Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Facilities And Construction topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Isle of Wight board approves $714,786 design contract for fleet service facility after debate
Summary
The Isle of Wight County School Board approved a design services contract with RRMM not to exceed $714,786 for a new fleet service facility after public concerns and board questions about fee levels and procurement practice.
The Isle of Wight County School Board on July 10 approved a design-services contract with RRMM for a fleet service facility not to exceed $714,786.
Board members voted 3–2 to approve a $629,581 basic-services fee plus $85,205 in additional services, funding that the board said comes from the county’s capital-improvement appropriation. The roll call was recorded as: Kolick — no; Cunningham — yes; Perkins — yes; Wooster — no; Marsh — yes.
The contract covers schematic design, design development, construction documents, bid negotiation and related additional services, Superintendent Dr. Coleman told the board. Coleman described the additional services as geotechnical work, special inspections, boundary and topographic survey, stormwater BMP borings, as-builts, third-party cost estimating, furniture-package work and landscape design.
The project as drawn for the first phase will be a roughly 7,000-square-foot building with five service bays and an overall plan that allows for future expansion to nine bays, Coleman said. Coleman also said the existing RRMM contract lapses Sept. 9 and that staff and the division’s chief financial officer plan to reissue the architect/engineer contract so other firms can bid.
Public comment and several board members focused on the size of RRMM’s design fee. Resident Volpe Boykin said RRMM’s charges “just short of $1,000,000” for several local design projects raised concerns about value and asked the board for a detailed, line-item contract. “It just seems like a lot to me,” Boykin said during public comment.
Board members pressed for more detail before voting. One member noted that typical architectural fees for projects of this type in Virginia often range from about 5% to 15% of construction cost; Coleman said the division’s current design numbers corresponded to roughly 17% when compared to the board’s planning estimate. Coleman said no final guaranteed maximum price or construction contract has been set and that escalation estimates were built into the design work because approval could be delayed.
Motion details: approve design services for the fleet service facility not to exceed $714,786. Mover and seconder not specified in the public record. Outcome: approved.
The board recorded that the fleet facility is a previously approved CIP project funded by the Board of Supervisors. Coleman told the board that if design funds are not spent they typically revert; he also said staff would “shop around” when the contract is reissued in September so RRMM would have to compete with other firms.
The board did not disclose other procurement or construction decisions in public session. Coleman and other presenters said staff would provide follow-up information on total project cost estimates and the procurement timeline.
For now, the board moved the project forward with the design contract and asked staff to pursue competitive solicitation when the current RRMM contract expires.
