ConVal Regional High School is on track to finish a long-awaited parking lot renovation before the start of the academic year.
The project to improve the lot began 10 years ago with the installation of a lane for parental and school bus pickup and dropoff. This stage was completed in the summer of 2013, but the rest of the development was put on hold for other projects.
“In the meantime, between 2013 and now, we’ve had several big-ticket items that required attention,” said ConVal Facilities Manager Tim Grossi. “[Projects such as] heating plants, major roof replacements, HVAC systems, and then we installed new chemistry and biology labs here at the high school.”
Ultimately it was a random audit conducted in 2022 by the New Hampshire Office of Civil Rights that brought about the need to complete the improvement. The department handles facility compliance regarding regulations protecting marginalized groups such as people of color, gender minorities and people with disabilities. The old lot was found to be in violation of ADA sections 302.3 and 502.4, clauses that protect the path of travel for disabled individuals. In its prior state, it was determined that the lot did not provide an adequate path of travel for those with mobility difficulties due to uneven and craggy pavement.
The main objectives of the improvement are to provide traffic-calming measures, defined paths of travel, raised islands for pedestrian travel and better lighting. The electrical work will be conducted by district master electrician John Pirkey, who will oversee the installation of the new LED light posts. The posts and lights themselves are the major expense relating to the electrical facet of the project.
Osgood Construction and United Construction has handled the paving, in a rare instance of ConVal needing outside contracting for infrastructure improvements.
“In many, many instances, we performed all the work like the heating, ventilation and air conditioning stuff,” said Grossi. “In regards to the parking lot, obviously, we don’t have an excavator and a dump truck and we don’t have the expertise to do this.”
The total cost of the development is projected to be $1.57 million, with current estimates putting the final product below this figure despite 200 yards of “unsuitable soils” having to be removed and replaced underneath the asphalt. The funds have been budgeted for and were taken from the capital reserve fund. According to Grossi, the trust is funded through unreserved fund balances at the end of the school year.
“If we had significant savings through better pricing on commodities or efficiency gains, those funds not spent are placed in funds as voted on by the taxpayers. The capital reserve fund is one of those funds,” Grossi stated. “[The objective is to] create financing to try to lessen the burden on the taxpayer, because it’s all raised by the taxpayer. So you want to get the best bang for the buck.”