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 increase), acceptance of a builder's-risk insurance proposal (board approved a not-to-exceed amount as presented), and regional construction permits required by the Regional Office of Education following City of Galena PUD approval.

The 15 contract awards approved by the board this evening (all approved by roll call, 6–0 unless noted) included: demolition and abatement contractors (Law Excavating Inc.; Hogan Environmental Cleaning; Fisher Excavating Inc.), concrete and precast suppliers (Jack Cole Construction; MidStates Concrete Industries), masonry (BNB Masonry & Restoration), structural steel suppliers and erectors (Bradley Ironworks; Area Erectors Inc.), food service equipment (Rapid Food Service), fire suppression (Nelson Fire Protection), plumbing (Commercial Mechanical), HVAC (Loescher Heating & Air Conditioning), electrical (Westfall & Company), excavation (Myers Excavating LLC) and aggregate/foundation work (CNC Foundations Inc.).

Board members and the project team discussed cost drivers and timing: abatement costs were reported about $800,000 over initial estimates; geothermal well-field work about $1,000,000 over; and electrical about $607,000 over. Staff described one value-engineering change — replacing flared roofs with flat roofs — that trimmed roughly $300,000 from the overage. Project managers also explained market constraints: many specialty trades had limited capacity (one well-field bidder, a tight abatement market), and an Illinois preference law affected bidders on some packages.

On schedule impact, staff said approving the initial 15 packages will not delay the project. The remaining bid packages are valid through April 7 and staff will continue value engineering and rebidding where necessary; the board asked staff to return with updates in March.

Actions taken (selected): the board approved demolition Phase 1 to Law Excavating Inc.; abatement to Hogan Environmental Cleaning; demolition Phase 2 to Fisher Excavating Inc.; concrete and precast contracts; structural steel awards; and mechanical/electrical contracts required to start construction. Each individual award was approved by roll call as listed in the board packet.

Why it matters: The approvals allow construction to begin on a project the board has previously authorized and at scale will change the campus footprint, disrupt parking and traffic during construction, and commit district construction funds. Staff said the district can cover the current overrun without drawing on operating reserves by applying higher-than-expected interest earnings on district CDs, recent referendum receipts and a planned contingency.

Next steps: Staff will continue value engineering on the remaining bid packages, pursue geothermal tax credits and bring further contract awards back to the board. The district will also coordinate abatement and drilling timing to limit summer schedule conflicts and re-seeding of athletic fields.

Board vote and timing: The board approved the 15 contracts and related items in a series of roll-call votes, generally unanimous. Project managers asked the board to approve the first tranche of contracts so work can begin while staff continues to reduce overall cost exposure.