District moves forward on DCED-funded projects after bid openings; board asks for updated estimates and clearer capital plan

The East Stroudsburg Area School District Property & Facilities Committee voted Wednesday to recommend moving forward with notices to proceed on several capital projects tied to a Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) grant and to accept low bids for the work, while members demanded updated cost estimates and better communication after bids exceeded earlier budget figures.

The committee approved recommending notices to proceed for the JT Lambert data network cabling replacement, the Smithfield Elementary School boiler replacement and North Campus stormwater Phase 3, and accepted contract awards for several projects. Rutledge Excavating was the low bidder for stormwater Phase 3 at $237,759; JDM Mechanical was awarded the JT Lambert boiler and domestic hot water replacement at about $712,000; and the Smithfield boiler low bid went to JBM Mechanical. Committee members also asked that the notices to proceed be amended so the construction estimate fields reflect the actual bid numbers rather than year-old grant estimates.

The vote followed sustained discussion about how projects tied to a DCED grant and other capital work were advanced and communicated. Committee member Wayne, identifying himself as a school board director, said he was concerned about learning of multi-hundred-thousand-dollar bid results only at the meeting. "I'm being presented with a $23,000,000 budget deficit," Wayne said, and added that the timing forced him to "look at dollars" and seek expense reductions. He pressed staff for clearer advance notice for bid openings and for capital-plan alignment.

Staff and consultants said some projects were advanced earlier because they fit DCED grant eligibility and that design and scope details evolved after initial grant estimates. Josh, a CHA representative, explained the firm—s fee structure and why earlier paperwork used application-era estimates: "Up to a $100,000 project, there is a base fee of $4,000 plus 7 and a half percent of the value of the work. Between a hundred and $300,000, it's a $2,500 base fee and 7 and a half percent... and then anything over 300, it's 7% of the work." Josh said design work on the DCED projects had been underway for months and that bidding was recently completed.

Committee members and CHA staff acknowledged a communication breakdown between departments and the committee. CHA staff said the notice-to-proceed form is new and intended to standardize how the consultant and district document project scope and fees going forward. "From this point forward, these are forms that you guys will see before we start executing any of the design effort for upcoming capital projects," Josh said.

Board members also highlighted how much the difference between grant-application estimates and actual bid results affects consultant fees. Staff running the numbers reported that total bid overruns across four projects were nearly $700,000 compared with the application-era estimates and that CHA's fee structure would increase by roughly $41,000 as a result. "$41,000 more just in fees is a significant amount of money," one committee member said.

Committee members directed staff to supply updated notice-to-proceed documents that reflect the actual bid totals and the resulting consultant fee calculations before the full board sees the items. They also asked that bid advertisement and opening notices be distributed to appropriate district officials and board members in advance so elected directors can attend or review bid openings.

The committee voted to accept the low bids and moved that updated notices to proceed reflect bid totals; the motions were approved by voice vote.

The district will forward the amended notices and the bid tabulations to the full board with the requested clarifications and updated fee calculations. Committee members said they plan to present an updated, consolidated capital plan in late summer that aligns feasibility study results, consultant recommendations and project priorities before advancing additional notice-to-proceed requests.

Ending: Staff said they will circulate updated documents and will add bid-advertisement distribution to their workflow so elected directors receive earlier notice of bid openings and project milestones. The committee also asked CHA to include the bid-based fee calculations on the amended notices to proceed so the board can see the full financial impact when the items reach the full board for action.