle School East and West Buildings HVAC units throughout both buildings are original equipment. The chiller at the West Building was replaced in the early 1990’s. The roof on the East Building was replaced in 2010 and is in good condition. The roof on the West Building was replaced in 1997 and is in need of replacing due to age and condition,” Spencer wrote Aug. 19.
In April, the school board approved a proposal from RRMM Architects to design the renovations. In July, Spencer reported that a survey of the West Building roof found no asbestos. He said design work was underway and a cost estimate should be ready for the board in December.
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