Plans to repave the outdoor track at Jamestown High School suffered another setback when a second contract for the work was canceled, but WJCC School Division staff say they are confident a third contractor can get the job done.
The original scope of work, which included removing the rubberized layer of the 18-year-old track, installing a new running surface and marking lines, was to be completed by Charlottesville-based Precision Sports Surfaces Inc.
Precision Sports Surfaces was awarded a contract in June 2015 to complete the work, but after removing the rubberized layer it found it could not complete the job within its projected $114,041 budget.
That contract was canceled in October 2015 and a second contract was awarded to Dundalk, Md.-based American Tennis Courts. According to the school division, American Tennis Courts failed to “supply all required documentation for the work to be completed as required by law” and a new contractor was sought.
“The track at Jamestown has to be completed,” said Superintendent Steven Constantino during the May 10 School Board work session. “We expected it to be done now.”
In an email to WYDaily, WJCC Chief Financial Officer Christina Berta explained that the third contractor, Newport News-based Centennial Contractors Enterprises Inc., has previously stepped in to complete jobs when other contractors have failed.
“We have used Centennial in the past when other contractors’ bids have come in over budget or other contractors were not able to deliver based on the defined specifications as outlined by division staff and consultants,” Berta wrote.
The contract the School Board awarded to Centennial on Tuesday night does not indicate an exact budget for the work. Rather, Centennial has agreed to complete the repaving and line marking, plus rebuild the long jump/high jump pit, furnish and install new plant boxes for pole vault, long jump and triple jump, and more, for no more than $425,000.
Berta wrote that the budget increased because the scope of the work changed following an evaluation of the track’s condition. Constantino called this the “worst-case scenario” budget.
“This last setback has really put us up against the wall in terms of turning that track over to the school” in time for the fall season, Constantino said. “I do not want to hamstring the school more than we already have.”
Work on the track will begin within two weeks, although the timeline is contingent upon the contractors’ availability.
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