By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays USD 489 school board approved a maximum guaranteed price of $5.7 million for renovations of Felten Elementary School at its meeting Monday night.
The renovations will include new ceiling tiles, flooring, paint and new cabinetry. For the lower grades, bathrooms will be added to the classrooms.
A new drive will be added off of Oak Street. New concrete sidewalks will be added on the west side of the school, extending to the parking lot, and in the southeast corner of the school property.
New fencing will be installed on the west side of the school to enhance safety as the former middle school transitions into an elementary school.
The parking lots will have mill and overlay.
Board member Derek Yarmer asked whether workers scoped the plumbing to determine whether any further repairs were needed.
Chris Billinger, Nabholz Construction project manager, said the plumbing system was scoped, and the results were sent to DLR, the district's architect, to determine which areas needed repairs. Those repairs were included in the designs before the project was bid.
An additional $1 million of plumbing work had to be added to the O'Loughlin Elementary School project after the initial bid because a later scope of the pipes found significant problems.
"It's good to know everything you're dealing with before you go into a project," Yarmer said.
Yarmer asked how much more money would be needed from the capital outlay fund to finish the renovations once the Nabholz Construction contract is completed.
Superintendent Ron Wilson said, "Originally we thought there would be areas that we would not be able to cover, but under this plan, we are touching everything."
Chris Hipp, assistant superintendent for business services, said the district will have expenses to plant grass and to set up the playground equipment that used to be at Lincoln and Wilson elementary schools at Felten. That moneywill come from the capital outlay fund.
Yarmer said since the bond-funded projects are set to be completed, there should be fewer maintenance needs from the capital-outlay fund.
Billinger said he was pleased with how the bidding process went. The total for all bids came in under budget.
The local contractor's participation equaled 69.9% of the project.
Felten is the last project to be bid in the district's current slate of bond-funded projects. With this project added, construction costs will total $148,690,000.
With the addition of design and other costs, the total of all the bond-funded projects will be $165,497,000.
Board members Allen Park and Derek Yarmer voted against the Felten contract, saying they wanted more time to consider it.
Wilson said the board members have known for some time that the contract would come before them for a vote, and delaying the vote could result in the project not being completed by the beginning of the next school year.
Board member Craig Pallister said, "I don't want to hurt kids and teachers by not getting this building done just because we have a personality conflict on a procedure."
Billinger said delaying approval of the contract would put substantial strain on the ability to complete the project on time and could require rebidding at a higher price.
Board Vice President Ruth Ruder said she was confused as to why other board members wanted to delay, since they knew, since the bond issue was approved, what the scope of work and cost of renovations would be for the new elementary school.
Board member Jayme Goetz said she felt she was being bullied for wanting to step back and review the contract more closely.
Work on the Felten renovations will begin soon. The school is set to open to students in the fall.
Wilson Elementary School students will be moving into the renovated Felten Elementary School, and Wilson will close as an elementary school at the end of this school year.
Wilson will eventually be converted for use as an administrative center, and the Rockwell Administration Center will be closed.