By Alex Malm
The School Board was presented with a proposal to move forward with requests for proposals/ qualifications now for the potential Moose Hill project, versus later.
“The Trident Group has recommended, and the Administration would agree, it might make sense to start the RFP/Q process for a construction manager for the Moose Hill Building Project. The process will be Qualifications based, blind to the fee, similar to the Architect RFQ/P process for the Master Plan,” Superintendent, Dan Black, wrote in a memo to the School Board ahead of the meeting.
One of the advantages Black pointed out earlier in the process is that they could save about five weeks on getting things going, should the bond pass in March.
“Knowing how tight we are for space right now at Moose Hill, any time we save in the future to solve our overcrowding issues is a good investment,” Black said.
He said having a construction manager will also help to explain different details of the project to the public and can “be a great resource to have during any community events or forums to explain the technical work that would be done at Moose Hill.”
Black also said that knowing the fee structure for the construction manager sooner rather than later “would help both the School Board and administration manage the proposed budget for the building project much more easily, and the Fee structure will be locked in.”
Black explained that the Trident Group has advised them that they can structure the process so “we do not take any financial risk and we only move forward with the construction manager if there is a positive community vote for the building project.”
School Board Chair, Bob Slater, said it made sense to get a construction manager on board now, rather than waiting to see if a potential bond passes or not in March.
“This is a very good idea to get a construction manager on board sooner than later,” he said.
He stated that if the project gets approved in March, and they already have someone on board, they will have a construction manager already who understands the project.
“Basically it’s no funds for us to get to that point,” Slater said, noting that they can also line up some of the other trades as well, to get a head start, if the project is approved.
He said the fee structure is usually a percentage of the overall project cost.
The School Board agreed to move forward with the RFPQ process.