The Carroll Community School District (CCSD) is in the final stages of planning the transportation facility project by awarding a contract to Merit Construction and approving the financing option during Monday night’s meeting. Earlier this year, the CCSD Board of Education reviewed and approved the schematic design of a 13,500-square-foot precast concrete building with updated maintenance areas, an automatic wash bay, and expanded offices and conference rooms. After community members raised concerns over the $15 million price tag with the cold storage alternatives, board members opted for the only the maintenance shed, estimated at just over $5 million. DLR Group, the architect firm, received six bids for the project, ranging from $4,648,000 to $5,295,000. After reviewing all the bids, the board had 60 days to award a contract. Last week, during a special meeting, the district invited the owner of Graphite Construction, who submitted the lowest bid, to ask questions about the company and his plan to complete the project. Kristen Lundstrom, board president, says while Graphite did submit the lowest bid of $4.6 million, she isn’t quite sure she can confidently award the company the contract.
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Other board members mentioned their concerns over Graphite’s proposal. Jill Johnston said she felt her questions went unanswered as Graphite could not give an adequate number of how much work would be done in-house and what would be subcontracted. Duane Horsley said his concern was the number of staff and the projects scheduled for the company. With declining Graphite’s bid, the next lowest came in from Merit Construction at $4.9 million, $252,000 more, which board members unanimously approved. With a contract awarded, board members reviewed with Tim Oswald, Managing Director at Piper Sandler, financing options.
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The board members quickly threw out the scenarios of a 10-year payoff, leaving the choice to borrow the total or partial amount for a 5-year payoff or to pay for the project with cash saved by the district. Interest rates averaged 4.28 percent, with the district estimated to pay approximately $780,000 in interest and bonding fees. Oswald also presented the board with projections of ending balances in SAVE cash flow if the project is paid in cash. Board Member Jill Johnston says that over $2 million is still accounted for after subtracting the $4.9 million, and it was a no-brainer to her.
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Board members approved paying for the transportation facility project in cash. With $4.9 million withdrawn from the SAVE account, it will take approximately four years to rebuild that cash flow. With funding and a contract secured, the district is looking to start with dirt work this year, with a construction completion date of October 2025.