Ouachita Parish School Board awards property sale and construction bids, approves rebid floor for former Sterlington Middle

The Ouachita Parish School Board on April 22 approved multiple bid awards and a request to re-list a former school property at a reduced floor price.

Under the evaluation of bids, the board accepted an offer of $250,000 from Advancion Corporation for a 12-acre parcel identified as the old Miles property in Sterlington; that sale had a bid floor of $150,000. The board also approved the surplus equipment sale award to JJ Merchant in the amount of $3,338.85.

For construction work, the board approved the lowest responsive bidder for the West Ouachita High School (West Washtenaw) football stadium renovations: Gentry Construction was selected at a bid of $10,360,000 against an initial budget of $9,000,000 funded by the West Ouachita sales tax. The board also approved Mann's Construction as the lowest responsive bidder for Central Elementary restroom renovations and canopy at $957,500 (budgeted at $1,700,000, funded by the same sales tax source).

The board discussed an earlier property bid for the old Sterlington Middle School (bid 22-25) that received no qualifying offers at the appraised value of $1,500,000. Board staff asked for permission to re-bid the property with a new floor set at 85% of appraised value, $1,275,000; the board granted that permission by voice vote.

Board motions approving the bids were taken in grouped motions for several items; individual tallies of yes/no votes were not recorded in the transcript. Board materials presented the bid numbers, funding sources, and recommended bidders; the board did not request additional contingency funding or change the funding source during the meeting.

The board also indicated it will re-release the property bid for the former Sterlington Middle with the lowered floor and continue the surplus equipment disposition process as recommended in the packet.