Some of the maintenance work that was part of the recently approved capital referendum for the Shawano School District is already being taken on by the buildings and grounds employees, while efforts are underway to determine which of the remaining projects will be handled first by outside contractors.
Shawn Mathwich, buildings and grounds director, told the district’s finance and facilities committee Dec. 18 that he’s gone through the list of maintenance needs and already carved out some of the projects for his staff to handle in an effort to trim down the $51.2 million the district can bond out to get renovations and expansions done between now and fall 2027.
“The more that I can do off this list to save the district money, the better,” Mathwich said.
Mathwich told the committee he’s also pushing for third-party oversight to make sure projects are handled correctly and looking out for the district’s best interests.
Board member Tim Renard agreed that third-party oversight was needed, because there was only so much that Mathwich could do in coordinating the projects.
“This represents our interests,” Renard said. “We’ve saved over $300,000, so that goes into a wish list fund for the pieces where we missed.”
Renard noted that the number of meetings that have been going on between the district and Hoffman Planning and Design has made it confusing for him about what was taking place, as well as what was being done first.
“The concern I had with these 50 meetings was did we just all of a sudden take a right turn and had this project come off the rails, and now this $51 million project was turning into a $67 million project?” Renard said.
Mathwich noted that Hoffman Planning has been very meticulous about what things would fall under the referendum scope and what things would not, so seeing the overall cost balloon beyond what voters approved would be unlikely.
Board member Bobbi Lemerond said she wanted to be sure that help was available for Mathwich so details did not fall through the cracks. One of the common criticisms of the referendum that built Shawano Community High School in 1997.
“If you need more help, you need to let us know,” Lemerond said. “We are all aware that you need some help.”
Lemerond noted that some things had changed in terms of the order projects are completed. Originally, renovating the stadium for football, soccer and track usage was scheduled to go first, but the concrete work might not take place right away in the summer. She said that it was due to the rearranging of the school entrance that comes along with the project.
“My only concern was that we were advertising the field as our first project, and then we found out they had to hold back on the concrete work and the pavement,” Lemerond said. “All of the people that thought the stadium was going to get done this summer now have to know it’s not getting done until next year.”
Mathwich noted initial conversations had indicated that moving the district office to Olga Brener Intermediate School would be near the top of the list so that work on the new athletic facilities could follow after.
“There’s still more initial conversations (to come),” Mathwich said.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
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