Picture presented during DLR Group presentation
The Carroll Community School District has approved the entire design for the new proposed transportation facility and will now move into the construction documents phase of the project. During yesterday’s (Monday) meeting, DLR Group presented the final design for the board to prove before moving into the next phase and being one step closer to construction. Eric Beron, Architect Principal, acknowledged the members, saying he understands the community’s concern about the price tag and that DLR respects the district’s budget. Still, the district has used that building for over 30 years, and Beron says it has served its purpose.
Beron said the city of Carroll approved a rock floor instead of a cement floor if that was a route the district wanted to go to lower the construction costs. Board member Stacy McCaulley asked if the kitchen could be reduced or created to be less extravagant to help with cost savings. Beron said at this point, the district would save little money due to construction material costs but instead would just be shuffling the money around, losing out on some benefits that this design could provide.
Board member Jim Friel asked what the cost savings would be if the board only approved of the base bid design; Beron said they would be roughly saving $30,000 to $50,000 which would be the 6.5% fee since the district would not be taking the cold storage units to bid. Board member Duane Horsley commented saying if the district would approve the entire design, does not mean they would be constructing the entire building as they could turn down the alternatives during the bidding process. Beron confirmed Horsley’s thinking, saying this was only to approve the design as presented to begin the construction document phase.
With the acceptance of the entire design, DLR Group is now entering the next phase of the project. The estimated schedule is saying June 17 is when a bid date and public hearing are scheduled. As of now, the district is planning to receive bids for each scenario that could be constructed with the base bids and the alternatives, but is not sure on which route the district will take at the moment. The bidding phase is expected to close on July 11, with potential construction beginning before the next school year starts.
