Vidor ISD board approves guaranteed maximum price for middle school, elementary projects

VIDOR, Texas — The Vidor Independent School District Board of Trustees voted 4-0 March 24 to approve guaranteed maximum price (GMP) amendments for two construction projects, Vidor Middle School and Oak Forest Elementary, advancing preconstruction into the contract phase.

The board’s approval, offered in a motion by Trustee Vincent and seconded by Trustee White, passed unanimously with four members present and three absent. The Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) team asked the board to approve the GMPs after receiving subcontractor proposals and pricing. "This project came in $162,000 under budget and that is after including a $210,000 contingency," the CMAR presenter said for Oak Forest. For the middle school, the presenter said the project "is $311,000 under budget and that includes a construction manager's contingency allowance of $403,000." The CMAR estimated the two projects together represented roughly $714,000 in savings if no contingency funds are expended.

Why it matters: approving GMPs moves both projects from planning into contracting and procurement. District staff and the CMAR said the savings captured now can be applied to later phases of the program or to unforeseen issues in older buildings that were not yet assessed.

What the presenters told the board: the CMAR team said they conducted broad outreach to subcontractors and suppliers and posted legal advertisements in local outlets and digital plan rooms. The packet shown to trustees included an itemized cost breakdown arranged by CSI divisions, drawings, specifications, addenda, a statement of work, pricing and project schedules. Presenters said local subcontractors participated where they provided "best value," but some local bids were hundreds of thousands of dollars higher than lower, nonlocal bids.

On contingency and risk: the presenters described a standard construction contingency allowance that the contract permits up to 5% of the cost of work. "The contract allows us to set a contingency ... no greater than 5% of the cost of work of the project. That money is to be able to be utilized for anything unforeseen," the CMAR said. For Oak Forest the included contingency cited in the packet was $210,000; for the middle school the construction manager's contingency allowance shown was $403,000.

Schedule and next steps: presenters said the district could issue a notice to proceed as soon as April 1; that date was described as the start of contract activities (issuing subcontract agreements and purchase orders), not the first day of physical construction. Permit submissions to the permitting divisions are already underway and the CMAR said they expected permits in roughly a week to a week and a half, pending formal approval. Substantial-completion dates cited in the presentation were Dec. 30 for Oak Forest and Feb. 27 for the middle school. Presenters also noted the district expects to combine campuses in summer 2027 and intends to place the buildings into use earlier rather than leave them idle.

Local participation and permitting: the CMAR listed local advertising outlets used during solicitation, and said the invitation to bid was distributed on digital plan rooms used by the construction trades in Texas. Presenters identified the drainage district as the most frequent permitting challenge based on prior experience but said they did not anticipate problems because the team had previously worked with that district on similar projects.

Board action: Trustee Vincent made the motion to approve both GMPs together; Trustee White seconded. After brief questions about schedules, local subcontractor participation and contingency levels the board voted in favor. The vote was recorded as 4-0 with three trustees absent.

What was not decided: trustees and staff noted future renovation work at other campuses will likely require funding and that some savings could be applied to those needs; no specific reallocation or follow-up assignment was recorded in the meeting minutes.

Sources and attribution: comments and figures above are drawn from the March 24, 2025 special meeting presentation by the CMAR team (Colin Garrett and Clay Richards) and the board discussion recorded at the meeting.