South Middleton School District plans to solicit bids to demolish the former residence at 16 Forge Road in Boiling Springs.
School board members Monday authorized staff to advertise the job after an attempt to circumvent the formal bidding process was foiled by quotes that came in higher than the state threshold.
The quote from Weaver & Sons Excavation of Wrightsville, York County, came in at $22,000, above the state bidding threshold of $21,500.
The two other quotes were much higher. John W. Gleim Jr. Excavating Inc. submitted a quote of $27,856, while Matts Junk Removal & Demolitions of Dillsburg submitted a quote of $25,000.
Approving the project by way of a quote would have saved the district the time and expense of preparing and advertising formal bid specifications, Superintendent James Estep said.
A preliminary scope of work outlines the steps each contractor would have to include in their base bid. One challenge facing the district is the need to cap all the utility lines that served the residence, board President Brad Group said. “One of the lines is on the other side of Forge Road.”
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Chances are the demolition project will impact the movement of traffic on Forge Road. Both the sewer and water mains have to be capped 10 feet underground. While the district is responsible for obtaining a demolition permit from South Middleton Township, the contractor approved for the project will be responsible for obtaining a highway occupancy permit from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
As an initial step, the school district will contact the electric company to have service disconnected. Later, the contractor would need to break up and remove the concrete floor from the garage and basement before importing clean fill and topsoil to the worksite to bring the disturbed areas up to grade.
Last February, board members approved the purchase of the single-family home for $125,000. The property is next to the district office parking lot.
The homeowner had approached the administration in fall 2020, offering to sell the property to the district. The homeowner had wanted to move out and downsize.
“We do have plans for the future,” said Matthew Strine, superintendent at the time of the purchase. “We are landlocked as a main campus. If we want to do an expansion at any of the buildings, more parking will be needed.”
Three of the four district buildings are on the Forge Road campus: Boiling Springs High School, Yellow Breeches Middle School and Iron Forge Elementary School. District offices are in the Iron Forge building.
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