Village is growing
By Bobbi Mlynar
Originally published 01:48 p.m., December 13, 2007
Updated 01:48 p.m., December 13, 2007
An addition to Village School and renovations for the Family and Consumer Science area at Emporia High School were approved 5-0 for bid-letting Wednesday evening at a meeting of the Emporia Board of Education. Board members Homer Garza and Mike Crouch were absent.
The projects were included among a variety of recommendations submitted in a report to the board from the Capital Improvement Committee’s list of needs for the district.
Kirk Horner and Kevin Nelson of Hollis and Miller in Overland Park described six phases of construction and renovations recommended for Village School. The project, which would total about $6.8 million if completed as a total package, gave a breakdown of six options that could be done one at a time.
The first option would include removing the existing modular building adjacent to the school and adding six classrooms, an intervention and resource room, storage, restrooms for teachers and students, mechanical space and activity space compatible with the garden features in the original building.
The addition also would include a new HVAC system for the entire school, estimated to cost $420,000, which should result in savings in utility costs, Horner said. He added that a similar system recently installed in another school district had come in at “significantly less” cost.
The total cost for Option One was estimated at $2,125,000.
The board voted 5-0 to approve bid-letting for Option One.
The breakdown of “hard costs” for that option is: construction, $1,588,920; site development, $121,050; offsite development, $40,000; and other, $10,000, for a total of $1,759.970.
Hollis and Miller also included a breakdown of “soft costs,” which include: contingency, $131,998; professional fees, $170,277; tech/security information, $8,070; survey and consultant, $40,000; printing, $15,000; signage, $2,000, for a total of $367,345.
Hard and soft costs totaled $2,127,315, with a “call it” cost of $2,125,000.
The other five options and their estimated costs are: a new media center addition, $1,100,000; renovation of the administration suite, $1,125,000; and renovations of groups of classrooms and adjunct areas labeled as communities one, two, and three at costs of $950,000, $775,000 and $800,000, respectively.
Horner said that inflation costs had been built into estimates for the remaining five phases.
Before the vote, board member Angie Schreiber asked if the projected enrollment at Village would warrant the building project.
Superintendent John Heim said that the neighborhood around Village always has been a high-density area for students and that was not expected to change.
The addition to Village should help alleviate overcrowding that has resulted in large part from the change from half-day to all-day kindergarten classes, the splitting of the library into a library and an English as a Second Language classroom and the need to provide supports for special education students.
Associate Superintendent for Finance Susan Hernandez told the board that the state legislature has provided additional money for special education and bilingual students, which has allowed the district to hire more staff.
“That has been a wonderful thing,” Hernandez said, “but that staff does need space to work with those students.”
Village Principal Wendy Moore said her preference would have been to restore the full library as part of Option One. However, that would have added to the project cost because the library would have to be moved again as the other options are finished.
“I have to be very honest with you,” she said. “It scares me to death going into this knowing that the library won’t be part of it. But this has to happen before any of the rest could happen. …
“We’ve got kids in nooks and crannies. Really, what this is going to allow us to do is to spread out.”
A project schedule provided by Hollis and Miller details preparatory work for the bidding process, with April 8, 2008, set as the bid-opening date and April 9 set for board approval. The construction period would be approximately April 10 to Sept. 22.
High school
The board chose to let bids for the second of two options provided by Anderson MacAdam Architects for the Family and Consumer Science department renovations at EHS.
Architect Steve Bowling told the board that the second option would eliminate much of the congestion in the area, provide two separate work areas for teachers, allow them to better monitor students and eliminate the need for students to pass through lab and teachers’ areas to go from one side of the department to the other.
The plan also would improve storage areas and add an ADA-compliant restroom to meet standards required for family classes.
That option was estimated to cost $295,491.65, compared with the first option, estimated at $264,007.99.
Both options included hard costs plus pre-design contingency fees, general conditions, and contractor’s fees. AMAI noted on the proposal: “This Budget Analysis does not include soft costs.”
The project schedule sets Jan. 31, 2008, for bid-opening, with construction to begin on May 27 and be substantially completed by July 31.
In addition to the two approved projects the Capital Improvement Committee’s report included the following recommendations, in order of priority:
• replacing a transformer at Emporia High School, safety concern; $132,000
• EHS pool, safety concern $56,600;
• Roofs on some buildlings, ongoing maintenance, $18,000
• Logan Avenue renovations, ongoing renovation, $260,000
• Lowther South Intermediate School, ongoing renovation, $300,000
• IT uninterrupted power, $64,000
• Fire alarm at Emporia Middle School, safety concern, $50,000
• William Allen White, further study, $30,000
• Board of Education office HVAC, further study and monitor, $35,000
• Transportation maintenance, $200,000
• Security, further study/pilot school project, $100,000
Also during the meeting, the board unanimously approved:
• Recommended changes in the EHS enrollment bulletin for 2008-09, after making minor amendments and additions.
• An interlocal agreement that will allow the city of Emporia to continue its Neighborhood Revitalization Plan and the property-tax abatements that accompany it. Lyon County and the city already have approved the agreement.
• Accepted a $1,500 donation to the Emporia High School Debate Activity Account from Rhonda Savage of Truelove Consulting. The money will be used to help students attend national debate tournaments.
• Accepted a donation of $1,275 from the Sadie Jones Trust Foundation for an audiometer and printer at the Maynard Child Development Center.
• Approved a request to sell a 1995 Ford Econoline van that has become unreliable. The sale will be through sealed bids.
emporialive (anonymous) says...
If phase 1 cost $6.8 million, what is going to be the total of phases 2-5 added to the cost? Would it have been cheaper in the long run to replace the school somewhere it doesn't have such a traffic issue? There is no parking around that school at all. Take a look at the other 2 new schools and there are huge parking lots. And access to front and back to help the flow in and out of the school. How is this going to effect the current traffic issue during construction? Will the drive in front be closed off during construction? This will increase heavy traffic on the two side streets when they are already having issues. Will houses have to be purchased down the line for phases 2-5 to increase parking?
December 13, 2007 at 8:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
railroadhorn (anonymous) says...
How is it that 2 new schools have been built but not in the part of town where enrollment is growing? Should one of the new schools have been built in the west part of town?
December 13, 2007 at 8:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
anonomom (anonymous) says...
Timmerman IS in the west part of town, where all the new construction is. I think the biggest problem with any neighborhood school location is land....Where in the heart of town could a new school be built? There just isn't an abundance of empty land near village, walnut, WAW, etc. As a parent I really appreciate our neighborhood school and how easy it is to walk to.
January 13, 2008 at 4:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )