HEB ISD trustees hear progress report on 2023 bond projects, timelines and site logistics

Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District trustees on Tuesday received a detailed update on the district's 2023 bond program that covered completed work, ongoing punch-list items, budget remaining on specific projects and sequencing for upcoming construction.

The update, delivered by Josh Miner, summarized work on a long list of sites including temporary augmented-space facilities for LD Bell and Trinity, the 1701 project, the Hurst Hills elementary replacement, Wilshire, Midway Park, and major work at the LD Bell and Trinity high school campuses.

Miner told the board the LD Bell/Trinity augmented-space site and other recent projects are essentially complete but remain in the contractor warranty and punch-list phase. For one recently finished building he said the original guaranteed maximum price approved by the district was $22,388,000 and reported a remaining balance of $184,131.32 that will be rolled into other projects.

He described a short-term augmented site that will house a family engagement and testing center until the permanent 1701 facility is ready, and said the move to that permanent location is presently scheduled around January'February 2026. Miner cautioned that rain has been a recurring schedule risk for exterior work and said crews were reskinning metal panels and addressing water issues on several projects.

On the Hurst Hills elementary replacement, Miner said construction fencing is in place and that logistics are being routed to keep students away from active work zones. He said the district coordinated with city staff and moved a crossing guard to a new location to maintain safer crossing points while construction proceeds.

At Trinity, Miner said the tennis courts and associated site work are progressing; he said contractor pricing from Midway came in favorably. He described retaining walls, phased parking changes and a temporary concession/storage building north of the courts that will include limited training space, conditioned equipment storage and room for golf-cart storage.

For LD Bell, Miner presented revised cross-section drawings to show elevation changes between Brown Trail and the new building and said the project team is installing a protected tunnel and pathways to maintain safe student access between the IAC and athletic fields during construction. He also said the district has acquired golf carts to shuttle students and staff between remote parking areas and campus facilities during construction.

Board members asked for clarification on phased schedules and parking counts. In response to a question about temporary staff parking and ingress/egress, Miner said the design will recover most lost stalls and add several new spaces along the campus edge; he said buses will use the front circle and parent drop-off will follow a separate route to reduce congestion on Ector.

Trustees raised a formatting question about one slide that showed inconsistent schedule dates; Miner said he would correct the slide and provide an accurate schedule. He also noted the district will provide a summary sheet after each presentation showing the originally approved budget (GMP), expenditures to date and remaining funds for each project.

In related business later in the meeting the board approved a unit-fee contract with CMJ Engineering Inc. for construction materials testing services for the LD Bell replacement campus and staff presented an estimated materials-testing budget for Trinity that will come back for formal approval.

Board members and staff said they would continue bringing regular updates to trustees and asked the public to direct questions about specific site logistics to the project team.