Cassie Hibbert, project manager of the refurbishment being done at the Enterprise schools for the Wenaha Group, on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022, gives an update to the Bond Oversight Committee in the high school library on work completed during the summer of 2022 and what’s yet to come.

ENTERPRISE — After a “heck of a summer,” as Enterprise School District Superintendent Tom Crane said, construction work on the schools received rave reviews from the district’s Bond Oversight Committee at an update meeting Wednesday, Sept. 7.

“The goal was to have work done before school started and they accomplished that mission,” Crane said. “I never had any problem with any of the people.”

Cassie Hibbert, project manager on the work on the school for the Wenaha Group, led the discussion, and detailed what had been accomplished and what has yet to be done. The work will continue in summer 2023.

The improvements are being paid for by an $8 million bond levy approved in November 2020 for the Enterprise school buildings, largely to replace leaky roofs and upgrade access to Americans with Disabilities Act standards, such as remodeling restrooms and adding ramps and lifts for wheelchair-bound students and removing asbestos flooring.

The $8 million is half a voter-approved levy and half matching funds from an Oregon School Capital Improvement grant from the Oregon Department of Education.

Work began on the campus this spring as soon as school let out, although it was slated to begin a year earlier. The delay was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting difficulties in obtaining building materials.

Hibbert listed work that had been accomplished. The main project completed was replacement of the roof at the elementary/middle school, primary and high school buildings by Palmer Roofing of Pendleton.

Also completed was abatement of asbestos in pipe insulation, the middle school attic, the primary building crawl space and other smaller items done by IRS Environmental of Hillsboro.

Items completed by McCormack Construction of Pendleton included:

• Improvements to the stormwater system to manage roof drainage and surface runoff originating on the District’s property.

• Replacement of the main steam piping between buildings installation of new condensate pumps.

• Refresh and waterproofing of the “mat room,” a small classroom area in the middle school that was experiencing water infiltration.

• Waterproofing of the basement-level main boiler room.

• Reconfiguration of the gym foyer stairs for a wheelchair lift. The lift product scheduled to ship this week and would be installed as soon as received, Hibbert said.

Hibbert also said a few items are to be finished up through October. She said about $6 million of the bond funds were spent on construction this year.

There are a couple items that were not foreseen in the original plans for the project, including a major post holding up roofs outdoors and extreme deterioration to one of the building’s roofs. Those are requiring some reassessment to determine how they will be repaired.

Plans for next summer by McCormack Construction include safety/security upgrades:

• Creation of secure entry vestibules for visitors at all the school buildings.

• Audio/video intercom at the primary building entrance.

• Access control on all exterior doors. Select doors will have key card readers for staff access.

• Security cameras.

• Improvements to property fencing.

• Accessible ramp at the Quinn’s Court entry.

Also planned are:

• Steam pipe replacement in the tunnel between the primary and elementary/middle school buildings.

• Installation of ventilation in selected areas to include restrooms, art room and locker room.

Crane said that although the campus will not be fully closed during summer 2023, selected areas may be off-limits to staff/students. The gym will be open for use during the summer.

“Next year’s not supposed to be a lockdown situation,” he said, referring to this summer’s restrictions on having faculty and staff on campus. “Next year, teachers should be able to come in and work in the summer. … Also, we cannot forget our custodial staff who were helping all summer long. … It was all positive.”

The committee agreed that its next quarterly meeting will be Dec. 5.