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Radnor officials say Ethan Elementary bids under budget; recommend $100,265 testing contract
Summary
At a March 10 Radnor Township SD facilities committee meeting, staff said Ethan Elementary bids came in well under budget leaving an estimated $2.9 million buffer and recommended awarding a $100,265 contract to David Blackmore for required third‑party construction testing; both items were advanced to the March 24 board meeting.
Committee Chair Lon Rosenlum convened the Radnor Township School District facilities committee on March 10 and heard updates on Ethan Elementary, including PlanCon Part G paperwork and a staff recommendation to hire a third‑party testing firm.
Administration reported a pre‑construction meeting with Site Logic, the construction management team and awarded prime contractors and said the district is targeting an April mobilization and groundbreaking. Ken Morris said early tree removal work (awarded as a change order to Manifford) has started with surveying and erosion controls in place.
Steve Barren of Brezlin Architecture described PlanCon Part G — the Department of Education paperwork that records bid results and divides costs between building and site under Act 34 — and told the committee that bid results left a roughly $2.9 million buffer between the district’s calculated aggregate building expenditure limit and the maximum building construction cost. Barren said that buffer is “comfortable” for a project of this scale and, as a result, no additional public hearing is required under the Act 34 process; PlanCon Part G will be forwarded to the board for approval at the March 24 business meeting.
On testing, administration explained the district must contract a third‑party special testing agency to verify concrete mixes, soil compaction, steel welds and other materials and workmanship. Staff said Site Logic helped develop the testing specifications and the RFP, which drew responses from several firms familiar with the site. Administration recommended contracting with David Blackmore, the lowest responsive bidder, whose base bid for the testing scope is $100,265. Morris said the testing contract is included in Ethan’s soft costs and is not an addition above the existing project budget.
Committee members asked about the bid spread between firms and how testing quantities are estimated. Damian Spar (Site Logic) explained bidders submit unit prices per test or per day based on estimated quantities (for example, per‑truck concrete tests) and outlined how the district estimates the number of tests and approves unit pricing up to a not‑to‑exceed total. He said administration will pay for additional tests if required to ensure quality and that the district has added contingency in its construction estimate to cover expected variance.
The committee agreed to move both PlanCon Part G and the testing recommendation to the March 24 board meeting for formal approval.
The district plans to track long‑lead items and has issued notice to proceed so contractors may submit submittals and pin necessary orders; staff urged early submittals for items identified as long lead to avoid supply‑chain delays.
Next step: both the PlanCon Part G filing and the recommended testing contract will be on the board agenda on March 24 for final action.
