The approval by the Williamsport Area School Board of contracts for the addition and renovations to the high school stadium and tennis courts signals the start of the $20,310,545 construction project. Funding will come from bond and capital reserve monies.

Representatives of Crabtree, Rohrbaugh and Associates, architects for the project, informed the board at their recent meeting that the plan is to have the upper part of the project completed in time for graduation exercises in June.

That phase will include construction of an 11,500 square foot field house which features bathrooms and a concession stand in addition to locker rooms and trainer spaces on the first floor. The second floor will contain a meeting space, golf simulator and multi-purpose space. There will also be an outdoor seating area.

Other aspects of the project include resurfacing the tennis courts and constructing pickle ball courts where the former basketball courts. All work is expected to be completed by Aug. 21 in time for the fall football season.

The general construction contract was awarded to Lobar, Inc., Dillsburg, with a bid of $14,066,000. Other contracts are: TurnKey Electric, Inc., $1,452,080 electrical construction; Hosler Enterprise, Berwick, $1,022,300, HVAC construction; Silvertip Inc., Lewisburg, $1,270,000, plumbing construction; Musco Sports Lighting, LLC, $973,767, Muscatine, Iowa, sports field/court lighting; and Weatherproofing Technologies, Inc., Beachwood, OH, $1,526,398, roofing construction.

The board also approved a contract with Stadium Solutions, Inc., Cabot PA for $253,270, for stadium seating for the visitors section of the stadium.

In anticipation of next year’s budget, the board approved the Accelerated Budget Opt Out Resolution Certifying Tax Rate Within Inflation Index as required by the state. This means that the district has declared that they will not raise taxes above the index, which is set at 5 percent. This does not mean that the district is raising taxes next year, it is just an action required by the state to officially say that they will stay within the index.

As construction onIn the new welding lab winds down, the board approved several change orders to that project. The included two that were actually deletions which lowered the costs. They were J.C. Orr & Son, $8,200 and $1,910. Other change orders were from J.C. Orr & Son also, for $1,231, $2,132 and $780.

The board acted on the execution and delivering of a deed, along with the City of Williamsport and the Williamsport Municipal Water Authority that will convey any interest the district has in Shaw Park, located on Sherman Street, to the city for $1. The piece of property at issue was once used as a soccer field by the district but following the sale of the former Sheridan School, was no longer used for that purpose.

Under personnel, the district announced the retirements of Timothy P. Fausnaught, principal at Lycoming Valley Intermediate School after 17 years of service, effective June 30; and Diane P. Burns, administrative support, after 32 years of service with the district, effective Jan.9.

Under personnel, the board approved hiring the following staff for the positions and rates of pay listed: Jessica A.F. Hulslander, temporary professional employee, full-time school counselor at the Williamsport Area Middle School (WAMS), $62,106 per year; Amber M. Stewart, full-time special education teacher at WAMS, $62,106 per year; and Heidi M. Edler, full-time administrative support at Jackson Primary School, $33,390 per year.

They also approved several coaches for the winter sports season.

The next board meeting will be at 6 p.m. Dec. 2, at the District Board Room, 2780 West Fourth St.