GRAFTON — Construction of the new $16 million Midview Middle School has been held up because the district is in hot water with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, which complained that the new elementary schools opened in 2005 covered up some wetlands, school officials said.

The district is addressing the problem by supporting other wetlands and doing mitigation, including planting trees, Superintendent John Kuhn said.

The site chosen for the new middle school also has wetlands mitigation issues, which further complicates its construction, Kuhn said.

Kuhn, who became superintendent in 2009, did not have an estimate of the costs involved to mitigate the wetlands issue and neither did Mike Settles of the Ohio EPA. However, it will mean the project will be delayed, according to the superintendent.

“We were shooting for groundbreaking in spring 2010,” Kuhn said.

The goal was to finish the new building by June 2011 and open it that fall, but Kuhn said that’s just not realistic. Still, he said he hopes the project will get under way later this year after the wetlands issue is resolved. Settles said wetlands issues often take a year or so for resolution and are not uncommon.

“They (the EPA) are working hand-in-hand with the construction manager,” Kuhn said.

The lack of a construction manager for the elementary projects was one of many criticisms of the school building projects in 2004 and 2005, which were the focus of a lawsuit over building issues and controversial with the public because taxes were increased without a vote by shifting millage.

Plans for the middle school call for a 77,312-square-foot building with 18 classrooms, three areas for special education, two art rooms, a music room, four science labs, a computer lab, a media center, a gymnasium and a combined cafeteria and auditorium. The design is organized around a central courtyard with natural light in every classroom.

The district and its architectural firm, Lesko Associates Inc. of Westlake, hopes the new school will obtain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold status.

The Ohio Schools Facilities Commission announced in October 2008 it was releasing $17.2 million to the district for construction of a new middle school or high school. The district decided to build a middle school because a high school would be more expensive and require passage of a bond issue to fund part of the building.

Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.

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