Update from Building & Grounds

UPDATES FROM THE GROUNDS 

February 2025 

Following are some notes from the Building and Grounds (B & G) Team to keep you posted about what’s happening with budgeted building upgrades and projects: 

Canopy – A construction company has finally been found to tear down the  disintegrating canopy over the sidewalk between the east and west parking lot side entrances. It is anticipated that the work will be done this spring. The  complete refurbishment of those entryways has been put on hold until  decisions have been made about the renovation of the entire building. 

Second Floor Renovations – Hopefully you have noticed that a new floor and  new dropped ceiling have been installed on the second floor, the skylight and  other leaks have been repaired, and the walls have been painted. All that is left  is for Dell to finish painting the trim, slowly but surely. Also, Room 107 is being  spruced up for OWL classes for our little kids. 

Safety on Stairwells – Ken Kuehm will be putting new white strips on the stairs, and the staff will be re-painting the stair noses to make the edges visible for  people who have trouble discerning where the edge of the step is. The light  above the stairs requires scaffolding to be set up, so that will happen when Ken  gets around to it, one of the trade-offs of doing work “in-house” as opposed to  paying tradespeople to do the work. 

Water Meter Installed – A water meter has been installed in the Community  Gardens. We have had a problem in the past of water left running for long  periods of time. Water use can now be tracked, and our custodian, Michael, will  build a spreadsheet so we can keep track of water use. The environmentalists  among us hope to include cisterns in our renovation (if that’s what it turns out  to be) so that we can make use of the “free” water that nature provides. 

Solar Array – We will be hiring Ohio Power Solutions to repair and provide  regular maintenance of our solar array. One of 8 inverters in the system is  currently not working and will be replaced.  

Prioritization – Victor Young and Tom McKenna have prioritized a list of  projects that need to be undertaken. Along with Ken Kuehm, they will meet  soon to align their prioritizations for the ’25-’26 budget.  

Share this post: