CHERRY TWP — Moniteau School board opened bids at its meeting Monday night for a pair of multimillion-dollar projects that would affect both schools.

The CJL Engineering Project would upgrade the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at Moniteau Junior and Senior High School and Dassa McKinney Elementary School.

The project includes three parts: HVAC, electrical and general contracting, which were bid separately. The contractor who wins the HVAC portion will take the lead.

Combining only the base bids of all three portions of the project, the lowest possible cost would be $6.64 million, and the highest possible cost would be $10.44 million.

“They are getting a more efficient and upgraded mechanical heating system, one that has newer components and more controllability and flexibility for Jeff Campbell, the facilities director, to operate the building in a more efficient manner,” said Jim Vizzini of CJL Engineering.

Vizzini said the electrical work is essential for the HVAC upgrades to function. He said the general contracting work would include some ceiling work to accommodate new piping and window upgrades to replace outdated and poorly insulated windows.

The HVAC project received a range of bids that will allow the school board to pursue two options.

The first would be to upgrade the HVAC to the educational and support rooms that have the system installed. The other option would be to upgrade and expand the HVAC to include the entirety of both schools.

Campbell said the HVAC upgrades will improve air quality and temperature and make the system easier to control.

“It's just better for everybody all around,” he said.

The board also received five bids to replace roofing on both schools. Bids ranged from $2.32 million to $4.05 million.

Rich Kosuda of the Western PA Tremco Team said the roof is roughly 23 years old and has reached the end of its life. He said the project would include replacing about 100,000 square feet of roofing with a newer, higher-grade material.

“The existing roof, we found out, it was uninsulated, so the school district's going to benefit from a lot of savings because the new one will meet a lot of new energy codes,” Kosuda said.

John D'Amore, the district's business manager, said the bids fell within expectations.

“We're in that target range we were hoping to be in, so that's favorable,” he said.

D'Amore said the finance committee postponed its meeting Monday because of the bid opening meeting's impact on next year's budget. It was rescheduled for Feb. 17 and is open to the public.

Board Chairman Michael Panza said the bids will be reviewed by Solicitor Andrea Parenti and Superintendent Thomas Samosky for their recommendations.

He said it is possible they could vote to award contracts at the next meeting.

“They'll make the recommendation, and we can move from there,” Panza said.

The following base bids were submitted for the HVAC portion of the CJL Engineering Project: Lugaila Mechanical of Pittsburgh, base one, $5.45 million and base two, $7.70 million; and Renick Brothers of Slippery Rock, base one, $4.65 million and base two, $6.46 million.

The following base bids were submitted for the electrical construction portion of the CJL Engineering Project: Allegheny City Electric of Pittsburgh, base one, $870,000 and base two, $952,000; Bronder Technical Services of Prospect, base one, $751,016 and base two, $857,374; Merit Electric of Oakmont, base one, $619,000 and base two, $679,000; Right Electric of Butler, base one, $571,111 and base two, $648,888.

The following base bids were submitted for the general construction portion of the CJL Engineering Project: Fred Burns of Shippenville, base bid, $1.78 million; Hudson Construction of Hermitage, base bid, $1.58 million; Masco Construction, base bid, $1.56 million; United Contractors of Brookfield Township, Ohio, base bid, $1.42 million.

The following base bids were submitted for the roofing project: Slippery Rock Roofing, $2.77 million; Triangle Roofing of Pittsburgh, $2.48 million; David Maines Roofing of Pittsburgh, $2.42 million; PA Roofing of Gibsonia, $2.32 million; MTG Roofing of Pittsburgh, $4.05 million.