It’s official. The repaving project for the Mount Vernon Middle School parking lot can begin as soon as this week.

Mount Vernon Community School District published information on the closure of the road Tuesday, June 9.

Beginning Tuesday, June 16, the middle school  parking lot is closed to all vehicle access and travel. The project is slated to be completed Monday, Aug. 3.

Parking for Mount Vernon softball will need to use either the Washington Elementary parking lot or the north side of the Cornell College student parking lot to the north of the softball diamond.

Those wanting to get to the district office or Mount Vernon Middle School are urged to use the horseshoe parking lot drive.

“We know this causes temporary disruptions to traffic, parking, and events and we thank you for your patience in the process,” Mount Vernon superintendent Matt Leeman said.

Portzen Construction was the low bidder on the project, with an estimate of $976,502 for the project.

Dave Panos with Shive Hattery said that the plan is to have pre-construction meetings in the week of June 8 and get the company on site by June 16 to begin work.

Discussion was held on the possibility of bidding out a lane stretching from the middle school parking lot to the three way intersection to the entrance at the high school. That lane would allow for parking along that stretch of road while allowing cars to navigate the street.

Panos said that because it wasn’t originally bid, the project amendment can be bid July 10, with bids due July 30, and give contractors roughly a month to complete. Work on that third lane could stretch into the start of the school year.

“It’s a tight window, but contractors could possibly meet that,” Panos said.

Leeman said at issue was that the cost for adding such a long stretch of road significantly increased the cost of the bid project, upwards of 20 percent. When the district approached counsel if that was okay to amend with the current bidder for that amount, legal counsel said that skirted close to being unlawful.

The solution is to bid that lane as a separate project that could be tackled still this fall or at another time. Panos said the district might see lower bids if Portzen bids on that project, as mobilization costs would not be there. But it could also be a project that doesn’t get bids because of the tight timeline on said project. The board is not obligated to take any bids if they are not in the scope of pricing the board is expecting.

Board member Tim Keegan asked about amending just the portion of the entrance to the new parking lot up to the start of the horseshoe lane on the east side (closest to the middle school parking lot). Keegan was wondering if that cost would be amenable as something to tackle as an amended portion of the project and the district could look at the additional lane in the future. Panos said he would present the idea to the contractor during pre-construction meetings.