Bids Approved for Irmo, Dutch Fork High Projects

Lexington-Richland 5 school board approved bids for projects at Irmo and Dutch Fork high schools during a regular meeting held in the district's new Center for Advanced Technical Studies.

The bid for Dutch Fork High School came in over the budgeted amount of about $12.8 to $12.9 million, said Keith McAlister, director of new design and construction.

Since the bid was over budget, McAlister said he recommended the board approve the base bid of $13,224,815, which was from Contract Construction, and not the alternates for bleachers and lower level classrooms renovations totaling $623,000.

He said the base bid was something that could be work with to get back on budget.

But, if the board approved an increase in the budget, the project could be completed with the alternates.

"You’ll get more bang for your buck," McAlister said of completing the project all at once instead of completing the alternates at a later date. 

Board member Ellen Baumgardner said she thought the district could wait on the bleachers and move forward with the classroom renovations if the board had to choose between the two alternates.

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Superintendent Stephen Hefner said he thought the cost of completing the bleachers and classroom renovations were reasonable, and recommended the board move forward with approval. 

While board member Jim Turner did vote in favor of the bids, he reiterated his concerns about the budgets of the 2008 bond referendum projects. 

Turner said it has been clear for some time that the district will not have sufficient funds to complete the projects in the 2008 bond referendum, specifically a new elementary and middle school. 

He said he was concerned about how the board would address overcrowding issues in Chapin when money is being exhausted. 

After meeting with the district's chief financial services officer to discuss the budgets, Turner said he has been told that the district could address the other projects without having another bond referendum or increase taxes to complete them.

The board approved awarding the bids with the two alternates. 

The board also approved a bid for the Irmo High project at $21,877,000, which includes the based bid of $21,050,000 and three alternates.

Alternates include renovation of the Consumer Family Science area, and lighting for the football and baseball fields. 

Construction at Irmo High includes a new performing arts center, a new field house/renovations and new ticket information center.

Board member Kim Murphy attempted to make a motion prior to the board’s discussion of the bids but her motion did not get a second.

Murphy’s motion called for deferring awarding the bids until Hefner gave board members information on the cost estimates to complete the bond referendum projects currently under construction, the estimated total cost to construct the project, the proposed financing plan, and an estimate of any future annual operating cost associated with the project. 

Murphy said she did not have an issue with the projects themselves, but couldn't approve awarding the bids without concerns about budgets being addressed. 

The board approved awarding the bids 6-1.

The next regular meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Nov. 12 at Irmo Elementary School.