041505 District reeling from high bids

The district is expecting to be $5.5 million dollars short for its project to rebuild Fox Lane High School. Since the $67.8 million dollar bond was approved in the 2002-03 school year, the state has delayed approvals and costs have risen, administrators say.

At the Bedford Central board meeting on Wednesday, April 6, David Schunter of Andron Construction and John Brice of the Geddis Partnership reported that many of the bids they just received for the project were higher than the original estimates.

"We think there might be something wrong with the bids," said Mr. Schunter. "We need to look at why there is such a variance between our estimates and the bids. Maybe we missed something; maybe the bidders didn't understand what we were asking for."

Both Mr. Brice and Mr. Schunter said they needed about three weeks to renegotiate some of the costs and then report back to the steering committee.

Mr. Schunter compared the bid results with the estimates in a memo that he presented to the board. There were four main construction areas that received high bids. The original estimate for site work was $4,194,525, and the low bid came in at $5,215,000.

The estimate for concrete was $1,498,032, and the bid was $1,847,000. For aluminum and glass, the estimate was $1,870,178, and the bid was $2,495,875. For general trades, which is all the carpentry, drywall, doors and hardware, masonry, and flooring, the estimated cost was $10,195,553, and the low bid came in at $11,789,000.

"The original budget for the high school was $35.2 million," he said. "But the project estimate in November was $1.8 million overbudget. The projections have since gotten worse, and now it's at $5.5 million."

But the board is running out of time, especially if the project moves forward with the summer asbestos abatement in the high school. Assistant superintendent for business and administrative services Mark Betz was asked what options could keep the project moving forward without sufficient funds.

"What we are trying to do is finish $67.8 million worth of a project which has grown to $73 million,"

said Mr. Betz. "We are looking at significant numbers, and let's not deceive ourselves. We won't find $5 million after talking to the contractors. You may have to decide to cut significant amounts of the project."

The board asked about using contingency funds that were worked into the original bond. Mr. Schunter and Mr. Brice advised the district not to use those funds going into the project. Each project assumes a 5 percent contingency in its budget for unexpected expenses along the way

The board is hoping to have enough options to present to the public before the May 17 budget vote. They said they would also talk about trying to resolve the issue after the May vote and reexamining it in the summer.

Mr. Betz said "At some point you are going to need to say to the voters that you need more money."

The board will have a public work session on Friday, April 15, at 3 p.m. to discuss options for the project.