Radnor Township SD committee updates schedule and costs for Ithan Elementary construction

Radnor Township School District officials and outside consultants told the facilities committee on Sept. 16 that they plan to release construction documents for the new Ithan Elementary School for public bidding in November and expect to present bid results to the facilities committee in February before the board considers contract awards.

The consulting team said early tree removal will be scheduled to meet endangered-species timing for the Indiana bat. “The cutting of trees that have been identified as potential habitat for that must, must occur … between October and March,” a Breslin Architecture Group representative said. Because of that window, consultants recommended soliciting prices for early tree removal rather than waiting to fold that work into later construction.

Why it matters: removing identified trees in the fall–winter window is meant to comply with species-protection requirements and avoid regulatory delays, but it also separates that work from main construction phasing and requires the committee to authorize an early contract if it wants the removals completed before bidding and heavy on-site work.

Cost and alternates

Consultants presented updated construction-cost worksheets prepared with SiteLogic. They said the team applied a 1% escalation factor for the delay in going out to bid — reported on the slides as $680,000 on the hard-construction line — and called out several soft-cost changes. The presentation showed a permitting-fee reduction (about $157,053) and a financing-cost reduction (roughly $950,000). The consultants displayed two summary columns ($12,000,256 and $10,000,932) but a verbally stated delta in the presentation was garbled and not clarified in the meeting record.

Committee members pressed the consultants on a notable change in site-work costs. “So the site work and demolition jumped from 12,000,000 to 15,000,000. What’s all in that again?” an unidentified committee member asked. The consultant replied that the increase mainly reflects more detailed grading and revised stormwater-management design developed between the design-development and construction-document phases, along with added playground, parking and civil work that are part of the site scope.

Consultants emphasized they pursued value-engineering reductions where feasible (changes to retaining-wall materials, site electrical reductions and similar items) and that the alternates carried in the bid documents are intended as safety valves: they will be priced on the bid form so the district can choose to accept or decline them when bids are tabulated. “The base bid is the construction of the building as it’s designed with all of the things listed here included,” a staff member explained, adding that alternates allow the district to add or remove items depending on final bid totals.

Schedule and next steps

Staff and consultants said the plan is to advertise bids in November and hold a public bid opening in early January (presented schedule target: Jan. 8). Facilities staff will analyze bids in a Feb. 10 work session and present options to the full board for action around Feb. 18. The team told the committee it expects multiple bidders and will evaluate qualifications, bonding and unit-price/allowance items alongside the base bids.

Other points

- Consultants showed a site plan marking only trees within the immediate building footprint and grading limits for removal; remaining on-site trees will be retained. - Staff displayed photos of a temporary VersaCourt and swing set installed as interim play surfaces; they said they plan to remove or reuse those elements when stormwater work requires demolition in that area. - The civil engineer is preparing a resubmission to address technical review comments (including those related to the sewage module) and staff said they do not anticipate those comments will alter the advertised bid schedule if the resubmission occurs by the end of the month.

What did not happen

The committee did not vote on any motion during the meeting; the presentation was informative and the committee asked clarification questions. The next formal decisions on contract awards will occur after public bids are received and the facilities committee and board review the numbers.

The facilities committee adjourned with no public comments and no formal action taken at this meeting.