Ark Valley News - ‘A lot for a maintenance building’

‘A lot for a maintenance building’
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: November 20, 2017

Construction took center stage at the Valley Center school board meeting Nov. 13 as at least one board member shook his head a bit over the pricetag of the latest project, and the public learned that the recent $18 million bond issue may have some money left over.

The school board voted 6-1 to approve one of the biggest projects remaining in the 2016 bond issue — a new maintenance facility. Overall cost was $840,000, which was more than $200,000 over initial estimates.

The 6,800-square-foot building will be constructed west of the tennis courts at the intermediate school. It will have space for six vehicles, a director's office, seven tech office areas, a break room and restrooms.

“That's a lot for a maintenance building," said board member Brad Barbour, who voted against the project.

A large chunk of the cost — about $173,000 — is for the installation of utility lines. The city required the district to complete a loop to Meridian, which added several hundred feet to the water lines..

An earlier pricetag came in at $1.2 million, but district officials had the architect trim the project.

Barbour said the project reminded him of the shed behind the high school that was built as part of the 2008 bond issue.

“That was an expensive shed," Barbour said.

As part of its approval, the board agreed to spend more than $35,000 on upgrades to the maintenance facility, including a $23,437 special exhaust system, a $6,598 dust collection system and $5,542 to upgrade from asphalt to concrete.

Mike Bonner, assistant superintendent, said all of the projects that were previously under construction are complete, except for the entrance and office area at Wheatland.

Bonner said re-opening the main entrance may have to wait until after winter break. The project was delayed because of a change and is waiting on light fixtures and some equipment. The interior walls at Wheatland also will be painted during winter break.

There are several projects, including the maintenance facility, in the second phase of the bond issue. Going into the next phase, the bond issue had $4.6 million available.

Remaining work includes a $1 million project to reconfigure classes at the intermediate school and the middle school; a $500,000 plumbing and pipe replacement project at Abilene, West, the intermediate school and the middle school; and $200,000 in technology and safety infrastructure and equipment.

The district has maintained a $1 million contingency for unexpected situations that may arise during construction, and the construction management firm has decreased costs by nearly $2 million on projects so far. These funds will be utilized to complete additional work that was identified by the original bond visioning committee, Bonner said.

A committee has started prioritizing various projects to complete with the additional roughly $2 million in savings. The list will be presented to the school board in December.

At the Nov. 13 board meeting, Bonner said the district was looking at $5 million in overall savings. That figure, however, included the planned phase two projects.

The $57 million bond issue in 2008 ended with savings of about $5 million. Most of that was spent on additional upgrades. Some went back into the bond fund to help pay down the debt.

Bonner said the district's goal is to place any remaining funds back into the bond account this time, too.

The school board this week also approved the addition of lights to the new parking and bus turnaround area on the south side of West Elementary. Cost was $32,051.

In other bond issue business Nov. 13, the board voted 7-0 to authorize Gibson to begin a process to refinance some of the 2016 bonds, potentially saving $650,000.

The move would depend on whether a federal tax bill under discussion includes a provision to tax the interest earned by investors who buy such bonds.

If such a provision is imposed in 2018, refinancing existing bonds would not save as much money. If the provision is dropped from the bill, the district would stop the refinance process.

In other business Nov. 13, the board:

•Heard a report from the combined PTO and site council from West Elementary.

•Approved an out-of-state travel request for the Valley Center High School robotics team to travel to the B.E.S.T. competition in Fort Smith, Ark., Dec. 1 and 2.

•Approved early graduation requests for Katlynn Owens, Liliana Rodriguez and Frank Reid.

•Approved a gift of $220 from the Band Aide organization to pay for shipping of two podiums.

•Approved a list of teacher grants from the Valley Center Education Foundation. Total was $13,836.78.

•Approved a board retreat from 8 a.m. to noon Feb. 3 at Wheatland Elementary.

•Heard a report from Mike Bonner, assistant superintendent, on employee turnover.

•Accepted the audit of the district's 2016-17 finances.

•Approved a day off for middle school students on May 2, 2018, so the building can be used for the Pioneer League Music Festival.

•Appointed Rhonda Price as the district's delegate and Dawn Stiglitz as an alternate to the Kansas Association of School Board's annual conference Dec. 1 through 3.

•Met in executive session for 15 minutes to discuss personnel.

•Approved supplemental contracts for Meagan Williams (high school track assistant coach, $3,200, Feb. 26) and Matt Coleman (high school girls' soccer assistant coach, $2,800, Feb. 26).

•Approved the hiring of Mike Vestering (HVAC technician, $20.05 per hour, Oct. 30) and Chris Schilling (computer support technician at the high school, $12.90 per hour, Nov. 20).

•Approved resignations of Jacob Meyer (computer support technician at the high school, Oct. 25), Jeanette Stanley (satellite kitchen manager, Jan. 12) and Patrick Riggle (lead custodian at Wheatland, Oct. 27).

•Approved transfers for Julie Hoover (from food service three hours per day to four hours per day, Oct. 17), Debra Hackney (food service up to two hours per day to 2.5 hours per day, Oct. 17), Brenda Ake (from lead custodian at the middle school to lead custodian at Wheatland, $15.90 per hour, Nov. 2) and Brentt Busch (from custodian to lead custodian at the middle school, $13.30 per hour, Nov. 3).

•Heard a report from Bonner about staff turnover. Bonner presented percentage turnover numbers in specific job categories. The five-year average turnover for classified employees is 14.1 percent, while the average for licensed employees is 10.1 percent.