Galena board approves 15 contracts to start high school project; district reports roughly $1.1M shortfall after value engineering

The Galena City School District Board of Education on Feb. 12 approved 15 contract awards and related permits to begin the Galena High School renovation and construction project, after district project managers told the board the full bid set initially came in substantially over estimates.

District staff said bids for the project opened Feb. 6 (39 bid packages, 88 offers received). Staff reported three packages (epoxy flooring, elevators and fencing) received no bids and that the initial tally of all bids exceeded earlier estimates by roughly $16 million. The project team said they reduced that gap by about $2 million through value engineering and expect approximately $1.2 million in geothermal-related tax credits; after those adjustments staff estimated a remaining overrun in the neighborhood of $1.1 million that the district can cover from interest earnings and earmarked referendum funds.

The board separately approved related items required to start construction: a one-year extension option for TC Networks technology services (with a 4 percent…