New Houston school will be only partly finished in December, borough says

The new Houston High School will only be partly finished and ready for use by December, the original completion target, Matanuska-Susitna Borough assembly members were told in a briefing Tuesday, Sept. 13.

Several classrooms will be complete but delays in delivering electrical equipment will keep the gymnasium unfinished until March, school district and borough officials told the assembly.

“We still have a contract calling for December completion but we know now that will slip,” borough manager Mike Brown said. “The revised plan will be for total completion in March.”

School Superintendent Randy Trani said three wings of the building will be finished by the end of the year on schedule.

Except for the supply-chain issue with electrical panels the contractor, Roger Hickel Construction, has done well on the project, the assembly was told. The company took a risk with an early order of steel but that allowed the structure to be closed in last winter through an aggressive building schedule.

At times about 60 construction workers were on the job and Hickel was double-shifting to ensure things stayed on schedule. The building handled the early 2022 windstorm well, too.

Assembly members were also briefed on a number of other school-related projects by Alex Senta, the borough’s project management division director.

The projects are funded with proceeds with proceeds from sales of borough obligations bonds approved by voters in 2018 and 2020.

About 20 capital improvement projects are at various stages this year but Senta focused last Tuesday on those related to schools, mainly to improve street and pedestrian access.

One project, an improvement to Nelson Road to improve access to Machentanz Elementary School, is now substantially complete, Senta said. A road connection on Katherine Drive to Trunk Road, to serve Mat-Su Central, is now about 95 percent finished in design and is expected to see construction complete next year, in 2023.

An upgrade of Lucille Street, also with a pathway, is 65 percent complete in design and engineering. It is expected to be built in 2024, Senta said. Two other projects, to extend Hemmer Road to improve access to Valley Pathway School, is in preliminary engineering with an expected 2024 finishing date.

A pathway along 49th State Street to Colony High and Middle Schools is also in preliminary engineering, also with an expected 2024 completion date.

Projects to improve pedestrian access to six other schools are planned but are still in the “scoping” phase, Senta said. The schools to be served include Big Lake Elementary; Colony Middle; Redington High, Dena’ina Elementary, Larson Elementary and Talkeetna Elementary schools.

Those products are expected to be complete in 2023, Senta told the assembly.

Assembly member Jesse Sumner also asked if it’s possible for the borough and school district to enlarge school parking lots to reduce congestion when parents are dropping off or picking up children. The issue has added urgency this year with the shortage of school bus drivers and more children being driven by parents.

Mat-Su is also a school district of “choice,” meaning parents can send children to any school regardless of where the live. That has put more parents driving in the borough, the bus driver issue aside.

A question was posed as to the cost of enlarging a parking lot. School district officials said a recent estimate for enlarging the lot at Shaw Elementary, which is experiencing congestion, is put at $800,000. “How quickly can we get the $800,000 out,” to alleviate the problem, borough and district officials were asked. “We’d like to it as soon as possible,” district officials said.

“It might appear on an assembly agenda soon,” an assembly member said.

Depending on the school and site considerations, a rule-of-thumb for parking lot expansion could be $500,000 to $1 million per school, the assembly was told. Consideration must also be made for safety lanes for fire suppression and police. Also, there must also be separate lanes for school buses and parents dropping off and picking up children.

Stephanie Nowers, also on the assembly, asked whether sufficient consideration is being given for parking, drop-off and pick-up lanes in new schools being planned. “We don’t want to create new problems,” as schools are built, she said.

School officials said questions like this are addressed in the new school site selection process.