Published: December 02, 2008 02:35 pm         

Education board talks about costs

Stillwater school board members discussed construction costs for the high school multipurpose facility and approved a developer agreement with the City of Stillwater for the facility during a special meeting Monday.

Lambert Construction, planners and the architect are working together to finalize a maximum construction cost, which they will present to the school board at another special meeting Dec. 16.

The current estimated maximum price for construction is $19,257,919, which is $1,335,150 more than budget, and the total estimated cost for the project is $24,847,333, approximately $1.4 million more than budget. Jim Ryan, assistant superintendent for operations and personnel, said that amount is a maximum estimation, and the actual cost will likely be lower.

“If we’ve done a good job and don’t have any surprises, that number could be reduced further,” he said.

Gregg Bradshaw, senior vice president of Lambert Construction, said they are trying to find ways to reduce costs without compromising quality. One area of savings could come from using aluminum, rather than galvanized steel, for the stadium handrails. The original plans called for galvanized steel, but Bradshaw said aluminum is lighter, more affordable and consistent with the rest of the seating area.

Planners are waiting to hear back from the architect, who must approve all changes to design plans.

Ryan said $1 million could be taken from the technology budget, which had $300,000 left over from the bond issue that took place about three years ago. He said no money from the technology budget has been spent from the most recent bond issue, and a bond election will take place in early 2010.

If $1 million is taken out to use for the multipurpose facility, the technology fund will still have $300,000 from the earlier bond issue, plus another $1.6 million from the most recent bond issue.

Another option is to use excess money from the furnishing and equipment budget, which has about half a million dollars.

There is also a $440,000 reserve fund set aside that could be reduced from the budgeted costs if it is not used.

On Monday, the board also voted unanimously to approve a developer agreement with the city. The agreement states that certain improvements for the multi-purpose facility, including sidewalks, a water distribution system and a storm drainage collection and conveyance system, will be completed by April 1 for an estimated cost of $122,390.

The school board must give the city a performance guarantee $152,987.50, which is 125 percent of the estimated cost.

The board will meet again Dec. 9 at 6:30 p.m. for a regular meeting in the Board of Education Building, 314 S. Lewis.

     

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