Construction season continues in Cloquet

The ceiling of the gymnasium at Cloquet’s Garfield school was leaking before it started raining Wednesday. Which meant the Cloquet School Board almost had to vote to replace all of the roofs at Garfield as soon as possible.

And they did, despite concerns that the charge by the construction management company, Kraus Anderson, was excessive.

The total cost of the project will be nearly $400,000, plus $50,329 in construction management fees. The bid came in under its original estimate, according to Greg Schendel, Kraus Anderson project manager.

Board member Jim Crowley questioned the construction management fees, as did audience member Jim Mallery, who pointed out that they amounted to more than 13 percent of the total project cost.

Schendel explained that Kraus Anderson charged the school district 3.5 percent for its management of the Cloquet Middle School building and other district remodeling projects. However, because this project won’t be done until summer, and the company will have a supervisor here for just the one project, they based their price on actual estimated costs to the company, he said.

“It’s all about the time,” Schendel said. “We want our rep there to ensure quality and safety. Originally we had hoped to do this at the same time as the (high school) auditorium. But that didn’t work out and we were forced into a standalone project that’s pretty small.”

Board Chair Ted Lammi said he wanted more supervision.

“We’ve had to redo roofs because previous work not done properly,” Lammi said. “There wasn’t enough supervision. Roofs are critical, and I’ve seen a lot of bad roofs put in. I trust Kraus Anderson.”

School board members voted in favor of the project 4-1, with Crowley abstaining and board member Hawk Huard abstaining because he said he wasn’t up to date on all the projects yet.

The roof will be guaranteed for 30 years, and is a “Cadillac” roof, like all the other school roofs that have been replaced.

Board members also approved an improved plan for installing a lighting truss in the high school auditorium, which has been undergoing renovation for several months now.

Theater consultant — and Cloquet resident — John Justad explained to the board that the decision to reject the original plan for the lighting truss paid off with a better and cheaper plan.

The original plan would have put the truss in the line of sight for audience members sitting in the auditorium balcony and been “complicated and ugly,” he said.

“As a byproduct of investigating, we got a design that will actually strengthen the building, do all the work the other one would do and cost about $20,000 less than the lowest bid,” Justad said.

The new truss will be manually cranked up and down for light replacement and repair, which means it will be easier to place it close to the ceiling and out of the line of sight from the balcony.

The estimated cost is $68,253.

Justad said he’s optimistic the theater will be ready for play practice by April 1, although there will still be some details to take care of.

In other matters Monday, the school board took the following actions:

•Accepted the resignation of longtime Cloquet boys soccer coach Archie Clark, and approved posting for the head coach position for the fall sport.

•Accepted the retirement letter from Cloquet Middle School Family and Consumer Science teacher Mary Jane Lundberg, effective June 6, 2019. The 1977 CHS grad has worked in the district for 37 years, serving her entire career here.

“She is truly the face of CMS, and a big part of our culture, very positive” said CMS principal Tom Brenner. “She literally taught me. I was in her class.”

“The district will miss her,” added Crowley.