New bids approved for Village School
Cost will be lower than originally estimated
By Bobbi Mlynar
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The national economic upheaval brought an unexpected, but welcome, benefit to the Emporia school district as it considered approval Wednesday night for new bids for an addition and improvements to Village School.
The board had approved the addition during the 2007-08 school year, but voted to put the project on hold last year, after approximately 1,700 jobs at Tyson Fresh Meats were eliminated on Jan. 25.
New bids on the project were opened Dec. 18, with the low bid from Combes Construction of Olathe coming in at $1,049,000 for the addition and changes within the existing building.
The board had asked for alternates bids to add a new ceiling, new lights, and other improvements in the cafeteria and to pour a new concrete play area measuring 75 feet by 120 feet to replace one that will be removed to accommodate the addition.
The bids from Combes for the two alternates -- $28,000 for the cafeteria work and $38,000 for the concrete play area -- brought the total cost of the project to $1,115,000.
The bid was $242,470 under the architect's original estimates.
After discussion, the board approved the bid and both alternates on a 6-0 vote. Board member Grant Riles was absent.
After a slide presentation by Village Principal Wendy Moore, showing the cramped quarters many of the students occupy during the day, board member Mike Helbert commented in favor of the project.
"I hope the taxpayers understand that literally you are using closets for teaching," Helbert said. "... I want the taxpayers to know this money has already been budgeted. The money's there. It's not going to raise their property taxes. And it is a unique opportunity to save about a quarter-million dollars" on construction costs.
The board already had encumbered funds for the project before it was delayed by the Tyson announcement.
Board president Angie Schreiber said she had two questions before the issue came to a vote. The first was to get assurance that all of the specifications had been met by the construction company in its bid.
"I know it's a greenhorn question, but," Schreiber said.
After Hollis & Miller representatives said that the detailed specs had been met by Combes.
"If the legislature decides not to give us new facilities weighting, can we still afford this building?" Schreiber asked.
"Yes," Superintendent John Heim replied.
A portion of the original proposal for Village, which involved heating and cooling, already has been completed. The section was removed from the full construction proposal last year because of the pressing need for the improvements.
The board also agreed on a 6-0 vote to purchase a new district-wide Cisco telephone system at a cost of $515,975 from Alexander Open Systems, an out-of-town company that has installed similar systems throughout the Kansas City area and the state.
The AOS bid was $257,049.40 less than the highest proposal, from Mitel, and $74,111.06 more than the lowest proposal.
Stutler Technology of Emporia was one of six vendors that bid on the system; two of the bids from outside vendors did not meet specifications.
Stutler's bid did meet specs but was $150,000 more than the bid from AOS.
"While they are very knowledgeable of their current systems, they acknowledge limited experience with VoIP systems," a synopsis of the bids stated. "We are concerned about being the first major installation."
Associate Superintendent of Personnel Theresa Davidson described the difficulties schools are having with their phone systems, including telephones that do not function, the difficulties in finding repair parts, and the expenses involved in obtaining refurbished telephones.
"So we are having trouble with a failing system," Davidson said.
The district has applied for reimbursement through "E-rate" and, while eligibility is not yet certain, specifications complied with E-rate guidelines.
E-rate is a federal funding program for schools and libraries to enable students to be able to access the Internet and for schools to have phone systems. The number of low-income students in the district may help the district be declared eligible for the funds.
The district has approximately $261,620 from the Microsoft Kansas Action Settlement reserved to assist with the purchase.
The board also approved purchasing Cisco network equipment from AOS at a low bid of $141,532. The purchase is part of a three-year cycle to update network switches. The second and third cycles are expected to be complete this summer.
For more information on the meeting, see Thursday's Gazette.