The Carroll Community School District (CCSD) Board of Education met with representatives from the architect firm and the construction company with the lowest bid to review the scope of the transportation facility project before proceeding to award a contract. Graphite Construction based out of Des Moines offered a bid package of roughly $4.7 million for the proposed 13,500-square-foot precast building with an automatic wash bay and expanded maintenance space. Owner and President of Graphite Construction Russell Carew (Cah-rew) gave a little background to the 55-60 employed company, informing the board the construction group self-performs, or does the work themselves instead of sub-contracting out. Carew says roughly a million dollars of the bid package will be work done by Graphite.
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Carew explained a few projects that the construction company has completed or will here shortly that are similar to scale to the projected CCSD transportation facility. Board members asked Eric Beron, principal architect for DLR Group on his experiences with working with Graphite Construction and the reliability of the company.
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Carew explained most of the projects that were not completed on time did get extensions and was more due to change orders and delays in receiving supplies due to “Covid”. Carew said that shipping delays are also the main contributor of the 12 out of 13 lawsuits currently filed against the company. Board members asked Carew if he could give them any assurance that the project would be completed on time if awarded the contact.
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During the meeting, board members were observed to be confused at the answers that Carew was giving, asking for clarification on multiple answers that were given by him. Carew ended the meeting by suggesting the district postpone construction to the spring of 2025, and his team would have the transportation facility completed by the end of that year.
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No action was taken at Monday nights meeting. Board members will continue to review bids and look at selecting an award of contract at the next board of education meeting.