The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) facilities subcommittee met Tuesday to discuss how to move forward with necessary building repairs to the school. Six studies — HVAC, space needs, building envelope, track, kitchen equipment and design, and library — by several architectural and engineering firms done on the school over the summer and fall are complete or ongoing.
Repairs to the school’s largely dysfunctional heating, venting, and air conditioning (HVAC) system were deemed most important in the short term by superintendent of schools Matt D’Andrea, the subcommittee, and newly hired school district facilities manager Mike Taus.
A report on the school’s HVAC system, dated June 12, said, “The majority, if not all, of the HVAC equipment in the building has exceeded its expected operational life, is in various states of disrepair, and is in need of replacement.” A complete replacement is estimated to cost $4.8 million.
The report outlined eight potential short-term fixes to the HVAC system. Mr. D’Andrea said the goal is to pursue as many as are monetarily feasible.
“We don’t know how long it will be between now and when we start renovating this building, and in the short term, I want to ensure that we have air exchange in this building so that we have good air quality,” Mr. D’Andrea said. “I’ve instructed Mr. Taus to look at the things we can do now that will improve the air exchange in the building.”
He said using the allotted money to make those repairs in the short term will allow the subcommittee to make decisions about what to do with the full building project in the long term.
Mr. Taus said immediate short-term fixes he’s identified include repairing or replacing some or all of the school’s 53 unit ventilators, installing building-maintenance system software that will allow manual control of ventilators throughout the school, and upgrading or enhancing unit ventilator time clocks. Those fixes will improve air quality and allow for manual maintenance of heating and air conditioning, keeping rooms and classes at a consistent and comfortable temperature. Replacing the domestic hot water system or water pumps could be a summer project, he said.
It’s only a temporary fix, however. Mr. Taus said the repairs and upgrades could potentially keep the air system running for another three years. He said the price tag on the short term HVAC repairs could be between $300,000 and $320,000.
“What we have an issue with is today we need a functioning HVAC system,” MVRHS finance manager Mark Friedman said. “Through all of our discussion we’ve come to more clarity that we need to spend some money to get the system working, just to get us through to the larger projects we’re discussing.”
To cover the cost, he said, $50,000 could be taken from the extraordinary maintenance line, and $250,000 from funds the school committee appropriated from the capital budget in June for facilities improvements.
The school committee will meet on Monday, Nov. 23, to vote on using the money for HVAC repairs.
Addressing the long-term needs, the subcommittee agreed to give a public presentation on the building studies at the MVRHS budget hearing on Monday, Nov. 30. Chris Blessen of Tappe Architecture, charged with evaluating all the studies and incorporating them into one all-encompassing building project, will be present at the meeting. At that time, the committee will look for public input on how to best utilize the information from the studies and move forward with the high school renovation.