Some flood-damaged Ascension schools may need to meet new building codes – The Advocate

GONZALES Some Ascension Parish public schools damaged by the August flood may need to meet new building codes when they undergo renovation.

Todd Mann, project manager with the consulting firm CSRS, of Baton Rouge, told Ascension Parish School Board members Tuesday that state law requires that if the repair of a flooded building costs more than 50 percent of the physical value of the building, the rebuilding must be up to present-day building codes.

If the cost of repairs is less than 50 percent, buildings are grandfathered under the codes in place when they were built, Mann said.

Repairs now in the works at both St. Amant Primary and St. Amant Middle came in at less than 50 percent of the value of the buildings, Chad Lynch, the school district's director of planning and construction, said at the board's Strategic Planning Committee meeting.

Other flood-damaged schools are St. Amant High, Lake Elementary, Galvez Middle and Galvez Primary. A school district warehouse in Sorrento that housed several departments also was severely damaged.

Architects are in the process of providing a detailed analysis of the damage and the repair costs.

What a difference two words can make.

Also on Tuesday, board members met the consultant who will work on the boundary planning process for school attendance in the next few years as three new primary schools and a new middle school are built.

Mike Hefner, a demographer with Geographic Planning and Demographic Services, of Lafayette, will be working with the school district to draw up new attendance boundaries, a process that involves public input.

New primary schools are coming to Bullion Crossing, La. 73 and Germany Road; a new middle school will be built on Bluff Road.

"We like to use natural features (such as) roads, highways and waterways," for attendance boundaries, Hefner said.

Also on Tuesday, board members heard good news from insurance consultant Len Fontaine that the district's health care fund has a surplus of $756,000 in the first quarter of the year, largely because of a decrease in medical claims and prescription claims.

Follow Ellyn Couvillion on Twitter, @EllynCouvillion.

Read the original post:

Some flood-damaged Ascension schools may need to meet new building codes - The Advocate