Greensburg Salem to use $1.7 M in pandemic funding for HVAC upgrades at 3 schools

Greensburg Salem will tap pandemic recovery funding to restore and expand air conditioning at three of its schools, at a cost of close to $1.7 million.

District officials are also considering other capital improvements that could be made with about $2 million in remaining money from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) program. Those dollars are to be spent by January 2025.

The school board this week awarded a $1.6 million mechanical contract for HVAC upgrades at the high school and Nicely and Metzgar elementary schools to low bidder East West Manufacturing of Castle Shannon. The board also approved the sole bid for related electrical work from Allegheny City Electric of Ross Township, at a cost of $60,000.

The 6-0 votes to proceed with the HVAC work were a “no-brainer,” according to school board President Jeff Metrosky. Now, he said, the board has to decide on prioritizing other facilities needs.

“Moving forward, how do we best allocate our money?” he said.

To pay for the new HVAC units at Greensburg Salem, the district wants to reassign some ESSER funds that had been set aside in 2021 to cover installation of new HVAC controls at all five of its schools, under a roughly $3.8 million contract with Trinity Automated Solutions.

On hold since then, the HVAC control project will be completed once East West finishes its work and will be paid for from the district’s general fund, Superintendent Ken Bissell said.

“We have to address these (HVAC) systems,” he said. “You can’t put a control on something that’s not working.”

“We’re going to have to make quick decisions on those other ($2 million) ESSER funds,” Bissell said. He indicated the district is considering “what we can do that’s not a bigger long-term project.”

Among more immediate projects being considered at the high school are a roof replacement and siding repair for the fitness center.

Metrosky suggested shrubs bordering the fitness center be replaced with low-maintenance landscaping featuring rocks.

There also have been discussions about seeking grant funding to improve the high school tennis courts and possibly create a nearby walking trail and playground, Bissell said.

“We can’t play our matches there with the conditions of the courts,” he said.

The four courts have been subject to shifting and cracking, said board member Lynn Jobe.

Bissell said he hopes to organize a public meeting early in 2024 where representatives from the municipalities that are part of the district, as well as community institutions, could gather to trade notes on longer-range facilities needs and potential projects.

“I think it will help us,” he said. “There may be something that the municipalities are thinking about and working on, but we’re working on them in silos.”