West Geauga Holds Water Treatment Plant/Maintenance Building Work Session
West Geauga Board of Education Special Meeting – January 27, 2026
Meeting Details: The West Geauga Board of Education met on January 27, 2026 at 4:00 pm in the Board Office Community Room, 8615 Cedar Road in Chester Township. Meetings are open to the public and media. The meeting agenda and minutes are available online. Look for the Meeting tab in the right hand corner. Pick the meeting you want to review and then click on “Agenda.” A video recording is available here. As of the date of publication of this report, this video has been viewed 123 times. Notations in the report refer to the minute notation on the video for a particular section.
Board Attendance: Mrs. Pam Claypool, President; Dr. William Beers, Vice President; Mrs. Kathy Leavenworth, Member; Mrs. Ellen Naylor, Member, and Mr. Mark Vidmar, Member, were present.
Staff Attendance: Dr. Nancy Benincasa, Superintendent; Mr. Scott Amstutz, Director of Instructional Technology; Dr. Amy Davis, Assistant Superintendent; and Mr. Mark Richardson, Facilities Manager were present. Mrs. Karen Pavlat, Treasurer, participated remotely.
Osborn Engineering Attendance: Scott Vura, Executive Vice-President and Principal of Infrastructure; Scott Brandt, Director of Architecture; and Dom Vokic, Project Manager, were present.
Other Attendees: There were two other non-identified attendees. This observer attended via video streaming. Observer Note: This observer was unable to attend the meeting in person. The video recording and other Board information was used to prepare this report.
Opening of the Special Meeting - The Special Meeting was called to order at 4:00 pm by Mrs. Claypool. The roll call was conducted, and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Appointment of Treasurer Pro Tempore - Passed 2026-01-045 Resolution to Appoint Treasurer Pro-Tempore for January 27, 2026 Special Meeting - Mrs. Leavenworth was appointed Treasurer Pro Tempore for the special meeting in Mrs. Pavlat’s absence.
Board Discussions -
1.45 min. Board Discussion of Bids/Packages/Water Treatment Plant - Scott Amstutz, Director of Instructional Technology & Operations and Scott Vura, Osborn Engineering -
Dr. Benincasa started the session by giving a brief overview of the efforts leading to the consideration of the water treatment plant and maintenance building project for the board. The December board meeting included a resolution to have Osborn Engineering advertise for bids for the project. Two responses were received as a result of this action.
Mr. Amstutz introduced the Osborn Engineering members present and explained that they were here to explain the process used to review and evaluate the bids that were received. Cold Harbor and Higley Construction were the two companies who submitted bids. He indicated that both were reputable organizations and experienced in providing the types of services contained in the proposals.
Mr. Vura said that the goal was to have at least two viable candidates for the board to evaluate using a design/build process and that provided best value, lowest risk, and acceptable completion date (August, 2026 prior to the start of the new school year) for the project. The project consists of a Water Treatment Plant (with a new well, water treatment, and new water connections to the High School, Middle School and nearby Geauga County Public Library branch), a Maintenance Garage, and shared facilities within the building (restrooms, locker rooms, etc.). Osborn Engineering interviewed and worked with each vendor to make sure that the submitted proposals would meet the board’s needs for the project. Osborn assigned four persons to individually review and score the proposals using 10 criteria.
The board discussed a variety of aspects of the proposals with the Osborn Engineering team that would help them to better understand and evaluate each proposal.
Dr. Benincasa thanked the Osborn group. She said that they had been evenhanded in their evaluation and as a third-party had represented the Board well in the preparation of these proposals. Mrs. Claypool suggested that the Board might find a “walk-around” of the present maintenance facility helpful. The board discussed the site of the current facility with regard to future planned capital projects, such as tennis courts, in mind. Dr. Benincasa suggested the Board use a broader view of what the future campus might look like when evaluating the proposals. Mr. Vidmar asked what the timeline would be for making a decision on the proposals. Dr. Benincasa responded that the February Board meeting would be preferred. Mrs. Claypool agreed that the February meeting should be the goal. Mrs. Pavlat suggested a motion structure would allow the board flexible options.
1:42.00 min. Board Discussion of Summer Projects and Capital Budget Plan - Scott Amstutz, Director of Instructional Technology & Operations - Mr. Amstutz presented a listing of potential summer projects:
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Lindsey Boiler Replacement and Water Filtration Upgrade Project - $370,000
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Westwood Water Filtration Upgrade Project - $120,000
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High School Roof Replacement (Phase I) - $1,786,280
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West Geauga Track Replacement - $819,639
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Lindsey Parking Lot and Sidewalks Project - $300,000
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Switch Replacement/Closet Project - $250,000
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Facade Repairs - $66,000
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Permanent Improvement Projects
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Buses - $300,000 (one bus and three vans)
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Pre-K Renovation - $150,000 (Moving Twinkle program to Westwood)
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Teacher Devices - $150,000
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Instructional Equipment and Furniture - $400,000
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Plow Truck - $150,000
Mr. Amstutz explained the project list and how they would be funded for this summer: the Permanent Improvement Fund, Capital Funds, or General Fund. He furnished the board with basic descriptions for each of the listed projects.
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High School Track: The Track is nearing the end of its useful life. The track was resurfaced in 2015 (8 to 10 year life) and repainted last year. The track will need to be replaced this year or next year. There are two proposals from Vasco to replace the track.
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High School Roof Project - Tremco has evaluated the High School, Westwood and Lindsey roofs. The High School has some areas of pooling and saturation that need to be addressed. Tremco sent out bids under a consortium agreement for the roof, Phase I and II - $1.4 million to $2.3 million. There are a number of areas on the High School with drainage issues and poor construction from the last roofing project. Portions of the current roof are leaking. Mrs. Claypool asked how to make sure they don't have quality issues with this work. Mr. Amstutz said Tremco will guarantee the roof for 30 years.
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The Middle School switch project will replace end of life switches and upgrade those to 10G. The district would work with EducTech to implement these switches. Mr. Vidmar asked about how many switches are used in the District. Mr. Amstutz said there are about 40 switches that need replacing, along with supporting cables.
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The Lindsey Boiler Replacement and Water Filtration Upgrade would need to be formally bid. The request is for the Board to approve a Design/Build bid package with Osborn Engineering for $41,630. This would allow the District to replace the two failing boilers and upgrade the water treatment equipment at Lindsey in one project.
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The Lindsey Parking Lot project covers replacement of both the parking lot and sidewalks. The parking lot is at the end of its lifecycle and there is concern that the base will be lost if the lot is not replaced.
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Mr. Vura discussed the different types of track replacement materials for a full running track replacement contained in the proposals. The first is a latex track (5 to 7 year life) and the second is a polyurethane track (7-10 year life). The current track is latex and was rubberized in 2017 to extend the expected life. He stated that either material is perfectly acceptable for the level of competition held by the school. He said the latex track would require rejuvenation five years after installation while the polyurethane would require rejuvenation after ten years after installation. The starting date for the installation will need to be in May in order to ensure it is completed by the start of the new school year. Mr. Vidmar asked why the project needs to be done now. Mr. Richardson said the track is starting to bubble and there is some saturation under the track. Mr. Vura said when the track starts to fail, it will deteriorate rapidly and the district would not have a track available for the track season. Mrs. Claypool said the Board discussed doing this work last year but decided the scheduling of the project completion posed a risk for it not being available for the start of the school year.
Mrs. Claypool asked if there was any further discussion about the projects. Mr. Vidmar asked if there were any guiding principles that the Board used for determining major projects. He said that he was interested in refurbishing High School classrooms. Mrs. Claypool stated that separate bids for projects are needed to determine the potential cost for a project and allow the Board the ability to grant final approval. Dr. Benincasa stated that there would be an imminent need to replace a boiler at the High School. She also agreed with Mrs. Claypool about getting separate bids to evaluate projects.
2:44.00 min. Board Resolutions -
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2026-01-046 Resolution to Approve Design-Criteria Contract with Osborn Engineering - The resolution was amended to delete the Woodsway filtration project which was added in error. Approved
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2026-01-047 Resolution to Approve Advertising and Receiving of Bids for 2026 Summer Projects - The resolution was amended to include the Lindsey Boiler, only. The water filtration project was added in error. Approved
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2026-01-048 Resolution to Approve the 2026 Summer Projects - the projects to be approved were:
In light of the previous discussion to obtain separate project bids/proposals in the previous section of the meeting, a motion was made by Mrs. Leavenworth and seconded by Dr. Beers to table Resolution 2026-01-048. The motion to table passed unanimously.
Discussion of District Goals
Board Discussion of Stakeholder Outreach - This item of the agenda was deferred to a future Board meeting due to the length of this meeting.
2:55.00 min. Adjournment - Approved
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Announcement of Next Board Meeting – It was announced that there would be a Regular Meeting on February 17, 2026 beginning at 7:00 pm in the Board Office Community Room, 8615 Cedar Road in Chester Township.
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2026-01-049 Resolution to Adjourn – The meeting was adjourned at 6:55 pm.
Observer: Bob Doxey
Editor & Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: March 3, 2026
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