Commissioners approve budget amendment after Lexington Middle School renovation uncovers additional costs

Davidson County commissioners voted May 27 to approve a budget amendment to cover additional costs on the Lexington Middle School renovation after staff described multiple unplanned expenses and change-order requests.

County project manager Danny Norman told the board that the renovation — scheduled to substantially finish in August — uncovered several unanticipated items that increased the project’s cost: newly discovered asbestos in the school library and administration areas that required abatement, additional communications and IT infrastructure work, rental of temporary HVAC units to cool classrooms during testing, and four HVAC units that were not originally replaced but later determined to need full replacement.

Norman presented line items discussed at the meeting: an asbestos abatement and air monitoring request of roughly $78,180; additional IT and related costs around $78,265; temporary HVAC rentals about $66,905; and replacement of four additional mechanical units priced at $339,279. Taken together, those figures were described in the meeting as pushing extra cost for the project into the mid-six-figure range. “We actually have it as a change order request,” Norman said of the asbestos work. “These costs have actually already kind of occurred for them.”

Commissioners pressed staff on how the unplanned items were missed during initial planning and on the role of consultants. Several commissioners and the chairman emphasized that they expect professional consultants to identify such issues during scoping and that repeat change orders hurt taxpayers and project timelines. “When the commissioner say we're gonna fix something we send somebody in there, you find out everything that's broke,” one commissioner said. “When we come back with a half a million, that's unacceptable.”

County staff explained the project carried a relatively small contingency (roughly $100,000–$120,000) and that, even with the requested additional funding, the overall contingency would remain below a typical industry percentage for a renovation of this size. County officials said the temporary HVAC units were rented at the school’s request to keep testing environments cool while major components were replaced.

County Manager Smith explained funding for the amendment would come from restricted county sales-tax dollars (referred to in the meeting as "Article 46" funds). "These are restricted sales tax dollars used for schools," a county official said before a motion to approve the amendment. Commissioners subsequently voted to approve the budget amendment; a motion was made and seconded and the board recorded an affirmative vote.

The board asked staff to continue detailed review of the mechanical recommendations and to pursue repair options if units can be salvaged rather than replaced outright. Project officials said the mechanical replacements could require up to eight weeks for procurement and installation and might not be complete before students return in the fall.

The board approved the budget amendment at the May 27 meeting using restricted sales-tax dollars and directed staff to return with any further cost clarifications or potential savings.