[Nfbwv-talk] Article from Hampshire Review

[Smyth, Charlene R]

I want to thank Karen Swauger for sharing this.



Reserves wrap up at WVSDB. Finishing work to be contracted out



ROMNEY  The summer work to improve the campus of the West Virginia

Schools for the Deaf and the Blind is wrapping up this week, and though not

as much work was accomplished as hoped, mostly all that remains to be

completed is finishing work.



"We've got decades to look forward to but a few more months to wait,"

Superintendent Mark Gandolfi said.



Members of the Air National Guard, Marine Reserves and Air Reserves

worked in 2-week shifts performing what the Department of Defense calls

Innovative Readiness Training program  a way for troops to hone their

skills in engineering, project design, demolition and construction in a way

that benefits communities.



Gandolfi praised the project from top to bottom. "The summer has gone

extremely well. They are just finishing up with us this week.



Rotations of soldiers came from New York, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Idaho.



"One major positive was that we had additional members return," Gandolfi

said. "Soldiers from the first group from New York came back and worked the

2nd rotation. We also had members from the 3rd rotation start early and

members of the 2nd rotation stay longer. It was the same thing with the 4th

rotation.



"We had quite a bit of support and carryover. One individual was here for

2 and a half weeks and came back for a week and half. There was a great

deal of commitment and effort put into the project



That effort shows all across campus, with the only remaining tasks left

to complete being finishing work on the bakery wing and Keller Hall.



"We got really far," Gandolfi said. "There is still work to be done that

we are going to pursue. That work will need to be contracted out, which we

anticipated. In any construction project you don't know what you are going

to uncover.



Gandolfi hesitated to put a timeline on the final touches, but said it

would take at least a few more months. "At this point we have to step back

and have our architectural and engineering firm come in and determine what

is next. They will be here next week and the week after and then a bid

package will be put together for independent contractors to make bids to

complete the finishing work.



That work  drywall, installing toilets, painting and things like that

will have to go through the necessary steps at the state level. "If all

goes well we will have someone here within 30-40 days of the bid process

working," Gandolfi said.



"The great news is we still have all our facilities here. We are in the

process of vacating our elementary school building, so once Keller Hall

comes online, our students can leave their current building and move in

there. For now they will remain in their wing, which was already set up for

them.



"We would have preferred that Keller be online, but with projects in a

tight time frame it's certainly reasonable that it's not ready yet. We are

working tirelessly to bring it online as quick as possible. We want to

ensure that it's a meaningful and high quality product because it's going

to serve our students for decades to come."







This email and any files transmitted with it are intended solely for the individuals or entities originally addressed, and may contain confidential and privileged information protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution, copying, or action taken in relation to the contents of this email is prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and permanently delete the original and any copy or printout.