The Carroll Community School District’s (CCSD) Board of Education met this morning (Thursday) for a special meeting, approving the phase that will be constructed and establishing a new bond agreement resolution for a new proposed transportation facility. The board members first accepted a $15 million schematic design for a 13,500-square-foot building with an automatic wash bay, an expanded maintenance space, and cold storage for a 40-bus fleet last March. DLR Group, the engineering firm behind the design, said the project could be bid out in phases, phase one being just the base with the wash bay, maintenance, and new office and training rooms. Phase two would include one cold storage, and phase three would be the entire proposed design. Many concerned community members attended public hearings and informative meetings, addressing the high price tag and saying this project was too much for the school district. Board Member Jim Friel made the motion to listen to the CCSD’s stakeholders.
Friel also asked Superintendent Dr. Casey Berlau if he talked with DLR Group to see if the building could be pushed back to save on the amount of concrete that would need to be laid for a bus parking lot behind the new maintenance shed. Berlau says he hasn’t discussed moving the building but did receive a round-number quote on how much the district would have to pay for concrete behind the facility.
Berlau says the members could explore more options, such as graveling the lot instead of concrete and utilizing the space up front for some bus parking. Board member Kristen Lundstrom says the board should not focus too much on that aspect of the project.
Lundstrom is referring to the district potentially adding the cold storage phases sometime in the future. For the present time, the members unanimously approved to accept the construction of phase one, just the maintenance shed and a bond agreement to not exceed $6 million. The public hearing on the newly established bond agreement will be held before the board’s following work session meeting on Monday, Aug 5, at 6:00 p.m. at the Carroll High School Media Center.
