Swain County Board approves technology contract, budget amendments and authorizes LS3P negotiations; requests $311,093 drawdown for HVAC

The Swain County Board of Education on Jan. 13 approved a package of contracts and budget changes and authorized officials to continue negotiating terms on the district’s middle school design contract while keeping the negotiated cost limits unchanged.

The board voted to accept a technology contract for server and storage upgrades, approved budget amendments across state, federal and capital funds, adopted a resolution to continue contract negotiations with architect LS3P with cost terms unchanged, and authorized the superintendent to ask county commissioners to draw down $311,093.83 from the state repairs-and-renovations account to complete the middle school HVAC work.

Why it matters: the decisions move ahead several capital and technology projects the district says are needed to finish a long-delayed middle school HVAC replacement, improve disaster-recovery capacity for district IT systems and close out hurricane-related expense items. The LS3P move keeps the architect on the project while final contract language is completed by legal counsel and district officers.

Board action and context

• Technology contract: Board members approved a contract presented for network and server infrastructure replacement (the item appeared in the meeting as the “Tibber/Tybur Creek” technology contract). District staff said the purchase includes three new servers and a storage array, that the vendor is on state contract and that the replacement will allow reuse of some existing equipment as a disaster-recovery site. Ms. Cook (district technology staff) told the board the current servers are at or near warranty end and the storage array will be out of warranty in April. The board approved the contract by voice vote with a show of hands.

• Budget amendments: The board approved amendments across multiple funds, including increases to state public-school allotments (teacher bonuses, connectivity and digital literacy accounts), federal grant adjustments (IDEA preschool), capital-project budget increases (bus purchase and balance of middle school HVAC) and special-revenue allocations for technology and grants. Finance staff reported that most accounts are at or below the midyear 50% spending expectation; federal-program spending was higher because ESSER funds largely were committed to the HVAC project.

• LS3P resolution and contract negotiations: The board approved a resolution to designate LS3P as project designer for the middle school and to allow the board chair and finance officer to finish negotiations with the architect after legal review. District staff said LS3P agreed to a cap on its base percentage fee tied to a $40,000,000 threshold and that the contract language allows renegotiation of fee percentages based on the CMAR price. The board’s action leaves the negotiated cost terms in place while legal counsel completes final contract language.

• Request to draw down state renovation-and-repair funds: The board authorized the superintendent to request that county commissioners draw down $311,093.83 from the state repairs-and-renovation (lottery/Article 46) funds to cover the outstanding balance of the middle school HVAC project. Officials said about $1.7 million of ESSER funds already were used and the requested drawdown would not require local tax dollars.

What district staff said

Ms. Treadway (finance staff) presented the budget amendments and explained line-item increases, including a $84,035 allotment tied to hurricane relief and recovery with $26,355 earmarked for child nutrition reimbursements for days when meal service was not possible. Ms. Treadway said the district received $57,500 for mental health services that would be applied toward a proposed Cartwheel mental-health contract (legal review still pending).

Ms. Cook described the technology purchase as “timely” given recent weather disruptions and the need for a disaster-recovery site; she said the district uses Barracuda appliances for on-site and cloud backups and that the new systems would integrate with existing backups.

Legal and procedural notes

District legal counsel John Henning had not completed final edits on the LS3P AIA contract by the meeting; the board approved the resolution to proceed while preserving the negotiated cost terms and asked that final contract language be completed for formal ratification. The board also discussed that some contracts were procured using vendors on state contract rather than a full public bid because of the state-contract status and timing needs.

Votes at a glance

- Motion: Approve consent agenda (personnel and minutes from Dec. 9, 2024). Outcome: Passed (voice vote by show of hands). Mover/second: not specified in the record.

- Motion: Approve technology contract (presented as Tibber/Tybur Creek technology contract). Outcome: Passed (voice vote by show of hands). Mover/second: not specified.

- Motion: Approve budget amendments (as presented by Ms. Treadway). Outcome: Passed (voice vote; description in minutes: “Vice and unanimous”). Mover/second: not specified.

- Motion: Approve resolution to designate LS3P as project designer and continue negotiations with final contract review to follow; do not change negotiated cost terms. Outcome: Passed (voice vote by show of hands). Mover/second: not specified.

- Motion: Authorize superintendent to request county commissioners draw down $311,093.83 from the state repairs-and-renovation (lottery) funds for completion of middle school HVAC; final expense/drawdown approval to return to the board. Outcome: Passed (voice vote by show of hands). Mover/second: not specified.

What the board will do next

District staff said legal counsel will complete the LS3P contract edits for final board ratification, technology equipment will be installed and portions of the cost may be booked across fiscal years per accounting rules, and the superintendent will approach county commissioners for the renovation-and-repair drawdown and return to the board with final paperwork.

Ending

Board members scheduled a construction planning kickoff Jan. 17 and additional site visits in the coming weeks; no further formal actions on these items were taken at the meeting.