Finally, there is some good news about the asbestos found in the roof of Park Elementary in Munhall.

Work started on Sept. 24 and was nearly halfway completed by Monday, according to a letter sent home by district officials Tuesday.

And, after the district solicited three quotes for the job last week -- a requirement pointed out to them by solicitor Donald Fetzko -- the price of the work dropped about $11,000.

Park school has been closed since Sept. 17. Park students have been sharing Barrett Elementary in Homestead with the Barrett students, with each group attending half-day sessions while the abatement work goes on at Park.

Initially, after the district disclosed that asbestos was found in the roof, it planned to hire Phoenix Roofing, the same contractor that is installing a new roof at Park, to do the asbestos abatement without seeking other quotes.

At that point, Phoenix Vice President Bruce Bartholomew submitted a quote to Mark Cherpak, Steel Valley's director of operational services on Sept. 20 with a price of $68,909 for the work.

Mr. Cherpak e-mailed board members on Sept. 22 that he instructed Phoenix to proceed as soon as possible.

But those plans changed when Acting Board President Pam Terrick questioned whether the district needed to seek other bids or quotes on the project. She sought the solicitor's advice.

Mr. Fetzko informed Mr. Cherpak that the district was required to seek three quotes for the job, a fact that was discussed at the Sept. 23 school board meeting. Mr. Cherpak complied with that request and Phoenix still got the job, coming in with the lowest quote of $48,989 for the abatement work.

The next lowest quote came from the firm Flagship PDG at $49,900 and the highest quote came from Bristol Environmental at $60,909.

This week, Mrs. Terrick said while she is glad the cost of the abatement was lowered, she is suspicious about the nearly $20,000 reduction in the total of the Phoenix bid.

"I think this was a big game," she said. "And I think it's a little funny that the one bid is just $1,000 more."

Neither Mr. Cherpak nor Superintendent William Kinavey were available to answer questions about the drop in the price of the Phoenix bid. But district spokeswoman Kim Weightman said part of the reduction in price was due to the fact that the original quote included funds for daily air sampling at the site. The total on the original quote for air sampling was $8,800.

But the district has hired Environmental Safety & Training to do the air sampling.

Mrs. Weightman said further reductions in the quote came about because of the price of materials and because Phoenix reduced its profit margin on the job from 10 percent to 5 percent.

The reduction in the price of materials from $13,692 to $12,752 came about when Phoenix was able to get lower prices from its suppliers, Mr. Bartholomew said.

"We were able to make purchases that were better than envisioned," he said.

The profit margin was lowered from 10 percent to 5 percent in the second quote "to try to keep the price competitive for the school," Mr. Bartholomew said.

In addition, an analysis of the two bids submitted by Phoenix shows a $2,400 reduction on the updated reduced bid because Tremco, the project manager on the roofing project, waived its fee for inspections.

Mr. Bartholomew said his original quote was high not only because it included the air sampling but also because it was put together quickly.

"When the initial number was higher than expected, we were asked to revisit it and this is what we came up with," Mr. Bartholomew said.

When asked why the firm didn't charge a 5 percent profit margin in the first quote, Mr. Bartolomew said: "The first one was a quick estimation of what we thought it would cost. They were moving with a lot of urgency with this because of the school being closed."

After he was able to have conversations with district officials and to revise his quote, he was able to lower prices.

He said there were no formal written specifications for the job, only verbal directions on the scope of the work, which he said included removing the asbestos and laying a temporary roof.

Mr. Bartholomew said the cost of the job will come in slightly higher than the $48,989 quote because the district has authorized the firm to work weekend days, which means premium pay for employees in order to get the job done as quickly as possible.

He said the job is still expected to be completed in 12 working days.

Mr. Bartholomew said he believes the district got the best bargain for its money by choosing his firm from among the three firms to submit quotes because it was the lowest cost and his firm was the only one of the three that handles both asbestos abatement and roofing. He said the other two firms were simply abatement firms.

Because his firm does both, workers are able to lift the asbestos and then lay a temporary roof. Once the asbestos is removed, a permanent roof will be installed.