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Derby board reviews five‑year capital plan amid questions on new district vehicles; Pearson Construction wins paving bid
Summary
Derby staff presented a five‑year capital outlay projection and discussed a fleet replacement program that includes dozens of non‑bus vehicles; Pearson Construction won a summer paving contract at well under budget and the board approved the bid and contingency.
District staff presented the Derby Public Schools five‑year capital outlay plan May 12 and answered board questions about a program to replace aging work trucks, vans and SUVs. Separately, the board approved a contractor to repave staff and other district parking lots this summer.
Pam Kelly brought forward the capital outlay projection and reminded the board that capital outlay budgeting follows an 18‑month cycle because the district receives much of its income in January. She told the board that the Safe and Secure grant funding stream has been eliminated for next year but that staff kept safe‑and‑secure line items flat in the five‑year projection.
Board member Mike Blankenship pressed staff on the district’s vehicle purchases. He said he had “added up about $800,000 worth of vehicles, so non‑school bus, mostly … trucks and vans and SUVs.” Burke Jones, director of operations, said the district implemented a multi‑year replacement plan for aging pickups and other work vehicles and highlighted trade‑offs between keeping vehicles longer and the repair costs saved by maintaining a newer fleet.
Jones said the district may re‑evaluate the replacement cadence and look for a “sweet spot” where trade‑offs between purchase price and resale value minimize total cost of ownership.
On a separate action item, Jones said Pearson Construction was the low bidder to complete resurfacing of the Derby High School staff lot, remaining road around the campus and several parking‑lot seal/coating items. Pearson’s base bid was $494,040; the district had budgeted $722,000 for the work. Jones asked the board to approve an extra $80,000 contingency to cover unexpected issues, bringing the requested approval total to $574,040. The board approved the motion to accept the bid and the contingency.
Jones said staff intends to use some of the savings to address playground asphalt repairs and other smaller pavement projects that generally cost less than $20,000 each. He noted the district normally uses a smaller contractor for playground resurfacing rather than the large paving contractor handling the parking lots.
The five‑year capital outlay plan itself was presented for discussion and will return to the board for approval at a future meeting; the paving bid was accepted for execution this summer.
