School board proceeds with Custom Energy project
By Bobbi Mlynar (Contact)
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Emporia school board member Angie Schreiber encapsulated an energy plan that had been a topic at seven previous board meetings before members voted unanimously to proceed with the project already under contract with Custom Energy Solutions of Overland Park.
A portion of the plan involving artificial turf for a combination football and soccer field and a track around it had come under scrutiny when the president of an artificial turf company said his company could save the district from $200,000 to $400,000 after the district already had accepted bids for the entire energy project. The bids were gathered independently by Custom Energy Solutions, under a special exemption granted by the state legislature for such projects.
“I really felt like as a board member I wanted to say something to my fellow board members and also to anyone here and to the public tonight,” Schreiber said before beginning a PowerPoint presentation dealing with the energy-savings plan as a whole. “... I do want to stress that this is my viewpoint.”
The presentation illustrated different types of funds within the district’s budget, such as general fund, Title I, special education, bond and interest and capital outlay funds.
“And it looks sometimes like we have all of this money and, oh, if you just don’t do this project, you can do this. But unfortunately we can’t move capital outlay into Title I and we can’t move capital outlay into general fund,” she said, mentioning several account “buckets” that can be spent only for its designated purpose. “All of those buckets have to stand alone and they have to do specific things.”
Although the money in capital outlay cannot be spent directly on something else, like salaries and school supplies, the savings from the energy improvements should free up funds that could be used for other expenditures.
Schreiber said the board chose Custom Energy to conduct the audit, gather bids, and oversee the project primarily because the company did not sell specific brands.
“We felt like we were getting a company that was going to go out and look at everything,” Schreiber said. “And the other thing we were looking at was guaranteed savings.”
Custom Energy has guaranteed it will save the district $7 million over a 20-year period, “which equals about $250,000 per year, and that is a guarantee,” she said.
All of the schools will have low-flow plumbing, light improvements, and sensor controls over lighting and climate control equipment. All schools also will get new light fixtures and lights.
“So, there are going to be upgrades in every building,” she said.
Village, William Allen White, Walnut, Mary Herbert and Maynard will have drop ceilings and retrofit lighting installed; windows at Lowther North and South Intermediate Schools will be replaced.
Boilers and new HVAC equipment are in the plan for Lowther North and South and Emporia High School, as well as roofing, which is scheduled to begin next summer at Walnut School.
“I’ve had a lot of people say you’re spending a lot of money just for a practice field. ... Well, it’s a classroom also,” she said.
Physical education and band classes use the field, as do other groups at the high school. EHS junior varsity and freshman teams and Emporia Middle School athletes use the field for their games, as do community recreation teams and junior varsity and varsity soccer.
“And finally we get to the $42,000 a year savings because we’re not going to water grass, we’re not going to mow grass, and we don’t have to prepare it for field use every year,” Schreiber said. “I’m saying here tonight that we shouldn’t change course, because I believe that ... our overall planning is good. ... And we have an obligation to the contract we signed with Custom Energy.”
Schreiber then mentioned ATG, the Andover company that said it could do the project for considerably less money.
She listed several school districts that were not satisfied in their dealings with ATG, beginning with the Andover district.
“They went to court over contract bidding with ATG,” Schreiber said. “We got an unsolicited e-mail from Iola that they had to fire ATG. And if you want to know about bidding wars, you can find out what Wichita went through with ATG.”
“Maybe we will always have open, competitive bidding or whatever, but this time, today, we should stay where we are and go forward with the energy projects as they are,” she said.
Board president Mike Crouch offered time to anyone from the audience who wanted to speak about the project. No one came forward, and the matter opened for board discussion.
Member Mike Helbert said that he believed it was important to be straightforward.
“We are continually asking the public to believe there are not going to be any maintenance (costs),” Helbert said. “We already know we’re going to have to replace the field in 12 years for $350,000. ... That needs to be said.”
He added that the public has been telling board members the past few weeks that they are not necessarily disputing the energy project itself, but the absence of the usual open bidding process.
“I’m not in any way attempting to impugn the integrity of Custom Energy. I think they’ve done a fine job,” Helbert said. “I do think the way they performed their duties was proper. ... But I think for us to toss out things and criticize anybody who is upset with the way the whole thing came down, I think is wrong from our perspective and I think the voting public, right or wrong, believes that the best way to safeguard public funds is through the competitive bidding process. .. And I will be the first one to admit this is not the way we handled it.”
He said that Custom Energy had entered the contract with the district in good faith.
“And I believe they performed in good faith, and consequently I think we have an obligation to continue on with that contract.”
Koby Kampschroeder, representing Custom Energy, said it was important to member that his company has responsibilities to produce the guaranteed savings, complete without any change orders. The bidding, taken through Custom Energy, was done in the manner set down by the Kansas legislature, and the plans were scrutinized by the energy division of the Kansas Corporation Commission.
“We did have a bidding process,” Kampschroeder said.
Four qualified companies looked at the bid package, came to Emporia to evaluate the project, worked on technical plans and, ultimately, three of them submitted bids. All were within $50,000 of each other, Kampschroeder said.
Crouch said he believed the state set up the private bidding so energy savings companies could back their guarantees.
“If they’re going to guarantee those savings, they have to know that they’re working with companies that can actually provide those savings so they don’t have to pay a check back to us,” Crouch said.
Board member Brent Windsor said that the board did its own reference checks of the companies. ATG, which asked to bid using its Ram Turf product after the contrats were awarded, and McConnell, the company awarded the bid to install FieldTurf. He said that of nine responses, seven mentioned problem areas.
“And I believe two to three were never resolved and ended up very unsatisfied with the work that was done,” Windsor said.
If the local project bidding had been advertised in the traditional way, the board might have accepted the lowest bidder, he said.
“I think I’d much rather have a good quality contractor, somebody we can stand behind,” Windsor said. “I just feel like the process we went through, in my opinion, was the correct way to handle it.”
Helbert said that ATG is irrelevant on the project.
“I don’t know how the rest of you feel,” he said. “They’re not here. We’ve been played. I think not only we’ve been played, the public’s been played.”
Board member Glen Strickland said he did not believe that the news media or the board had done a good job in educating the public about the issues.
Crouch asked if there were a motion regarding the project.
“If there is no motion, that means we just continue with the project as planned,” Crouch said, pausing for a response. “Seeing no motion, then we will move on.”
The board met for 10 minutes in executive session to discuss a personnel matter and took action on its return, voting unanimously to accept an unspecified report from a hearing officer and uphold the suspension recommended by the hearing officer.
The board met again in executive session to discuss negotiations and took no action.
On other matters, the board:
• Approved a proclamation declaring Nov. 15 through 21 as American Education Week.
• Adopted a proclamation declaring Nov. 15 through 21 as American Education Week.
• Chose Strickland as a delegate to represent the district at the Kansas Association of School Boards Delegate Assembly on Dec. 5.
Comments
We allow registered users to post comments on this Web site. To learn more about our posting policies please read our User Poster Agreement Policy.
railroadhorn (anonymous) says...
Bravo to the board for looking at all these issues and coming out with a good plan for the future.
November 12, 2009 at 2:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
Just a little FYI on the possible health hazards of artificial turf !
FYI, http://www.omaha.com/article/20091105/NE...
November 12, 2009 at 3:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
The site I posted previously did not work, try this site,
http://www.omaha.com/article/20091105...
November 12, 2009 at 3:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
admireed (anonymous) says...
meth...thanks for the site/story. Wonder if the BOA read this. Never mind. They will plow forward anyway. What are our Ins. liability limits? Studies may prove to be real negative?
November 12, 2009 at 3:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wirewatt (anonymous) says...
When is the public going to hold the school's feet to the fire. We get the new schools to close old ones that aren't modern, then we put more money into them and keep them open which require people to keep them up and pay utilities. Now we have another problem coming when we are living with less money, losing jobs and then the school districts are looking to sue us to get more money. They will sue the state because they aren't getting the money they want, not what is really needed. The way we run our school districts need a complete overhaul from top to bottom. How can you sue the people who pay all the bills, and run the their households on a lot less money?
November 12, 2009 at 4:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
deepthink (anonymous) says...
If anyone tries to understand this whole project, it makes a lot of business sense. It is the right thing to do and has benefits for the district's kids as well as the bottom line.
November 12, 2009 at 5:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
history (anonymous) says...
I am glad the school board has plenty of money. I hope the school unions hold out for more. If they have money for artifical turf then they should have plenty of money for teachers.
November 12, 2009 at 9:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
powercat (anonymous) says...
History I agree.
What a slap in the face for teachers. I hope the teachers union holds out for all they can get. The school board is brain dead.
November 12, 2009 at 9:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
racefan (anonymous) says...
The project only makes sense if they are spending tax payer wisely. They should have not been in a rush and put the project out to public bid. It is too bad the school board didn't stand up for wise use of tax payer money. What was the rush.
November 12, 2009 at 9:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
powercat (anonymous) says...
Way to go board for finally giving the superintendent his artifical turf. He has wanted that for a very long time and he finally slipped it by.
I bet the teachers will find lots of learning uses for it. I am glad the district is flush with cash. Can the Gazette print the salaries of all the administrators?
November 12, 2009 at 9:43 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
powercat (anonymous) says...
The school board missed the point. It was not about artifical turf it was about getting competitive bids to get the lowest prices. So much for having business minded people on the board.
November 12, 2009 at 9:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
history (anonymous) says...
I hear the turf company is from Canada. Why can't the school board pick an American company to do the turf. Way to support America.
November 12, 2009 at 9:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
If anyone has taken the time to really take a look at and study the Third Draft of the Citys General Fund Budget, you will see that it proposes increased spending in each of the next 4 years and also proposes an increase in the tax mil levy in each of the next 4 years .
Now, what will happen if and when BOE, CC & LCC spending keeps outpacing the ability of the taxpayers to pay the increased taxes, etc. and then what happens to the so called future, that everyone is so enthralled with ?
It would seem that a lot of people believe, wish or hope that the future is guaranteed or set in stone and bought and paid for ! Well I wish that were true, but I know better and spending any amount of money will not guarantee the future !
I am not totally against sports, but as I have said before, sports alone will not take mankind into the future ! A good quality education, by good quality educators will take mankind into the future more readily than any sport ever will !
November 12, 2009 at 10:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
Also, I would like to ask !
Just exactly how many long term jobs will this artificial turf field create ?
And with the supposedly enormous savings of an artificial field, will the teachers recieve a raise in pay, instead of the BOE members and school administraters ?
November 12, 2009 at 10:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
Or will the enormous savings of an artificial field, equate into lower taxes for all of the Empora School Districts taxpayers ?
I rather doubt it !
November 12, 2009 at 10:16 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
funny watch;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO2eh6...
November 13, 2009 at 5:13 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
Yes, Steve it is funny, but oh so true !
November 13, 2009 at 6:13 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
okay (anonymous) says...
Capital outlay costs and teacher's salaries come out of two different funds. Spending money from one does not decrease funds available for the other, if I understand the process correctly. Having said that, good stewards of taxpayer money should get the lowest and best price for goods and services.
November 13, 2009 at 8:33 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpartanSupporter (anonymous) says...
There was not one voice of opposition in the room at the board meeting. It was made public and known to the community. Custom Energy has guaranteed a savings of 250,000 dollars a year, which means the District will get that one way or another. He also said at the meeting that they will use local businesses for the work when they can. The money being used for this can't be used on anything else including salaries. And it is being used to improve every building in the school district. It passed unanimously. Some people just have to be negative and complain about something i guess.
November 13, 2009 at 10:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
giggles (anonymous) says...
I shouldn't have to complain about how elected officials spend the money. If they spent it wisely and justly, or didn't spend it at all, because let's be real, they didn't have to or need to, then I would have nothing to complain about. I shouldn't have to attend meetings about such, that is what we elected them for, to do these things because I don't have the time to attend all of these things.
I also didn't know about the meeting, because, had I known, I would have tried to make some arrangements so I could have attended.
I still don't see this savings they are claiming, and how can you possibly save, when you have to get a new one in 12 years, and we will be paying for it for 27+ years.
November 13, 2009 at 11:23 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
SpartanSupporter
There was one voice of opposition in the room at the BOE public meeting and that voice was the voice of one of the BOE members with any common sense, understanding or compassion for the little people, who are really going to have to do with less in order to pay for an increase in their taxes !
I and others did attend the joint City and County Commission budget hearing and did object to and suggest ways to spend less and balance the budgets of both the City and County !
But our efforts amounted to absolutely nothing I It is as I told the City and County Commissioners, the reason the average Joe citizen does not attend a public BOE, CC or LCC meeting, is because the way things are done by the BOE, CC and LCC, and I am talking about certain individuals or group of individuals " Profoundly " influences the decisions of the BOE, CC and LCC to the point that the average Joe taxpayer is considered by the members of the BOE, CC and LCC as being a " Joe Shmoe ", who's only purpose is to pay for what those certain individuals or influential group of individuals want and who influence the BOE, CC and LCC that what they want is all that is needed or matters !
And that is the reason I for one did not attend the BOE public meeting and voice any opposition to this unnecessary, " WANTON " spending of taxpayer money and will not attend another CC or LCC public meeting !
If you are such a staunch Spartan Supporter, then why don't you and all of the rest of the " Spartan Supporters " pay for this unnecessary and unneeded expense out of your own, obviously well lined pockets, the cost is only $1.6 million dollars, obviously just a pittance to you Spartan Supporters and the BOE !
And if you will go back and check, you will find that the Spartans in years past have had some pretty damn good championship teams without the need for a $1.6 million dollar artificial turf field and yes I did attend and graduate form EHS !
Has any of you ever heard the term " OVERCOME, IMPROVISE or ADDAPT ", this is the key to surviving or winning, either in sports or the game of life and living !
As you may tell by my comments, this whole mentality and mind set of tax and spend, spend and tax has me very frustrated and angry and there seems to be those who just don' t care as long as they get what they think they want or is needed, for no other reason other than to be like or better than someone else !
Damn it people, when are you going to wake up and realize this cannot keep going on and on !
November 13, 2009 at 11:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
giggles (anonymous) says...
I agree methusla, I attended a City budget meeting a couple of months ago, you know the one the commissioners wanted feedback on? I was naysayed at every turn, and they just seemed irritated by my suggestions and remarks. It amounted to nothing, they still went back and did what they wanted, and I don't know if any of the concerns I voiced were even checked. This just PAY UP AND SHUT UP way just makes my blood boil.
November 13, 2009 at 11:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
b3bill (anonymous) says...
What happens if during the 20 year contract that Custom Energy is sold, or financially folds, etc., and no longer operates as it does now? Who backs up the contact then and refunds the money due if the guaranteed savings are not incurred?
November 13, 2009 at 1:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
You see b3bill, you need to understand that, there are a number of influential people living in Emporia, who are so enamored with other Cities in Kansas, etc., that they desire to be like those other Cities, no matter the cost to everyone in Emporia and the surrounding area ! Therefore they will and do use their influence and power to influence the elected officials of Emporia and Lyon County and yes even the State to vote for and approve what they want and believe they need, which is be a clone of some other town or City they are absolutely enamored with, instead of Emporia being the different, independent and unique City it is, was and still could be !
And being like or a clone of something, someone else or some other town or city, is not a move toward the future !
What good is a clone of some other city that spent beyond the taxpayers ability to pay and become a city of no jobs, few people, abandonded businesses, buildings and an artificial turf football, soccerfield, track ?
Personally I do not give a rats @ss if every other school that EHS or any other Emporia school competes against has an artifical turf field or not ! What I care about is whether the School Districts children are getting as good as or better education as the other schools and an artificial field will not provide any better education than a natural grass field !
And I care about how many of Emporias citizens will be forced to leave Emporia because of an unbearable tax burden being placed upon them !
November 13, 2009 at 1:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )