USD 475 BOE approves vehicle replacement, contract renewal, new position
Jun. 7—The USD 475 Board of Education approved replacement of six vehicles, renew contracts for transportation services and new position at its last board meeting June 1.
The board approved a lease agreement with Enterprise Fleet Management to replace six Junction City High School vehicles.
David Wild, operations director, said the district's policy is to replace its vehicles after the vehicles reach 100,000 milage or are 10 years old, whichever comes first. He said three of the six JCHS Athletic Department vehicles have more than 100,000 miles.
He said the options are to replace the three over the milage for a total estimated cost of $150,000 or lease all six of the AD vehicles. Wild recommended leasing, so the district doesn't have to worry about maintenance costs and so there is a specific amount to budget each year for the vehicles.
"Those six vehicles are the ones that go into neighboring communities for events and athletics, and they send a message about the district," he said. "The ability to have leased vehicles, they are perpetually new and never out of warrantee, no maintenance costs that are not covered by warrantee unless its other than fair wear and tear."
Jason Butler, board member, asked what the average maintenance costs on those vehicles is per year. Wild said he calculated that number pre-pandemic, so the numbers may be different now. He said most of the cost is labor.
"The analysis done three years ago indicated that our maintenance costs exceeded the balance of cost necessary to make leasing a rational decision," he said. "But again, it's a variable that is an unknown."
Kristy Haden, board vice president, asked whether the maintenance costs for the district would be reduced if the six vehicles are leased because the maintenance team is not working on those vehicles. Wild said they would.
The board also voted to approve the renewal of contracts for transportation services for school year 2022-2023 at an estimated annualized cost increase of $166,365.
Wild said in June last year, the board accepted a joint proposal from Junction City Transportation Company and B&B Busing for a two-year contract with a 17% increase for the first year and a Consumer Price Index increase for the second year, which is 7.7%.
"We now are probably at a market value that will eliminate the sticker shock next spring when we look at awarding a new contract," he said.
He said the goal is to renew the current contracts for one more year as the district prepares to develop and issue a new request for proposal and look for a contract award next spring.
Jim Schmidt, board member, said he would like to see GPS included, so parents can see where their children's bus is on a map. Wild said that is one of the technologies that would be introduced under a new contract.
Other technologies that would be introduced are improvements in the camera and sound systems, a change in safety measures and a more orderly and disciplined process.
The board approved the renewal of the district custodial, facilities and ground maintenance contract with ABM for an adjusted annual price of about 5,000,315.
The terms of the contract provide for an annual renewal with a cost adjustment tied to the Consumer Price Index, not to exceed 5%. The CPI rose 8.5% over the past year, so the adjustment is capped at 5%, Wild said.
The BOE also held two executive sessions, after which the members voted unanimously to approve the new position of Construction Grants Program Manager.
According to the agenda, the duties and responsibilities of the new position include grant writing, reporting and construction program administration. The position supplies oversight for Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC), Intergovernmental Support Agreement (IGSA) and other construction related grant programs.
The next board meeting is scheduled for June 28 at 5:30 p.m.
