Submitted By Superintendent Jeremy Burright
The Fairfax R-3 School District held a special board meeting August 9, 2018. Board President Mike Lewis called the meeting to order at 6:34 p.m. Present were Mike Lewis, Doug Miller, Marshal Oswald, Josh Oswald, Chris Smith, and Superintendent Jeremy Burright.
Mike Lewis presented the agenda. Doug Miller made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Josh Oswald seconded the motion and the vote was 5 (yes) and 0 (no).
New Business
• Render a decision regarding the separation of the 2018 construction proposal, labeled HTK Project No. 1805.03, into separate projects and bids.
• Motion: Continue with the 2018 construction project labeled HTK Project No. 1805.03, by reducing the scope of, and value-engineering the project. Motion made by Doug Miller, Marshal Oswald seconded, 5 (yes) 0 (no).
Discussion
Additional Cost
• Modifying the scope (reducing the size of the project) and value-engineering (finding cheaper options for materials) the existing 2018 project proposal is included in the responsibilities of the architect. This is because we failed to receive a bid that was within our budgetary constraints and creating a proposal that met our budget was part of their responsibility. There is no additional cost to the District for this service.
• Breaking the existing 2018 project proposal into smaller pieces changes a single proposal into multiple proposals and bid processes. This is not covered in the contract with the architect as their responsibility. Splitting up the project in this way would create an estimated 6 additional days of work for the architectural firm and would incur additional cost to the district of $4,800.00.
• Legal counsel confirms that state statute supports this view.
Local Contractors
• For our purposes “local” is defined as meaning businesses in Atchison, Holt, and Nodaway Counties.
• Concern was voiced during the Special Meeting on 8/6/18 regarding the lack of local contractors involved in the final bid submissions. No businesses from Atchison, Holt, or Nodaway Counties were included in the final proposals submitted from the general contractors.
• In order to track the submission of bids to general contractors from local businesses, the next round of bid forms will include language that requires General contractors to list bids received from businesses in Atchison, Holt, and Nodaway Counties.
• The District is compiling a list of services in our area that can be used to involve and solicit bids from our local businesses. When complete, the District will contact businesses on the list by mail in order to inform them that our bid window has reopened and we hope that they will participate in the bidding process.
• It is possible that local contractors will not have access to the software used to house and download the plans for our construction. This is a significant barrier. To print off a set of plans that can be used by a contractor costs $100.00. It is possible that local businesses will need to work with the District and architect to get copies of the plans.
• Records will be kept regarding who has been contacted and who has responded to our mailings. While time may be an issue regarding involving our local talent in our current project, we will be able to utilize this resource in the future to solicit bids.
Marshal Oswald made a motion to adjourn the regular board meeting at 6:35 p.m. Chris Smith seconded the motion and the vote was 5 (yes) and 0 (no).
