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CR2 Board Meeting July 21, 2009 (Ag Building, Salaries, Bids, Staff) $1.6M Bid for New Ag Building The Chillicothe R-2 school board voted Tuesday night to accept a $1.6 million bid from Copeland Development and Construction Company, of Chillicothe for the construction of the district’s new agriculture building at the Litton Agri-Science Learning Center. The action came during the regular July meeting held at district headquarters. Copeland Development’s bid was one of three submitted for consideration. Other bids came from Irvinbilt Company and Case Contracting LLC — also local companies. Specifically, Copeland Development submitted a bid of $1,606,024. Case Contracting’s bid was the lowest — $1,508,500; and Irvinbilt’s bid was $1,835,100. Board members said all three bids were reasonable and were submitted by highly-respectable local companies. However, they noted that Copeland Development’s bid was more complete and detailed. The board also noted that the district prefers an on-site supervisor on the project site at all times. The project is being funded by three entities — $500,000 from the R-2 district, $500,000 from the Litton Foundation, and the remaining balance from a state grant. The project is a design-build project, which means that the district offered some building perimeters to the bidding companies, along with the total amount of funds to be spent. The bidding companies then make proposals, draw up plans and conduct the engineering work. According to Ron Wolf, co-director of the Grand River Technical School, the design-build process allows for more ideas and saves money on architect and engineering fees. Wolf says that work will begin next week on the site, which is located northwest of the Jenkins Expo Center. Copeland Development will state work on the site in early September and the project is slated to be completed by April 2010. Classes will be held in the building for the first time during the 2010-11 school year. Once the doors open, all agricultural classes currently being taught at the GRTS will be moved there, as will the offices for the agricultural instructors. The building, which will measure 15,000 square feet, will also include a 1,200 square-foot green house, and a "safe room," designed to offer shelter for between 800 to 1,000 people. Board Sets R-2
Salaries for 2009-10 Citing the financial condition of the district, Chillicothe R-2 Superintendent Dr. Linda Gray Smith advocated for no R-2 staff salary increase this year and the board unanimously voted to follow her recommendation. The action occurred last week during the regular July meeting held at district headquarters. “We wish we could give pay increases to the staff that we believe they deserve,” the superintendent said during the meeting. She went on to say that if the district continues to keep a close eye on its finances, staff members may be able to receive a pay raise in the future. “A year from now we should not be in this situation,” she said. She noted that certified staff members who have furthered their education will be allowed to move across the pay scale, but no staff member will move up a step and nothing has been added to the district’s base salary. Smith told board members that, with the end of the fiscal year on July 1, 2009, the district ended with a deficit of $530,909.76. However, she noted that the district did end up meeting the board’s established goal of operating within 1 percent of the budgeted amount for revenue and expenditures. Also during the meeting the board...
In other R2
district business, the board approved several staff changes during the
executive session held at district headquarters. A complete list of staff
members may be seen on the directory page. |
