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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009_01_23 Board Minutes IDAHO FALLS SCHOOL DISTRICT 91 BOARD OF TRUSTEES BOARD MEETING DISTRICT OFFICE BOARD ROOM January 23, 2009 12:00 Noon Present from the Board of Trustees: Present from the Administration: Mary Ann Smith, Board Chair George Boland, Superintendent David Lent, Vice Chair Dr. Gail Rochelle, Director Secondary Ernest Jensen, Treasurer Karla LaOrange, Director Elementary Jerry Wixom Guy Wangsgard, Director of Business Deidre Warden Caroline Meagher, Recording Secretary Board Chair Mary Ann Smith called the meeting to order. Pledge of Allegiance was led by Camille Wood. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA Jerry Wixom motioned to adopt the agenda. David Lent seconded the motion. Motion passed. WORK SESSION a.Facilities upgrade price review and bond discussion: Superintendent George Boland began with a brief summary of the three public meeting. All three meetings were productive, everyone seems supportive of the need, and there is concern in regards to the timing with respect to the financial climate we are in. A question was raised as to whether this was the best price we could secure. Our patrons want this work to stay local. The largest concern with the pricing is with hidden costs in MSS and mark-ups on the part of Trane. Trane’s involvement will cost the district $9.8 million dollars. We have contingencies built in that we know about; Bateman Hall has been very good about being up-front with those figures. We still don’t have our bid amounts from MSS. We received another estimate on the Theresa Bunker remodel that is at least 35% less. Adding in the 20% contingency, Trane is still 15% over that bid. At Taylorview we have a received an independent estimate from a contractor for $ 87,000. The bid from Trane for the same scope of work - after the rebates is $145,000; Trane is 152% over this other contractor. Page 1 of 3 SUP 08-09 BRD MIN We have a lot of schools that will need major lighting retrofits. Trane would bring in a firm from Colorado to contract this work – we expect them to hire local people to complete this job. We might be able to reduce some items off of the scope to reduce the cost. The district can press for a better price. We might be able to reduce 8-10 million dollars by not using Trane. After meeting with Scott Marotz and Jeffery McConnell, we confirmed that we are no longer obligated to Trane after January 16. We have three options. We can: 1)Shelf the whole project 2)Go forward in part or whole with Trane 3)Put out another RFQ to bid each job independently and locally. We did write a change order with Trane to bring the Stadium, C E Gale and Longfellow to 70% design level with permits so we can initiate work as early as April 16. These are due to us the first week in March. $186K was the cost for the change order. Dana can go and work with partners and bring down the cost by $ 10million (the cost of Trane.) If we delay this by one year, we may end up adding 6 million to the cost just because of escalation of costs. There would still be a presumed net savings. We may need to hire someone to be a project manager. th After January 16 we are not obligated to Trane and the teams are no longer obligated to Trane as well. Could Bateman-Hall provide us with a Project Manager? Yes they could, but they would ultimately work for Bateman-Hall. They still need to coordinate all the activities. George recommends that we do not enter any more contracts with Trane at this time. Comments from the Board of Trustees: Perhaps we need to consider what is the worst thing that can happen? Then we can engineer in reverse to understand the risks that come into play to get there. As you back away - you identify what could put that at risk. If we can weigh and understand these things, it should make it very clear. Do we go for the bond or not—what is the worst that can happen? It is that we cannot pass the supplemental levy. At this point in time, everyone seems to support the bond, but they also do not like the timing. We don’t know if things will get worse. We hate to put it off and miss this summer of building, but we cannot fail to pass the supplemental levy. We need to pass the supplemental levy. It allows us to employ more people than the state funds and it allows us to pay a higher salary. The 80 million proposed cut is a $2.7million drop in income to us. We will have to run a levy for $2.7 and $6.8 as a minimum if the patrons want to maintain the level that we currently have. If we cut the 11 teaching positions and 71 FTE’s, we still won’t even come close to the loss of $2.7 million. We would also have to take an across the board pay cut. We need to know the total reduction from the state, the liquid fund balance, and we know that we will have to make some cuts. Page 2 of 3 SUP 08-09 BRD MIN We are about instruction. Patrons have told us that they would rather have us increase the supplemental levy to keep our teachers and wait on the bond. The programs and the classrooms are more important. Don’t endanger the supplemental levy. Another big concern is upcoming negotiations. The legislature can change state statute; however, contract law trumps state statute. They may make changes that we cannot make because we are obligated by contract. Part of the settlement is to get the negotiations team to understand the value of the supplemental levy. The will have to support it if they want an increase in salary. Luna wants to increase the multiplier in the classrooms and then not replace teachers who have retired and resigned. We need to protect the jobs of our teachers. We need to wait to see what the cuts will be, and then we need to run the supplemental levy. We also need to consider how we can cut 1.5 m in expenses. It will be a huge impact. The highest risk that we face of not pursuing these upgrades for facilities is the risk of losing the boiler at Dora Erickson Elementary School. We need a contingency plan for emergencies, we need to see what the state will do, run the supplemental levy as a barometer of community support, then run the bond in the fall. This does put off construction for another year. We wouldn’t certify the bonds until the following fall so property taxes would not go up (because the old bond will expire before then.) We have money in the general fund to cover the boiler should it fail. Let’s put this on the June agenda, when we review the budget. Jerry Wixom motioned to adjourn. Deidre Warden seconded the motion. Motion passed. Meeting adjourned. Page 3 of 3 SUP 08-09 BRD MIN