By JESSICA BRICKER
The latest round of bid openings for the Bluffton-Harrison Middle School renovation project have come in under budget.
On Monday the board approved 10 bid packages and three alternates with a total cost of $1,678,181. Superintendent Brad Yates said the remaining available funds are estimated at roughly $511,000 for contingencies and miscellaneous furnishings such as furniture and equipment.
Shawnee Construction received three of the bid packages and also serves as the construction manager, limiting the firm to complete only 20 percent of the project’s total value under state law. Consultation with Ice Miller, the bond counsel, and Colin Andrews, the Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitian School District’s attorney, led to the board’s ability to award Shawnee on Monday its three bid packages and remain within the 20 percent threshold of the project’s total cost including contingencies and construction management services.
The bid packages approved by board members Julie Thompson, Bruce Holland, Angie Sheets and Trent White (Mike Murray was absent) were:
• General trades, Shawnee — $293,500
• Building concrete, Shawnee — $10,300
• Doors, frames, hardware and glazing, Central Indiana Hardware — $45,570
• Steel stud framing, Shawnee — $61,200
• Drywall, painting and fire retardant, BZW Master Painters — $143,750
• Acoustical ceilings, Summit City — $35,138
• Wall Tile, carpet, vinyl tile and base, Jack Laurie Group — $172,000
• Terrazzo flooring, F&M Tile — $20,000
• Plumbing and HVAC, Van’s — $355,000
• Electrical, low voltage and generator, Kissinger Electric— $331,675
• Alternate 1, science rooms — $90,173
• Alternate 6, main corridor No. 1 — $76,235
• Alternate 7, main corridor No. 2 — $43,640
Also on Monday, the board approved a contract with Shambaugh and Sons for the Bluffton High School HVAC guaranteed energy savings project for $5,343,774.
This amount, Yates noted, is the maximum cost for the project that provides “open book” pricing for the district in order for the district to be kept in the loop on all the project’s costs.
Any funds not spent while using this approach, he added, can be utilized for “additional scope or reallocated for the district to use within the high school.”
A third project affecting both the middle and high schools also received the board’s approval.
The culinary arts program will be relocated from the middle school to the high school, and Shawnee Construction provided a cost of $137,925 to make that happen.
Yates said the cost was within the state-approved budgeted amount for the district’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) programming.
jessica@news-banner.com
