Board of Education to Vote on Parking Lot Expansion

The question of whether or not to expand the parking lot at is expected to be answered Monday night as the Board of Education reviews the 17 bids received for the project.

The board put forth two possible options for the parking lot: one that would add about 50 spaces to the existing lot and a larger expansion that would add 82 spaces.

Stone Creek Inc. submitted the lowest bid for the project at $1,169,760 for the classrooms, $310,870 for the first parking lot option and an additional $67,080 for the second option. The company's bid also includes $15,900 for an option for new lockers and $58,550 for an optional cooling package.

Another $18,000 was taken out of the final bid amount for the use of building materials, to put Stone Creek Inc.'s final bid at $1,622,160. This puts the final cost to taxpayers under the $2,018,255 budgeted for the project in the 2011-12 school budget, .

If the Board of Education votes to go forward with the expansion of the lot, the project will automatically be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. This money will be taken out of the capital reserve fund, which will be replenished by tax dollars.

The . Many parents have objected to laying more asphalt at Chatham High School and have instead asked the administration to direct students to park at the Colony Pool lot and walk to the high school.

Students, though, have said they often balance sports, clubs and jobs on top of their academics, and trying to walk from the high school to the Colony Pool lot would cause additional pressure to their already tight schedules.

Students also say that because of Kyleigh's Law, they cannot carpool with more than one passenger in the car. This means that students who do not live within walking distance of the high school are limited to a 2-to-1 ratio of students to cars.

Currently, the parking lot at Chatham High has 253 spaces. For the upcoming academic school year, 133 of those spaces are reserved for staff, 20 are visitor spaces and four are marked as handicapped parking. That leaves 96 spaces for 303 projected seniors.

The parking lot at Colony Pool is an unlined, unpaved gravel lot. Chatham Township and Chatham Recreation officials have not been able to say with certainty how many cars the lot can accommodate.

The parking lot expansion would be located south of an existing portion of the lot, to the south of the cafeteria and gymnasiums at the high school. Parents have said that installing asphalt so close to the building would have detrimental effects to the air quality going into the cafeteria and gym.

Also, that portion of land is already prone to collecting water during storms. Adjacent residents have said they already have issues with runoff water from the area. To build a parking lot in that space would require extensive drainage and civil engineering to prevent any impact to neighboring properties. This accounts for the high cost of the lot.

Board Member Matthew Gilfillan will put forth two separate motions regarding the project, according to the agenda: one that asks the board to accept the bids received, and one to award the project to Stone Creek Inc.

In Other Business

Monday night's meeting will also be the last Board of Education meeting for , who retires Thursday. The an interim superintendent for the next academic year, .