Board of Education awards construction contract on new primary school By SANDRA STONE The Meade County Board of Education met May 25 to consider bids for the new primary school to be built adjacent to David T. Wilson Elementary. The low base bid of $16,180,000 was from David Construction with pricing for five alternates offered as well. The first two alternates were the deletion of casework in classrooms and the deletion of sod beyond three feet from the building at a total cost reduction of $32,500. The board opted to leave this work in the bid and moved on to alternate #3. With school construction projects generally taking about 16 months, the completion date of the new school would be Nov. 24, 2007. (The move would then take place over the winter break.) Alternate #3 offered a completion date of Aug. 10, 2007, for an addition of $65,400 to the base bid. The additional costs incurred for this alternate, said Crump, are due to more staffing, overtime hours and night shifts to get the job done on time. Crump also added there is a penalty phase should the contractor fail to bring the project in on time. Tom Guilford with Nolan & Nolan, the architect on the project, stated he had spoken with David Construction and was advised they were confident the project would be done by Aug. 10, 2007. “For all practical purposes,” said Mitch Crump, superintendent of schools, “it’s better to move in at the beginning of the school year.” This move, he added, will not involve just one school, but two. The primary students will be moving out of what is now James R. Allen Primary School, and the 9th-graders will be moving into what will then become the freshman center of Meade County High School. Guilford said he had worked with David Construction before and had been satisfied with their work. “I have no qualms about working with David Construction,” he said. Guilford then added that Dan Christiani Construction had been instrumental in preparing the site for construction. As such, said Guilford, “we are on a running start.” David Construction, said Guilford, has indicated they can be on the site June 5. Alternate #4 – lightning protection system – was also included in the bid at a cost of $40,200. Alternate #5 – a change from schedule 80 PVC to steel and copper piping at a cost of $12,200 – was left out. The total base bid with selected alternates totals $16,285,600. Other bids to consider included commissioning (essentially quality control) of the HVAC system for $58,700, and test and balancing of the HVAC system for $11,420. Rodney Pickering of Meade County schools indicated the Facility Commissioning Group would provide an extra set of eyes on the site, particularly in light of the relatively new technology (geothermal) being used for the heating and cooling system, and Thermal Balance, Inc. would ensure water flows into the system and air flows from the system were correct throughout the building. Typically, said Guilford, the mechanical contractor hires someone to do the test and balancing. This way, he said, the person contracted to do this works for the school board, not the contractor. The board also considered a bid for a video on demand system. The low bidder on this project was AT&T at a cost of 159,376.77. Crump recommended acceptance of this bid, noting it would be useful in a variety of ways, from receiving broadcast programming, to instructional uses in the classroom and even security. Bids for multimedia classrooms was rejected at this time, pending more information about needs and budgets. Pickering anticipates rebidding that next year. “It’s an exciting time for us. Meade County is growing, and we want to continue to grow,” said Crump, following consideration of the bids and recommendation to accept them. He noted that in addition to the new primary school, a renovation at the high school is currently in the design phase, and the district is aggressively seeking ways to keep up with Meade County’s growth. “This will be a very demanding time, a very exciting time.” On a motion by Belinda Cross, seconded by Jeff Greer, the board was unanimous in its acceptance of the bids.
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