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Bids expected soon for middle school field, camera projects

Date: 9/21/2011

Sept. 21, 2011

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Editor

WEST SPRINGFIELD — An update on proposed repairs to the Ted Smith Field at the West Springfield Middle School, as well as the replacement of the school’s security cameras, were among the items discussed at the Sept. 13 School Committee meeting.

Acting Assistant Superintendent Kevin McQuillan said bids for general repairs and maintenance of the Ted Smith field, including the track and the soccer field adjacent to the middle school building, are due to be opened on Sept. 22.

These bids, he said, would reflect the original plan to fill in low areas, re-grade, aerate and seed the fields. It will not reflect a proposal supported by mayor Edward Gibson to eliminate the field’s crown.

“The crown is designed for drainage ... to all sides,” McQuillan said, adding that landscape architects had determined that if this area of the field were reduced, a new way of draining the field would need to be designed.

This additional work on the field, he said, “will not fit under our budget.”

He added that a total of $100,000 had been allotted for necessary repairs to the Ted Smith Field in the town’s fiscal year 2012 (FY12) Capital Budget and that work was expected to begin shortly after the bids are reviewed.

McQuillan said the School Department expects to open bids to replace the security camera system at the middle school — which was installed when the school was built in 1998 — on Sept. 29. The work, which is scheduled to take place during the school year, will include changing the locations of some cameras, adding new cameras in designated locations and updating the recording equipment associated with the system.

He said $80,000 was allotted for the project in the FY12 Capital Budget.

Debbie Gardner can be reached by e-mail at debbieg@thereminder.com



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