Special School Meeting on Friday to Set Bond and Levy Measures

Updated Dec. 18 at 11 a.m.

A special meeting will be held on Friday, Dec. 18 at 4:30 p.m. in the School Library to finalize the paperwork required to proceed with the $35 million school rebuild bond and the maintenance and operations levy for February’s election

This meeting follows the bond presentation and the regular school board meetings on Tuesday, Dec. 14, where by David Mount and Butch Reifert of Mahlum Architects displayed four scenarios with the costs ranging from  nearly $26,770 million to $36,330,000.The figures were presented to the Orcas Island School District (OISD) Board earlier that day and were more than the $25 million price tag quoted earlier.

School Board member Scott Lancaster spoke in favor of General Contractor Construction Management (GCCM) system; “It’s not necessarily the least expensive way to go, but gives us the best handle on costs.”

He explained that in construction, the normal process is design the project, seek bids on the project and build the project.

However, in the GCCM process, a general contractor  is involved in the design process and commits to completing 30% of building project. “It gives flexibility in negotiating for local guys,” Lancaster said.

“In the past, [the GCCM process] can cost a little more, but in the end there’s a lot more local stimulus.”

Reifert added that a GCCM “minimizes the risk of the project going over budget. It lessens the risk of things being left out of the contract, because they’re working with the design team.”

OISD Board Member Tony Ghazel said that he was concerned with the 8,000 square-foot increase in the project design.

It was brought out that the Career and Tech Ed building would add to the current footprint, as well as increasing the size of the cafeteria, which is intended for multiple uses. The increased OASIS (Orcas Alternative Student-Initiated Studies) would also add to the building space needed.

Contractor Justin Paulsen said that he was concerned about the maintenance and operations cost of new buildings, saying “I need to know it’s within capability of the district to maintain the buildings.”

Board President Janet Brownell pointed out that the new construction should “simplify overall maintenance, so that it’s not complicated [to maintain the school buildings], and Scott Lancaster emphasized that operations and maintenance was a recurring consideration: “From renewing the HVAC  [Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning systems], to the cost of furniture, to new siting of buildings and energy savings —  in a short period of time we’ll recover a lot of money that can go towards maintenance.”

School Board Member Keith Whitaker said that another way to realize savings is designing building that will be approximately 50 – year buildings, “so instead of a bond issue now and another in 25 years at those inflated costs,” the current bond proposed would create “potentially more savings than [those realized] in operating costs.”

Ghazel said that it was important there would be “enough capacity in this bond to cover what we need to cover.”

Fred Klein, member of the Eastsound Planning Review Committee, asked if the design team had considered separate contracts for stand- alone buildings and separate contracts for repair work,

Reifert replied that they would give those ideas consideration, and Scott Lancaster said, “From the beginning, the emphasis has been to keep this a local program in any form that’ s legal.”  Ways to effect local employment include applying for a GCCM, and using small works contracts.

In addition, the siding that should be replaced on the high school could be accomplished by local contractors or by students in the Running Start for the Trades program mentioned by Kari Schuh, Career and Technical Education (CTE) director for the school district.

Bob Connell suggested the design team provide a scenario which includes the “dollar value of just doing baseline, necessary repairs on buildings.”

Lancaster said that Sierra-Martin, the previous architects on the school rebuild project, had said that it “was more expensive to rehabilitate this [the middle school  building] than to tear it down and rebuild — by several million dollars.”

Teacher Gregory Books spoke on behalf of the teachers’ union, the Orcas Education Association (OEA). Reading from a statement prepared on Monday, Dec. 14, Books said,

“On the behalf of the Orcas Island teachers, I  strongly assert that the number one priority of the bond is  to meet  the  educational needs of our students. These needs should drive the bond amount, not the bond amount dictating these needs. The board should not be shy about asking the public to adequately fund this project.  Don’t let this current economic downturn cause four years worth of teacher and community input be watered down.

We teachers look forward to participating in this process.”

When Lancaster asked, “Does 36 million shake anybody?” Jim Bredouw, founder of the non-profit FunHouse and a commissioner for the newly-created Orcas Park and Recreation District, said, “36 million totally shakes me.” He cited the construction of the FunHouse in 2000, a 7,500 square foot building, which cost $620,000. In response to Bredouw’s comments, the cost of complying with federal regulations was cited as adding substantially to the cost of building a school building.

OISD Board President Janet Brownell commended David Mount and Reifert of Mahlum, for doing “A remarkable amount of work in incredibly short time.”

Later at the regular school board meeting held at 5:30 p.m. the Board agreed to plan for a $35 million bond.

Brownell said after the School Board meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 14, “The Board absolutely appreciates how incomprehensibly large this bond amount seems, but at $25 mill. we were asking for a bond rate of $.64/per 1000.  At $35 mil it will be $.72/per 1000.

“I hope people will understand that the $.08 difference will be huge in the lifespan of this project. And, if we wait, what is $35 million today could well be $50 million in a few years, once the economy recovers.”

Documents discussed at the meetings will be posted on the School District’s website: www.orcasislandschools.org.

Today’s meeting will be held at 4:3o p.m. All are welcome to attend. For further information, call 376-2284.