Embedded Files
Truman Public School
(Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) PROJECT 2025, 2026)
Funded through Long-Term Facilities Maintenance Program - Mn. Legislative Statute
Minnesota Department of Education (approved), Minnesota Dept of Labor and Industry (approved),
Mn. Building Codes (passed), Mn. State Fire Marshall Office (passed)
Summer 2024 - Asbestos Abatement lower elementary, 5 HS rooms, new flooring in lower elementary - Completed LTFM project
Summer 2025 - Asbestos Abatement - all remaining classrooms in HS, upper elementary, band/choir/ag classroom, library/contract approvals for IAQ project in 2026. In progress - LTFM project
Summer 2026 - New Boiler, New electrical entire building, HVAC units throughout the building for to meet ventilation codes, New LED lights throughout the building, new ceilings throughout the building, Fire SAFETY - sprinkler system throughout the building, upgraded fire alarm system. In progress - LTFM project
Introduction:
Building equipment issues as well as the building having difficulty finding insurance because of the age of equipment forced the Truman Public School Board to begin researching options for updating systems in the building. The district began working with Baker Tilly, financial advisors, The Minnesota Department of Education, to get approvals for potential required work on Indoor Air Quality projects, the district Health and Safety Coordinator, SitelogiQ Project Engineers and EMS insurance. It was determined that many areas of the building were required to be updated and that the asbestos abatement projects that the district had scheduled over a period of several years would need to continue as planned prior to the other projects. Note: The authority to bond dollars does not mean that the dollars will be spent. Any dollars that are bonded AND that are not used as part of the IAQ project are returned to the taxpayers unless otherwise noted.
The IAQ project started as a consultation with SitelogiQ Inc. in February of 2024. The board asked them to survey building needs based on the age of the buildings. The areas that they focused on were mechanical including boiler, HVAC, the exhaust hood in the kitchen, electrical, all buildings, asbestos remaining in the building, age of roofs,parking lot areas, windows, efficiency, life safety including sprinkler systems, fire alarm system. A report on this survey was presented in April 2024. Many safety issues were reported.
Urgent Issues
1) In the spring of 2022, the entire gym addition was flooded underground by a water main break. The district had to pay over $120,000 in equipment repair as well as indoor air quality prevention measures because of mold and other issues that could have had adverse effects. This was done successfully for safety. Other air quality issues began to be studied and results reported to the board.
2) In the winter of 2024 the tunnels below the 1956 pre-school and early learning wing had issues with steam traps for the boiler system that were in excess of 60 years old. There was extensive damage to the classrooms and activity room. Insurance paid a portion for floors to be replaced. This included asbestos abatement of the classrooms and the activity room. These rooms were already scheduled for abatement because of the asbestos issues in the school.
3) In the spring of 2024, the district had a study done on the building that resulted in the board being required to have serious conversations about the state of the building and its future. The board hired SiteLogiQ Inc. consulting firm to inspect and report back on all of the building systems. These reports came back unfavorable to the building including serious threats such as evidence of fires in the tunnels over time because of electrical issues, steam pipes broken, disrepair, thousands of dollars in repair costs per year, inadequate ventilation per legislative guidelines for classrooms and other areas because of antiquated mechanical systems including univents, asbestos flooring, in ceiling tiles, piping and insulation in all buildings. These were among many issues discussed and are all documented in the document entitled System Age Summary above.
4) Insurance DENIAl came in the form of a letter in April of 2024. This letter required that updates be done to all of the buildings or insurance coverage for Commercial property, General Liability Occurrence, Commercial Automobile, Linebacker and Umbrella Liability would cease on July 1, 2024. The district faced not being insured by EMC insurance and was denied coverage because of the age of the following: electrical, boiler system, roofs, asbestos abatement, and other concerns. All of these upgrades were required to be completed in order to be insured. The district checked with other companies and found that there would be similar issues because of the age of the buildings and systems.
5) The wiring in the 1935 building is 90 years old, and in the other buildings as old as when they were built from 1957 – 1962. There Many electrical distribution panels are over from 50 – 90 years old. The boilers are is 30+ to 50+ years old, but many of the steam runs throughout the building are 65-90 years old. The building has unit ventilators that are from 25 – 65 years old and need to be updated because of the legal compliance issues with air quality in the schools. The lights in the building All of these items plus many more are on this list.
Note: These upgrades will ensure that the building is properly ventilated, has a new heating system, new ceilings, lights, 100% asbestos removed inall areas including classrooms, tunnels, piping, upgrades flooring in specific areas, all mechanical systems will be on systems controls monitored 24 hours per day. NEW fire suppression sprinkling system throughout the building and upgraded fire alarm panel with voice enunciation.This will ensure that the building will be operational for years to come. These upgrades come with substantial district savings over the next several years.
Moving Forward:
The district created a tentative plan from a “menu” of items ( inlcuded in above menu) that included all of the required upgrades for insurance coverage and also meet all other legal requirements with air quality. With the projects chosen, the original estimates from Site Logic was projected to cost $12.3 million dollars with 2.3 million going to the design teams at SiteLogiQ. The district voted to approve the project. In the original agreement with SiteLogiQ the district agreed to the fee schedule. The projects agreed upon were to upgrade the boiler system to hot water heat and abandon all steam boilers and pipes throughout the building. Abandon all unit ventilators and set HVAC rooftop units for air exchange and air quality. In order to provide the correct structure for these upgrades any room that does not have a drop- ceiling will be remodeled.Electrical systems including all wiring, lights and electrical panels will be upgrades to new. All of the asbestos will be abated. This started in a phase last summer. We will continue with phase 2 this summer and phase 3 next summer. After this summer, all of the classrooms and spaces with asbestos containing floors will be removed. Many floors are concrete and will be polished. In the spring of 2025, the project was still not in place and the district found out that with the scope of the project, Minnesota building codes required that the buildings be (fire) sprinkled for life safety. This cost many hundreds of thousands of dollars extra, but the district worked with Sitelogiq to value engineer the project down in scope and dollars so that even with the new addition of life safety, all components still fit into the original budget from the spring of 2024. The district advertised for bids for 2 weeks in the Truman Tribune - local paper.
Note, This project is not new. There has been information regarding this project in the newspapers, discussed at board meetings and an invitation to tax payers to come to “truth and taxation” was extended last year with a tentative plan. Board members and administration fielded many questions prior to making final decisions from taxpayers and were able to answer the questions positively. Please see the fullscope of the district upgrades, narrative on the project history as well as comparison charts to other school districts that have done facility upgrades to their buildings from a list of menu buttons on the top bar of the webpage. Thank you.
Questions on the project, can be directed to Truman Public School Board Chair
Mike Pfeil - pfeilm@truman.k12.mn.us and/or Superintendent Lisa Shellum - shelluml@truman.k12.mn.us .
Click on Each colored Link Below: These are also found as separate links using the top menu bar.
Full Scope of TPS Indoor Air Quality Project 2024, 2025, 2026 - This document includes 100% of the planned upgrades in detail.
Truman Tribune Bid Notice - Other articles on the project since February of 2024 to be linked at a later date.
School District Comparison Chart - Debt Service - Total Levy : This is a Tax Impact chart (end of narrative below) of Truman building project versus projects in surrounding school districts and levy costs. The end result will be a complete building upgrade that is updated, safe giving the students and staff optimal learning spaces for pennies on the dollar compared to all other surrounding schools. Maple River, Martin County West, St. James, Fairmont and Lake Crystal who all have building projects on their levies. **Without the upgrades, the district would not get building insurance and other options would need to be considered.
Tax Impact for TPS Project - The tax impact charts include the Ag to School Credits given to acreage. The State of Minnesota pays 70% of the tax burdgen for farmland. An explanation of this legislation for farmers is included at the end of the narrative.
Age Summary document Click 2538_001.pdf - Red lines show age of TPS systems. Black lines show age expectancy.
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