The Marysville Board of Education held a special mid-day meeting recently to approve work on the Raymond Elementary water lines.
Board members voted 4-0, with member Brian Luke absent, to approve the bid from Slagle Mechanical Contractors of Sydney for water line work totaling $193,770. The work will involve replacing the copper pipes at the school, as well as five well water pressure tanks.
The board had canceled its regular March meeting due to the coronavirus outbreak, but needed to call the special meeting in order get the contract in place for the water line work.
The replacement stems from an incident earlier in the school year in which EPA water tests found unsafe levels of the rare, but naturally occurring element antimony. School officials were told not to let the students ingest the water.
The school closed for one day on Sept. 9, before reopening with five large watering stations throughout the building to replace water fountains. Kitchen staff also used water brought in from off site to prepare lunches.
Officials said the water was safe to be used for cleaning, washing hands and cleaning dishes.
“The most common source of antimony in drinking-water appears to be dissolution from metal plumbing and fittings,” according to an EPA advisory.
The EPA tests for antimony every three years. Officials said there was no antimony when the building’s water was tested in 2016.
Officials have said the detection of antimony is “rare and does not pose an immediate threat” but according to the EPA advisory, “some people who drink water containing antimony well in excess of the MCL (Maximum Contaminant Levels) over many years could experience increases in blood cholesterol and decreases in blood sugar.”
The EPA ran additional tests and found that no antimony was found in the school wells. Antimony was not detected in the followup samples.
District superintendent Diane Allen said that EPA was never able to determine exactly what let to the elevated test results, but recommended that the lines be replaced before the next school year.
Board president Sue Devine asked how the expenditure fit into the district’s 20-year capital improvement forecast. Treasurer Todd Johnson said work was not planned in the forecast, but money for the work is available in the capital improvement funds.
The special meeting was called because officials wanted to get a contract in place so that company performing the work could order materials.
“There is a sense of urgency to have the contract done so the work can start and be completed prior to next school year,” Allen said.
It was mentioned that the work might be able to start sooner, if the coronavirus closure extends through the ends of the school year.
During the meeting the board also approved the purchase of five new school buses at a cost of $389,000. The purchases are part of the districts scheduled rotation of the bus fleet.
The purchased vehicles are two 84-passenger buses at $99,430 each, one 72-passenger bus for $88,980 and two 30-passengers buses at $55,580 each.
The district will also be trading in four buses currently not in use, which will reduce the bill by a total of $10,000.