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Middle school renovation bids favorable but award paused pending Montgomery County Conservation District sign-off
Summary
Project presenters told the property committee that bids for the middle school renovation came in competitively and the base bid is under budget, but recommended delaying contract awards until the Montgomery County Conservation District issues a required permit; staff set a target to have approvals by Jan. 17 for the Jan. 21 board meeting.
Doug Taylor, presenting the middle school renovations and additions, told the property committee on Dec. 17 that Springfield Township had received conditional land-development approval from the township but remained without a required letter from the Montgomery County Conservation District (MCCD), a critical-path approval needed for erosion-and-sediment-control measures and building permits.
Taylor said the project team had pushed the district’s intent-to-award date back to March 15 to allow time for approvals, and he advised the committee against awarding prime contracts to multiple contractors who lack interdependent agreements until all permits are in hand. “I really don’t want the board to move forward with approving contracts for 4 prime contractors that have a contract with the district, but not with each other, to start a project until we have those permits in hand,” he said, because that could expose the district to contractor delay claims.
On procurement, Taylor said the bid process was successful: the apparent low general contractor was Bracey Construction; the apparent low mechanical bidder was JBM Mechanical; ElectroTech was the apparent low electrical bidder, and Reynolds was the apparent low plumbing bidder. Taylor reported the base bid came in roughly $70,000 under the project budget, and that by selecting several value-added alternates — unit ventilator replacements, cafeteria sun-control louvers and a whole-building water softener — the project would remain within allowances and a reduced contingency.
The team reviewed alternates in detail. Taylor recommended against prepaying for unclassified excavation ($91,000 alternate) and a $230,000 stone-pad alternate, and described a $147,000 proposed warranty-extension alternate as unlikely to provide value. On sustainability, consultant Shane Nyper explained solar arrays would require an electrical-substation upgrade (identified in the presentation as roughly $648,000) plus installation costs; the consultants estimated a solar payback period of about 26 years at current utility rates.
Taylor told the committee the transcript contained a garbled numeric for one ventilator-related add and the project team characterized the ventilator replacement work as “a very good value.” The committee asked staff to supply clear, verified numeric figures for any line items that appeared unclear in the presentation before the board packet goes to the full board.
For board logistics, Taylor and Doctor Yannickone proposed canceling an interim Jan. 7 meeting and targeting the Jan. 21 regular meeting to award contracts if the MCCD letter and township agreements arrive; the drop-dead paperwork date for inclusion on the Jan. 21 agenda was set informally at Jan. 17. If approvals are not received by then, staff would bring awards to the February meeting so the district does not obligate contractors to a March 15 start without permits.
No formal contract awards were approved at the committee meeting; staff said they will monitor the MCCD response and update the board packet materials accordingly.
