Penn Yan school flood damage totals $261K

PENN YAN—The Penn Yan Central School District could see as much as $261,208.20 in expense to repair the flood damage caused in mid-May. Brian Cieslinski of SEI Design Group gave a presentation to the school board Wednesday, June 11 explaining the areas that have been damaged by the flash flooding and what ares the school may need to act on quickly.
Cieslinski said the preliminary damages amount to $237,000, but said with other problems they are expected to find, he recommends a contingency of $261,208.20. He said one of the problem areas includes the turf field and track. Cieslinski said when the water came over it pulled stone from the scoreboard section and dumped it onto the track. He said silt dumped onto the track and came up the side walls, filling the trench drains.
“Now the field is not draining at the rate it needs to drain,” Cieslinski said.
Cieslinski said it is more difficult to fix than it appears being the field contains a sand and rubber pellet mix. He said the field would need a professional service to come in and suck all the old material out and replace it with new material to avoid safety hazards. Cieslinski said the track surface also needs to be power washed, and to truly get all of debris off the school will need to rescrape and recoat it. He said the trench drains have to be cleaned out along the track as well as the perimeter trench drains around the bleachers.
Cieslinski said the middle school gymnasium also sustained some flood damage. He said water came under the door and saturated the gym floor since the water had nowhere to go. Cieslinski recommended part of the gym floor be removed and replaced, while the entirety of the floor gets resurfaced. He said the middle school also sustained some plaster damage that would need to be fixed.
Cieslinski said while the bridge entering to the elementary school looks like it sustained quite a bit of damage, it is actually still structurally sound.
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Cieslinski said.
Cieslinski said he contacted the state on the school’s behalf, saying he needs to address the issue with the insurance agency first. He recommended the school begins work on the track and high school parking lot quickly due to the health and safety issues they pose.
In other business:
• Howard Dennis was named the Interim Superintendent after current Superintendent David Hamilton’s resignation becomes effective. Dennis previously served as the Associate Superintendent for Instruction and Staff Development since June of 2007. He will serve as interim superintendent throughout the 2014-15 school year.