Web posted
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Project managers present their plan
By FOSS FARRAR
Traveler Staff Writer
reporter@arkcity.net
Local school board members Tuesday night began scoring presentations of four Wichita construction management firms vying for the job of overseeing a $35.8 million schools construction project in Arkansas City.
The scoring process is required by a new state law. Board members will consider eight factors including experience, safety plan and plan for use of local vendors and subcontractors.
The factors on which the companies will be scored include: educational project experience, construction management at-risk experience, safety plan, plan for use of local vendors/subcontractors, references, percentage fee for subcontracts, fee for general conditions, understanding of USD 470 projects.
The seven school board members are expected to return scored forms to the USD 470 central office by the end of this week, said Superintendent Ron Ballard. The board is expected to pick one of the four as construction manager at its next regular meeting next Monday night.
On Monday and Tuesday nights, each of the four companies talked for 30 minutes and then answered questions from the board. Each night of the two-day meeting, two firms spoke.
"We could work with any of the four," Ballard said today. "They are all well qualified."
Ballard noted that the four companies had been selected from seven applicants for the construction manager-at risk position.
A committee of school officials including board president Joe Woodard and district administrators met six weeks ago to select the top firms -- Conco Construction, Coonrod & Associates Construction, Hutton Construction, and Simpson & Associates Construction Services.
Wichita architect Kenton Cox attended both sessions Monday and Tuesday to clarify questions by board members and to ask questions of the four CM candidates. Cox said he has worked with all four companies on previous projects.
Cox is the architect for the $35.8 million Ark City schools renovation project that includes work on all schools and the construction of a sports complex adjacent to Arkansas City High School.
Also attending the two meetings was Dwight Shoup, director of maintenance for the school district.
Ballard said the "at risk" part of construction management refers to the fact that work for every phase and piece of construction is put out for bid.
"Construction manager doesn't mean they'll do all the work," Ballard said.
All four construction management candidates indicated they could do some of the work, however, and would bid on certain types of work such as ground preparation, dirt work, concrete footings and steel superstructure.
"But there's no guarantee they will land those jobs," Ballard said.
Following are points made by each firm in their presentations covering some of the eight areas on which they are being scored:
* Educational project experience -- Simpson & Associates: 200 educational projects including 100 elementary, 30 high schools, 29 private schools and 42 higher education; Hutton: projects with USD 266 - Maize, USD 408 - Marion/Florence, four other area school districts and McPherson College; Coonrod: worked with 60 schools since 1984, on projects worth $200 million; Conco: worked on 113 projects including $1 million work on Ark City High School and $3 million work on Ark City Middle School, in 1998.
* Safety plan -- All four companies said they would develop a plan with help from school administrators and staff, the architect and professional safety consultants.
Conco's professional safety consultant, from Topeka, would require an additional fee to be paid by the school district amounting to an estimated $30,000 to $40,000 a year.
* Construction management fee (percentage of construction cost) -- Simpson: 5.25 percent; Hutton, 5.25 percent; Coonrod, 6 percent, Conco, 5.75 percent.
All four companies said they would work to have Ark City area subcontractors for work that was appropriate to those contractors specialties. Bids for each portion of the job would be called for.
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