By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The construction of the new Hays High School is on budget and on schedule to open in August at the start of the school year.
Nabholz Construction provided an update on the construction project and presented information about a proposed change order for the high school.
Turf has been laid on the athletic fields. Flooring is almost complete in the two gyms, and work on the bleachers is ongoing.
Workers are completing the punch list on areas A and B of the high school. This includes the science labs.
The west wing, which includes parts A and B, the center atrium (area C) and the east wing (areas D and E), is set to be substantially complete by July 7.
The rest of the project is scheduled to be substantially complete by Aug. 13.
High school change order
Dylan Weddle, Nabholz project manager, presented the board with $111,062 in change orders for the Hays High project at the school board meeting Monday night.
The change orders are still well within the $1 million contingency fund established for the project. With the latest change orders that have been approved, more than $300,000 remains in the high school project's contingency fund, with the project nearing completion.
The change order included modifications to the track and field layout. Superintendent Ron Wilson said after a meeting with coaches, it was decided there wasn't enough room between the pole vault and high jump areas, so the designers moved the pole vault area.
There were similar concerns about the two discus rings being too close together. The change order also included some changes to the sidewalks in the softball and baseball areas.
The board did not approve the $38,000 change order for murals inside the high school.
Weddle said one of these murals in the auxiliary gym is complete. He said Nabholz moved forward with the painting to keep the project on schedule.
He said the murals were not included in the original budget because the designers and the district were undecided about their placement until the project was under construction.
Because the school board did not approve that change order, Nabholz will be responsible for the work that has already been done.
Board member Derek Yarmer said he saw the murals as an unneeded expense.
Yarmer said he thought the district should dedicate the $38,000 to other buildings in the district.
Board President Curt Vainar and Vice President Jayme Goetz said the district could revisit the murals once all of the other bond projects are complete.
Board member Ruth Ruder said, "We are going to have this big, beautiful high school and we're not going to see these murals for a year or two or five years."
Board member Ken Brooks noted the murals will cost more if they are delayed.
He added, "We're cheating them out of money."
He said that is not the way to treat a company that provides good work for the district.
Goetz said, "That's the risk that's involved."
Ruder noted Roosevelt had murals and logos in its new addition. She emphasized that branding is important.
Yarmer argued spending the $38,000 on the murals was going to prevent bathrooms from being repaired in other buildings.
Brooks said no, it was not. The funds for the murals were well within the contingency fund for the high school.
"We can have both," Brooks said.
Yarmer said, "We can't the way we are spending money."
The motion to approve the change orders without the murals passed on a vote of 4-3, with Brooks, Ruder and Meagan Zampieri-Lillpopp voting against.
Brooks asked again after the vote what the district was going to do to compensate Nabholz for the mural that had already been completed.
Yarmer said, "It's free."
Weddle said Nabholz would not charge the district for the completed mural.