CADDO GAP – Caddo Hills School Board members voted to move forward with a district wide lighting upgrade that will provide a projected annual savings of $37,805.41 for the district.
Superintendent Deric Owens stated after the meeting that the district received two bids for the project and voted to accept the bid submitted by NegaWatt Partners LLC.
The project will include the upgrading or replacement of approximately 1,367 lighting fixtures and associated lamps. Superintendent Owens stated that lighting fixtures in every facility except the baseball and softball fields will be upgraded or replaced to LED lighting.
The submitted cost for the project is $224,626.00. The district will receive an estimated incentive from Entergy of $35,459.46. The district will finance the cost of the project with annual payments of $22,310.30 to be paid over 10 years.
“This won’t cost the district a penny. The annual savings from the new lights will be enough to cover the payments.” Superintendent Owens remarked.
In their proposal, NegaWatt Partners, LLC guaranteed that the project would generate enough savings to make the district’s payment for the project.
The project will standardize the lighting products in use in all the district’s facilities. All retrofitted fixtures will be warranteed for five years and the district will only need to stock one kind of bulb. Superintendent Owens stated that the district currently has a number of fixtures that are not recessed in the ceiling. The project will replace these fixtures with recessed ones.
Another benefit to the project will be seen in the gymnasiums. He explained that the new lighting fixtures will be brighter and will come back on immediately if there is a power outage.
“We won’t have to wait on the bulbs to cool down before they come back on in the gym.” Superintendent Owens exclaimed.
The project will also include occupancy sensors in the rooms. This will provide savings by turning lights off when everyone has left the room and will turn lights on immediately when someone enters the room.
The high school comes in as the most expensive cost in the project with an initial cost of $55,722.75. The occupancy sensors are next at $52,000. The elementary building will come in at an initial cost of $31,287.00, followed by the middle school at a cost of $24,474.00. The performance gym and the practice gym come in at $19,263.50 and$18,855.00 respectively.
In other business:
The board approved an employee resolution to use Hiper Metric Designs. They are owned by Principal Todd Baxley’s mother-in-law, Brenda Hobbs.
The board hired Cody Ledbetter to serve as high school custodian for the remainder of the 2015-16 school year.
The board adopted the Assurances for Programs under Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
The board approved the Special Education Budget and Assurances.
The board approved the district budget.
The board approved the Minority Teacher and Administration Recruitment Plan.
The board approved student transfers to the Centerpoint School District.
The boatd approved a student transfer from the Mount Ida School District to Caddo Hills.
