North Hills School District to seek $2.8 million grant to replace high‑school rooftop HVAC units; board advances several finance items

The North Hills Board of Education voted March 5 to advance finance items that include an application for a Public School Facility Improvement Grant to replace rooftop HVAC units and pool dehumidification at North Hills High School.

Mrs. Elwood, the board member reporting for finance and operations, said the district plans to ask SiteLogic IQ to submit an application for $2,800,000 to replace the district’s remaining rooftop units and the pool dehumidification system. “The district will be moving forward with an application of $2,800,000,” Mrs. Elwood said. She told the board the project covers 22 units in total, 10 of which were replaced previously using grant funds.

Under the grant rules described to the board, the district would be responsible for a 25% local match — roughly $700,000 — that Mrs. Elwood said would be paid from the capital projects fund.

The same finance report included several related items the board advanced to the legislative meeting agenda: termination of a 99‑year lease related to Eden Christian Academy’s baseball field (lease dated Oct. 29, 1986), and a proposed maintenance services agreement with ProScapes Unlimited LLC to provide specialized turf care at the Reese Run Soccer Complex at an estimated $10,800 annually. Mrs. Elwood said ProScapes would handle tasks such as grub prevention, broadleaf weed control and lime treatment while the district would retain most routine maintenance.

Board members asked follow‑up questions about the Eden Christian lease and community access to the field. One board member said the field has been used, by “an unwritten rule,” by the North Hills Athletic Association and asked that Eaton Christian — the current property operator — remain “in partnership” with the association so local youth teams can continue to use the site. Doctor Mannarino provided the lease history, saying the district originally maintained the lease to protect community access after the school property changed hands in the 1980s and that, because the property is now again operating as a school, the district no longer needs to retain control.

The board approved adding the finance items to the legislative agenda by voice vote. Mrs. Elwood said the grant application, if approved later on the legislative agenda, would proceed with the required district match and that grant awards and final allocations would be subject to program rules and state decisions.

Next steps: the finance items will appear on the district’s legislative meeting agenda for formal consideration; if the board later approves the grant application, the district has indicated it will fund the 25% match from the capital projects fund and proceed with procurement for equipment and installation.