Board awards MoM bid for $1.36M

May 11—OTTUMWA — The renovations at Market on Main will be moving forward, but with a higher price tag than expected.

On Monday, the Ottumwa School Board voted to approve rewarding the bid to Frase Construction for $1,358,523. Superindent Mike McGrory said that it was about $100,000 more than the projected cost, but he attributed that to the volatile construction market during his recommendation to the board. "It's just so volatile right now with construction, it was within range," he said.

The total cost included not only the base bid but also two alternates that include upgrades to the bathrooms as well as the front of the building. Cost played into that recommendation as well. McGrory said that doing them later as smaller projects would bring a higher price tag, and by accepting the alternates now the district will also be opening the site as a finished building.

With a limited number of bids received, the only other option was to rebid the project, but McGrory recommended against that option for two main reasons: not only would it be unlikely the bids would go down, they could quite possibly go up, he said, and it would delay the opening of the site until second semester as the process of rebidding would push back the project at least two months.

"We did not want that time-wise to occur largely because of all the great things we have going on in our district," McGrory said, noting that a significant number of students have already registered for classes at the building and relocating them, while probably doable, would be difficult.

Board President David Weilbrenner asked if the district is confident the site would be open for the start of school if the current bid was approved. McGrory said they were, noting that in the paperwork it was stated the project needs to be complete by Aug. 20. He said the contractor is ready to go and they're "prepared to start earlier than we thought."

The superintendent also reviewed the impact the bid would have on the project's budget. The biggest change is that funds from district capital for project resources jumps from $500,000 to $895,000. He said that the district is in a position to absorb that increase and handle it well.

ESSER funds play into that in two ways. McGrory said the district is able to increase ESSER funds for the project for the air, heating and electrical work. Additionally, because of the amount of ESSER funds going into the elementary building renovations, the district is spending a lot less capital there. "That allows us to adopt the recommendation tonight in a way that doesn't put the district in any financial stress," he said.

Money is also coming from the Legacy Foundation. McGrory said they're providing $100,000 for the project as well as $12,000 for the roof repair. JBS was expected to donate to the project, but instead the company is donating "a significant amount of money for other projects," McGrory said.

Board member Morgan Brown expressed concern over the financials, asking if there was a way to revise the scope of the project and hone it in without affecting the timeframe. He said the cost seems to be "creeping and creeping up."

"It's already been pared back quite a bit without losing the integrity of the project due to rising construction costs," McGrory said. Additionally, changes to the plans would have to go through the rebidding process, which would still cause a delay.

"It wasn't ideal how we got there," he said. "It was kid of a puzzle, but I think we're in a good place."

The board approved the renovation plans and awarding the bid to Frase Construction on a 5-1 vote; Brown was the no vote, and Brian Jones was absent.

The board also approved additional building projects unanimously.

—Improvements to the Ottumwa High School weight room floor were approved in order to strengthen and repair it. Lindsey Beinhart, director of operations and maintenance, said the current floor, built over the old pool, is not strong enough to handle the equipment the board has approved for the space. He also said the project, which includes reinforcement, needs to be done no matter what. The project was approved for $35,525.

—The board also approved an amendment to the current agreement with Frevert-Ramsey-Kobes Architects to include services for the renovation and redesign of the Evans Middle School auditorium. The firm agreed to add it to the agreement the district has with them for services on the Pickwick addition as a cost-saving measure.

— Features Editor Tracy Goldizen can be reached via email at tgoldizen@ottumwacourier.com or followed on Twitter @CourierTracy.