Board approves GMP No. 3 for early site work at new high school and transportation maintenance site

The North Ridgeville City Schools Board of Education voted on May 6 to approve Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) No. 3, authorizing early site work for the district’s new high school and the adjacent transportation and maintenance facility.

The motion to approve the building-and-grounds report, which included GMP No. 3 for early site work, was moved by the Board President and seconded by Miss McCarthy; the roll call vote recorded unanimous approval. Hammond, the district’s construction representative, gave a project overview, describing the GMP as primarily for earthwork: “This the scope of this GMP will be to primarily earthwork, laying the groundwork, remove all the topsoil, do some underground utility work in preparation of the new high school construction.”

Hammond said the early site work will allow contractors to complete substantial site preparation through the coming winter so vertical construction of the new high school can begin in spring 2026. He said a smaller forthcoming GMP will address soil-stabilization (augering and stone) and that a larger GMP for the high school structure will arrive later in the year. The transportation and maintenance facility itself is a pre-engineered metal building, Hammond said, and precast materials for underground stormwater structures are pending arrival.

Board members asked about stormwater management. Hammond said the plan calls for exposed dry detention basins that will temporarily hold water after storm events and then release it slowly into the existing creek system; the district will build a detention area on the northern corner of the transportation/maintenance site and similar detention for the high school. He said the detention areas are designed to dry between storms and will not remain as permanent ponds. Hammond added that city engineers have been reviewing submissions and calculations.

Hammond gave the schedule: the last day of school is May 29, and the administration intends to start site work on May 30; the district expects to take over a large part of the current campus parking area for construction and to return two permanent parking lots on the western side of the site by fall, with some parking work possibly continuing into September.