SN 3-23-2024

The Sun and News, Saturday, March 23, 2024/ Page 5

Thornapple Kellogg board approves new LED signage

Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
Thornapple Kellogg
Schools will soon have new
electronic LED signage at
nearly all of its buildings.
The district’s Board of
Education on March 11
approved a contract with
Wayland-based Midwest
Signs for the fabrication,
delivery and installation of
district monument signs at all
of its buildings, with the
exception of the existing sign
leading into the high school
off of Bender Road. The dis-
trict will pay no more than
$217,299 for the new signs.
“It’s marketing for the dis-
trict. It unifies all of our build-
ings and brings them uni-
form,” TK Assistant
Superintendent Chris LaHaie
said.
Six of the new signs will
feature state-of-the-art
full-color LED message cen-
ters, which will be wirelessly
controlled through 5G tech-
nology by TK office staff,
LaHaie wrote in a memo to the
school board. The new signs
would be paid for out of the
district’s general fund budget.
Currently, most of the dis-
trict’s buildings still have man-
ual letter board signage.
“(The signs are) not in bad
shape, but they’re not in great
shape,” LaHaie said.
“Depending on where they’re
at, they’re crumbling a little
bit.”
The district requested two
types of bids – one a base bid
using as much of the existing
signs as possible, and an alter-
nate bid where the contractor
would work with the district
on new sign designs. Midwest

Signs submitted the low bid

for both options among the six

companies that bid on the

project — $169,190 for the

base bid and $197,545 for the

alternate bid. LaHaie is adding

in a 10 percent contingency

just in case of unexpected

costs.

All signs will feature dou-

ble-sided internal illumination

with LED lighting, acrylic

push-through lettering and

logos and routed aluminum

faces that will be fastened to

aluminum bases, LaHaie said.

The district will need to get

approval from the village of

Middleville for the new signs.

They should be in place by

May or June of this year,

LaHaie wrote in his memo.

In other business at the

March 11 meeting, the school

board:

— Approved a network

electronics bid to Moss

Telecommunications in the

amount of $139,093, to

upgrade the district’s remain-

ing 122 wireless access points

that were installed in 2015 and

to upgrade end-of-life network

switches. The district upgrad-

ed wireless access points at the

high school and Page

Elementary last year and will

update the remaining access

points at the middle school,

Lee Elementary and McFall

Elementary this summer.

— Approved a structured

cabling contract to Moss

Telecommunications in an

amount of no more than

$52,775, that will add network

drops at McFall and Lee.

— Approved separate bids

for self-provisioned fiber

replacement and mainte-

nance, awarding the contracts

for both to TurnKey Network

Solutions — $88,903 for fiber

replacement and $51,346 for

maintaining the remaining

fiber. “Self-provisioned fiber

is the outdoor fiberoptic

cabling that runs from the

high school to each building

and is the primary means by

which each school is connect-

ed to the network and

Internet,” TK Technology

Director John Dombrowski

wrote in a memo. Most of the

district’s fiber has been in

place since the late 1990s.

The district will be reim-

bursed for 70 percent of the

cost through the state’s E-rate

program that provides dis-

counts on broadband connec-

tions and service to schools

and libraries.

— Approved awarding the

bid for two new combination

ovens, one for the high school

and one for McFall, to Elliott

Food Equipment in an amount

not to exceed $91,500. The

district acquired new combi-

nation ovens, which cook fast-

er than convection ovens, for

the middle school last year,

and it’s resulted in increased

productivity and energy sav-

ings, as well as reduced labor

and cleaning costs, LaHaie

said. Funding for the new

ovens will come from the dis-

trict’s food service fund.

Experience Holy Week With Us!

Find Out More: cornerstonemi.org/Easter

Saturday, March 30: 6pm | Sunday, March 31: 9:30 & 11am

Alpha & Margiline

Lewis

Happy 65th Anniversary

65 years ago a lot was happening in our

county: minimum wage - $1.00 an hour, a new

house - $12,400.00, a gallon of gas - .25, Hawaii –

became the 50th state in the U.S, the Barbie Doll first

launched by Mattel, women – girdles, short bangs

and petticoats, men – cardigan sweaters and leather

jackets, 50’s slang – go ape and unreal, songs

Lonely Boy and Mack the Knife and to top it off in a

little church in Key West, Florida, Alpha and Margiline

(Boutwell) Lewis were married, March 24, 1959.

65 years seems not so long ago to two 80-year-

olds living their best life in the same home they built

together all those years ago in Bowens Mills. Alpha retired from Bradford White and Margie

from Thornapple Schools. Both have enjoyed active retirement. The couple had five children,

Rob Lewis, passed in 2011, Louise Johnson, Lorraine and Joe Bush, Shari and Dale Klein,

and John Lewis remain and are frequent visitors along with their seven grandchildren and

seven great grandchildren. He enjoys racing and class reunion breakfasts, while she enjoys

western movies and gardening, and together he has never been a “Lonely Boy”, and she

has always been his “Barbie Doll”.

On behalf of the Lewis children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, we wish you,

Mom & Dad, Grandpa and Grandma Louie, great Grammy gran and great Grampy and all

the other saying’s you answer too, congratulations on your 65th! Best wishes, love

and blessings for many more! Love, Weezie, Raino, Shar Bear and Johnny.

The children are planning a family dinner to celebrate the occasion on the 24th,

as both are recovering from recent health challenges, but they are doing great!

Cal school board approves

safety, security upgrades

Greg Chandler

Staff Writer

Caledonia Community

Schools will upgrade its

safety and security

through the purchase of

more than $168,000 in

new equipment.

The district’s school

board approved three

contracts Monday to

address those concerns,

with funding coming

through a state program

known as Section 31aa

that provides grants to

help school districts

address safety and mental

health needs.

The board awarded the

contract for low-voltage

cabling to Shareco

Communications, which

submitted a bid of

$73,255, for security

camera and speaker hard-

ware to CDWG in the

amount of $37,553 and

door access controls to

KnightWatch, which sub-

mitted a bid of $57,

for that line item.

The district will

acquire additional secu-

rity cameras, for both

inside and outside of

buildings, which will

integrate with its exist-

ing security camera sys-

tem. Large instructional

areas and cafeterias will

have strobe light visual

indicators installed and

integrated into the dis-

trict’s mass notification

system, and speakers

will be installed on the

exterior of buildings to

increase the audibility

of emergency notifica-

tions to staff and stu-

dents outdoors, CCS

Technology Director

Scott Vugteveen wrote

in a memo to the school

board.

In addition, outdoor

wireless access points

will be installed along

bus loops at each build-

ing that will allow video

from bus cameras to be

downloaded as needed

from the parking lot with-

out the bus having to

return to the CCS trans-

portation facility,

Vugteveen wrote in his

memo.

Also, door access

controls will be installed

at several building

entrances, and the two

main entrances of the

high school and the

transportation facility

will have video inter-

com systems installed

allowing building staff

to safely screen visitors

before they are allowed

into the building,

Vugteveen wrote.

The various purchases

were identified as areas

of need in a recent safety

assessment that was per-

formed by Secure

Education Consultants, a

local company that con-

tracts with the school dis-

trict on safety and securi-

ty matters.

Road projects to get

underway in Gaines,

Caledonia townships

Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
Major road construction
projects will soon get under-
way in Gaines and Caledonia
townships, according to the
Kent County Road
Commission.
Work is scheduled to get
underway Monday on a one-
mile section of 84th Street,
from East Paris Avenue and
Patterson Avenue in Gaines
Township. Then on April 1,
crews will begin work on a
1.25-mile stretch of 68th
Street, from Thornapple
River Drive to Whitneyville
Avenue in Caledonia
Township, KCRC Deputy
Managing Director Wayne
Harrall said.
The 84th Street project will
be a complete reconstruction,
with a new road surface with
12-foot-wide lanes and
8-foot-wide shoulders, of
which 4 feet will be paved.
The project has an estimated

cost of $1.7 million, with fed-

eral funding covering about

80 percent of the project cost

and the Road Commission the

remaining balance, Harrall

said.

Dean’s Excavating of Sand

Lake has contracted with the

Road Commission to take on

the project. Work will begin

with cutting of trees, which

has to be completed by the

end of March because of the

presence of two bat species in

the area, Harrall said.

The 84th Street work is

slated to be completed by late

June, Harrall said.

The 68th Street reconstruc-

tion project from Thornapple

River Drive to Whitneyville

is a continuation of a 2021

project on 68th from Cherry

Valley Avenue to Thornapple

River that also included a

widened paved shoulder to

accommodate non-motorized

traffic. Caledonia Township

contributed financially to the

widened paved shoulder,

Harrall said.

Fifty percent of the esti-

mated $1.9 million cost will

come from the American

Rescue Plan Act’s allocation

to Kent County, while the

Road Commission will cover

the remaining cost, Harrall

said.

J&N Construction of

LeRoy is the project contrac-

tor. As with the 84th Street

project, the first couple of

weeks will consist primarily

of tree removal before work

begins on the road surface

itself. The project is slated for

completion the week after the

Fourth of July holiday, Harrall

said.

During the construction,

the Road Commission is rec-

ommending the use of Egan

Avenue, 60th Street,

Thornapple River Drive, 48th

Street and Whitneyville as the

suggested detour route,

Harrall said.

A view of the current sign at Thornapple Kellogg High School (left) compared

to what it will look like once the new sign is installed. (Photo provided)