School Board Urges Fast Action on Renovations, Commission First Wants Answers
In a joint meeting about voter-approved, $68-million school upgrades, the School Board sought quick approval to avoid further cost overruns. Commissioners agree, but first want more info.
BREVARD — Transylvania County School Board members stressed the need for speed, while their counterparts on the County Commission asked for at least enough time to get questions answered.
Those were the basic stances as the two groups of elected officials met Monday night to discuss the planned $68-million renovation of Brevard High School and Rosman High and Middle schools.
Only one commissioner, Larry Chapman, suggested the possibility of a longer delay, pointing to the continuation of rising construction costs that helped bump the cost of the original plan $18.2 million higher than expected.
“I’m just concerned about pulling the trigger right now in the worst time to start and implement a major construction project,” Chapman said.
Higher-than-expected bids for the work forced the School Board in July to ask for revised plans. In December they settled on an option that, members said, would maximize the amount of new construction, minimize additional redesign costs, and allow the work to begin as soon as possible.
That last goal is key, School Board members repeatedly said Monday, to avoid the prospect of inflation forcing further cuts to the plans.
“Simply put, we truly feel that Option #1 is the best course of action for our school district and valuable time is slipping away,” School Board Chair Tawny McCoy wrote in a document that summarized the Board’s position before the meeting.
The rising costs were confirmed by Brian Walker, of Vannoy Construction, the project’s general contractor.
“I wish I could tell you (the construction market) has leveled off,” Walker said at the meeting. “It has not.”
The option mentioned in McCoy’s statement calls for demolishing and replacing Brevard High’s auxiliary gym and cafeteria, both of which were built in 1959 and are plagued with irreparable structural problems.
The option does not include a previously planned new career technical education (CTE) wing and leaves less than a $1 million available for renovations throughout the rest of Brevard’s campus.
At Rosman, architectural firm Clark Nexsen’s new plans, like its original one, call for the demolition of most of the 73-year-old old middle school building and its replacement by a new high school.
The new option, however, eliminates once-planned renovations of the current high school building, built in 1973, which will serve as the new middle school.
The work at Brevard is expected to cost $30 million and, at Rosman, $32 million, said Chad Roberson of Clark Nexsen. He also addressed another of the Commission’s questions: Given the still-rising construction costs, what measures have been taken to ensure further cuts to the project will not be required?
The firm has anticipated higher costs in its estimates and set aside contingency funds for both projects, Roberson said.
The School Board, according to the terms of an interlocal agreement signed shortly after county voters approved the renovation projects in 2018, has retained control over renovation plans.
The Commission, however, controls the funding of the project. It will issue the bonds to pay for the work and, in 2019, raised property taxes by 10.5 cents per $100 of assessed value to cover bond payments.
“We can’t start construction if we don’t have the money, and that’s where you folks come in,” Board member Kimsey Jackson told commissioners, adding that he shares some of their concerns while urging them to act as soon as possible.
Though the option chosen by the school board in December sought to reduce the need for extensive new planning, redesign and related costs will come to about $1.3 million, added to at least $3.2 million the county has already paid for design and other preparation for construction.
Commission Vice Chair Jake Dalton voiced concerns about the percentage of the total bill consumed by these costs, along with Vannoy’s already approved construction-management fees.
Those expenditures are “out of sight,” he said after the meeting.
Board Vice Chair Ron Kiviniemi said the percentages of fees in the firms’ original contracts were negotiated by district lawyers and conform to the standards for school projects in Western North Carolina.
Commission Chair Jason Chappell pledged to move forward quickly with meetings to discuss funding the project after the county receives precise answers to questions — including about total square footage of the improvements — that Roberson and district staffers were not able to provide on Monday.
“We need to get those answered before we can talk about anything,” he said, while affirming that the project was a top priority.
“Commissioners are very interested in the project, I want you to know that,” he said. “ We want to make sure everything is done right for all of our citizens.”
While questioning the timing of the work, Chapman clarified that he fully supports the project and wanted the public to know the Commission is not responsible for the passage of more than three years between the voters’ approval of the bonds and the start of the work.
Construction is expected to begin this summer in Rosman, Roberson said, and next winter in Brevard.
Commissioner David Guice responded that he understood the factors, including the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, that have led to the increased costs and delays and stressed the need for cooperation between the Commission and School Board.
“I don’t think anybody has been dragging their feet,” he said. “You know, it’s sad — it’s sad when we’re sitting around and think we need to blame somebody. We’re in this together.”