The architect working on two Lehighton Area School District building projects will be receiving additional money for reviews required by a design change in heating systems.

By a 5-4 vote Monday, the school board approved paying EI Associates up to $19,000 on top of a 6 percent of construction cost fee for renovations to Lehighton's middle and high schools."Both systems were heat pump systems, but the design we went with has some changes from the original plan," Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said. "The original design, for example, had some equipment for the system located inside of closets in the classrooms. We have now moved those units outside the classroom. EI spent time designing and reviewing a certain system. The district made some changes to that system. That is where the extra cost comes in."In September, Lehighton approved $25.7 million of work at the two schools, most of which was centered on heating, ventilation and air conditioning upgrades.Per the district's contract with EI Associates, the architectural firm gets 6 percent of that cost.On Tuesday morning, Cleaver said the additional payments go through EI Associates, but it would in turn pay its structural engineers and other subcontractors.The decision to pay an amount above the 6 percent didn't sit well with some board members including Rocky Ahner, who voted no along with William Hill, Hal Resh and Lori Nothstein."I think it's ridiculous that we're paying on top of the 6 percent," Ahner said. "If I would do this in my business, people would run me out of Lehighton."Hill concurred, noting that he's never seen so many billable permit fees and "other nonsense.""I think we're getting double and triple billed for things," he added. "That should have all been built into EI's protocol."Changing the scope of the design may have cost Lehighton now, but could bring savings down the road."There may be some areas where we can delete some of the structural steel and materials that were necessary to support the other units," Cleaver said.While Monday's motion gave the district a maximum of $19,000 to pay EI Associates, Cleaver hopes the actual amount on the check is less."That amount is based on the hours needed for them to review the HVAC system design," he said. "The high school has significantly less in depth work then the middle school, so we're thinking the total we pay will be less than $19,000."Lehighton tabbed the McClure Company in September to install a four-pipe central heat pump system in the schools for $7.72 million.McClure said it would do some preliminary work while students are still in session, but the bulk of the HVAC system itself will be installed following the 2015-16 school year.