Camden County board hears three CMAR proposals for new high school and early college

Camden County Board of Education members heard presentations from three finalists for the construction manager-at-risk (CMAR) contract for the new Camden County High School and Camden County Early College at their Aug. 29 meeting. The board did not make an award in open session and entered closed session to consult county partners and continue deliberations.

Eric Stickler, president of Heartland Construction, led the first presentation, describing the firm’s K–12 portfolio and local footprint and emphasizing schedule performance. "We have over 80 successfully completed k 12 education projects," Stickler said, citing a case study in which Heartland brought a project back on budget and kept the original opening date. He noted the firm’s ability to mobilize quickly: "we can have it it parked on a roof by the end of the year," he said, as part of explaining how Heartland would meet the board’s timing goals.

Harry Davis, president of Sussex Development, presented a family-owned, regionally focused approach and stressed preconstruction and value-engineering work. Davis told the board that, based on Sussex’s review, "the budget's a bit aggressive," and urged close collaboration with the design team to identify savings. He also warned the board to confirm requirements with the North Carolina State Construction Office, noting that the office typically requires a final guaranteed maximum price (GMP) and is "not gonna allow you to do a phased project," language he used while describing state-level constraints that could affect phasing.

Whiting-Turner’s presentation, led by Dan Shelton with project manager Scott Gloff and senior managers on the team, emphasized national resources and local outreach. The firm proposed a roughly 24–25 month schedule that could be adjusted with phasing to accelerate key campus areas, and highlighted efforts to engage local subcontractors and the community during construction.

Throughout the presentations board members questioned contractors about subcontractor participation, bidding depth and local soil and compaction risks. Heartland described using special inspection agents and verification for compaction; Whiting-Turner estimated roughly 20% local subcontractor participation on a recent, similarly sized project and described active outreach to local firms. Sussex said it could begin work immediately from the contractor side but that county and state permitting and the GMP process could affect start dates.

After presentations and questions the board chair thanked the teams, said the panel would enter a closed session to deliberate and consult with county partners, and indicated a special meeting may be scheduled soon to announce a decision. No contract award was announced in open session.

Next steps: the board entered closed session and plans to consult county partners; a special meeting to announce a decision was described as likely.