Greeley-Evans School District 6 board approved its first MLO purchases Monday night

Feb. 13--The first Greeley-Evans School District 6 mill-levy override purchases will be rolling in after the district's board of education approved nearly $500,000 worth of contracts during its meeting Monday night.

The district bought five 2018 GMC 2500 trucks and two 2018 GMC 3500s for $263,819 from Weld County Garage and four John Deere utility tractors for $214,280.90 from 4 Rivers Equipment. All 11 vehicles will be fitted with snow plows and snow brushes. They'll replace the district's aging snow-removal fleet, some vehicles in which are more than 30 years old.

The board also approved three contracts worth more than $800,000 relating to the flooding and reconstruction of Meeker Elementary School: $344,400 to Arrow Stage Lines for chartering buses to take students from the Meeker building to their makeshift school at Generations Church; $314,800 to the Denver-based architecture firm DLR Group for blueprints, design and permitting documents for Meeker's reconstruction; and $190,000 to Generations Church for rent, snow removal, janitorial supplies and utilities.

The contract with Arrow for charter buses is the second the district has signed with the company in the aftermath of Meeker's flooding. Meeker students were dropped off at the school building, then bussed to their temporary home at Generations.

District spokeswoman Theresa Myers said after the first contract expired the district tried having parents take their kids directly to Meeker, but that created a logistical nightmare with neighboring Greeley West High School having the same drop-off and pick-up times, so the district contracted with Arrow again.

District Superintendent Deirdre Pilch said she expects the district's insurance company to reimburse it for its Meeker-related expenses.

-- Tommy Wood covers education and Evans city government for The Tribune. You can reach him at (970) 392-4470, twood@greeleytribune.com or on Twitter @woodstein72.

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