SAXONBURG — The Knoch School District board will have to make a decision on how to address an outdated sewer line running through a retention pond near Knoch Middle School.

John Pappas, project manager with Eckles Construction, gave an update on the Knoch High School renovation at a work session Wednesday, March 6, and said he would present a change order to the school board for the project at a cost of up to $100,765. The terra cotta pipe, he said, does not have to be immediately addressed, but with construction moving along at the high school, it would be more cost-effective to replace it sooner rather than later.

“We don’t usually see terra cotta in sanitary lines, that’s a pretty old fashioned way of doing sanitary lines,” Pappas said. “There is nothing at this point making it an urgent matter. We have time to do more due diligence to see where that line goes, what else might be tied into it and what the full extent of that is.”

The $39 million renovation project at Knoch High School began in December, and when completed, the facility will have a new STEM lab, a wellness center, several chemistry labs, a theater classroom and a renovated cafeteria and kitchen space. Pappas also told the school board that each of the contractors for the high school renovation project are on-site daily, from the plumber to the HVAC workers.

“The goal is to have the contractors on site to make positive progress at all times,” Pappas said. “We’re ahead of where we anticipated being.”

David Foley, Knoch superintendent, said there will be a few items relating to the high school renovation at the school board’s regular meeting March 13.