The low bid was from M & O Environmental Company of Peoria. No bids were over $20,000 and 3 were under $15,000. The estimate given at last week's board meeting was $25,000. Fieldcrest Superintendent Dr. Dan Oakley said he was told by the school's environmental engineering firm that the school " got a bargain". Dr. Oakley said work will start next week on the asbestos abatement and expects it to be done by the end of the Christmas break.
The real action at the meeting was the comments delivered to the board at the beginning of the meeting. James Liner told the board that elections have consequences, except for Fieldcrest. He said the board apparently has not gotten the message that the voters do not want to build a new school building. He said the board apparently thinks it knows better than the public but the voters will vote against a new building again if a referendum is pursued.
Mr. Liner commented on the last board meeting when board president Joe Kirkpatrick confronted board member Charles Lohr on potentially exposing the board to bid-rigging. Mr. Lohr had made a walk through of the girls locker room to determine the extent of the needed repair and was given another estimate by another contractor. Mr. Kirkpatrick was not at the meeting Wednesday night and Mr. Lohr was absent due to the death of his mother that morning.
Mr. Liner said Mr. Kirkpatrick was essentially accusing a fellow board member of official misconduct. Mr. Liner said this accusation opens the board up to liability and litigation since this type of discussion should take place in an executive session, not in a public session. He said he doesn't want to have the taxpayers at risk because of the board's ignorance.
The last item expressed by Mr. Liner was his contention that the discussion over Mr. Lohr's action should have been on the agenda, which it was not.
Dr, Oakley replied that discussion items do not have to be on the agenda.
Gene Oncken said that board president Joe Kirkpatrick should resign. He also mentioned there are some other board members who probably should resign. He said the board is not doing its job and has no leadership.
Michael Mendola said the board should acknowledge the referendum results. He discussed the 3 options specified at the last board meeting saying the first option, which was another referendum, will just be wasteful. He said if the board pursues a backdoor referendum there will be riots in the street and to do nothing is not an option.
Mr. Mendola said the board should first attempt to take action on the A items on the Life-Safety list and prioritize them and work down the list and forget about a new building. He said the board should treat the building project like a business and lay down a plan of action.