Schools

BOE Meeting: Electricians Brought Into Question

Local union concerned Sachem is using New Jersey company.

Multiple representatives from the Local 25 – the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) – spoke at Monday's Sachem Central School District board of education meeting.

Expressing concern over the district's use of Innovative Energy Conservation, LLC., a Westfield, N.J. based company that provides lighting retrofits as a way of reducing electrical consumption, the members addressed the board with great concern at Samoset Middle School.

Aside from being angered that Sachem would use a company not based on Long Island, the union representatives said IEC has unlicensed contractors operating in the school buildings.

Find out what's happening in Sachemwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

IEC is a subcontractor of Johnson Controls, which the district has a multi-million dollar contract with.

"You put the children in harm's way," said Don Fiore, the business manager for the IBEW, who lives in Holtsville. "Take a look at the way you do business. The people being hired by them are suspect at best."

Find out what's happening in Sachemwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Kevin Harvey, another member of Local 25, said there were initially promises made by IEC to use local contractors on the jobs, but even that fell through.

"That never happened," he said.

Sean Plante, a Farmingville resident, spoke of recently losing his job and possibly losing his house because of the lack of work for Local 25 workers, some of which could have been alleviated if this problem did not exist.

"This is for real what's happening here," he said. "I pay taxes that should go right back into the system."

"To have that money be given to Jersey contractors to me is very upsetting," added Adam Binder, another Local 25 member.

The administrative staff and board of education jotted down notes and also showed concern when listening. They said they'd look into the matter.

Graduation times changed

It's official, Sachem High School East will host its graduation on a Friday in 2011. North will host it on Saturday morning and the two will rotate each year. The problem right now is that in 2012, when North gets a Friday night slot, it will be forced to move graduation from the sacred "graduation hill" onto the field at Fred Fusaro Alumni Stadium - under the lights. The school board is open for discussion on future graduations.

McClave Construction to complete East roof

McClave Engineering, P.C. will provide all architectural and engineering services for Sachem East's roof project. The fees for the services – mainly paperwork filing and management, as well as bid specification awareness – will be $40,000: $21,000 for electrical design work and $19,000 for construction administrative services.

McClave will also manage the construction of the roof. Sachem is paying the construction manager 3 percent of the construction cost ($120.74 hour/per observer for full-time roof observer and $150.00 per hour to provide construction video services). The construction management duties revolve around organization and experienced personnel managing all requirements for the job.

Notes & quotes

 

  • Rob Scavo was voted in as president of the school board, while Jim LaCarrubba is now vice president. They were both selected unanimously, 9-0, by the board.
  • The audience gave the retirees who attended this meeting a round of applause.
  • Kristen Capel-Eden will move from her position as an assistant principal at Sachem High School North to the district's personnel staff.
  • Andrew Larson will move from personnel into Capel-Eden's old spot as an assistant principal.
  • The board of education approved three budget transfers of $50,000 or greater: $84,119.29 for a change order from Mainline Electric at North; $100,000 for architect fees for HB Fishman paid through Ingerman Smith due to litigation of East's roof replacement project; and $439,182 for general construction phase 1B rebid projects.
  • The Town of Brookhaven donated $500 for technology equipment at Chippewa Elementary School because of a Public Service Announcement contest in which three students won first prize.
  • The district is still waiting to hear which company will win the bid for the new bleachers set to go up at Samoset.

 

Next up

 

  • The next meeting is a work session on July 28 and the next regular board meeting will be August 18. Both will be at 7:30 p.m. at Samoset.

 


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