Bill for school flooding in Columbia Falls will exceed $1 million

The cost of flooding at Columbia Falls High School this summer will exceed $1 million in insurance claims, District Clerk Dustin Zuffelato reported to the School District 6 Board at a recent meeting.

The classroom wing of the high school flooded in late July after a thunderstorm swept through dumping about 2 inches of rain in Columbia Falls. The roof was under construction at the time and there were “minimal” tarps employed by contractor Swank Construction before the storm, so the water poured in in open sections of the building.

The deluge left the classroom wing heavily damaged.

To date, the cost of new ceilings, drywall, paint and cabinetry alone was $330,000. Flooring and asbestos abatement was $72,000 and fire alarms, paging and communications systems have cost $146,000.

The school district also spent about $60,000 on the old Canyon Elementary School for plumbing, electrical, switches and internet so classes could be taught there. At one point, the sewer system at Canyon backed up and had to be fixed.

It’s also costing the district about $5,000 a week to bus kids back and forth to Canyon and Glacier Gateway Elementary, which have provided the classrooms.

All told, the base cost of the flooding has been about $762,707, not including the cost of Belfour, the restoration company which has done the bulk of the work.

But more expenses lie ahead. The district is going to upgrade the heating system, which has an estimated cost of about $350,000.

The school’s insurance firm has been covering the costs. It, in turn, will negotiate a settlement with Swank’s insurance company, Superintendent Cory Dziowgo noted.

The insurance settlement estimate is about $180,000 so the district will likely have to dip into its building reserves of which it has $548,000 to cover the difference for the new heat system.

Meanwhile, classes are expected to resume in the high school in a few days, with an Oct. 25 target.

But that timeline, while certainly a goal, isn’t set in stone. Dziowgo told the school board Monday night that maintenance man Doug Dougherty has done a fantastic job of getting the existing heating system up and running, and he may be able to get it tweaked so it can be used until the replacement heaters arrive. Dziowgo clarified Tuesday the replacement heaters could be installed later if the existing heating system will work in the interim.

In addition, the wing still needs lights installed, but it shouldn’t take long to install them. 

As for the Canyon, teachers interviewed by the Hungry Horse News seem to like the Canyon school. It has a large yard the high school lacks and the block scheduling seems to be working out.