HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 10-17-2006-9aORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: October 17, 2006
Action Agenda
Item No. ~ - q.
SUBJECT: Approval of Final Plans for CHCCS Elementary #10
DEPARTMENT: Manager/Budget PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
10/11/06 LEDAHF Memo Rod Visser, 919-245-2308
Elementary #10 Site Plan Donna Dean Coffey, 919-245-2151
Elementary #10 Final Building Design
PURPOSE: To review and approve final plans for the construction of Elementary School #10
in the Chapel Hill=Carrboro City School (CHCCS) system.
BACKGROUND: At the June 27, 2006 regular meeting of the Orange County Commissioners,
the Board reviewed and approved the project concept for the construction of CHCCS
Elementary #10 on the northern portion of the Twin Creeks school/park campus near the
intersection of Old NC 86 and Eubanks Road in Chapel Hill Township. Elementary #10 is being
planned as a prototype using the same design (less a community gymnasium) that was used for
Rashkis Elementary, which opened in August 2003. The designed size of the building is
90,229 square feet, which is consistent with the Elementary School Construction Standards
approved by the Board of Commissioners in May 1996.
The Board of Commissioners' "Policy on Planning and Funding School Capital Projects',
adopted in November 2000, provides for school construction project approval in several phases.
As noted above, BOCC conceptual approval for the project was provided in June 2006. The
next phase, described in Section 6 of the policy, provides for the school system to advertise for
construction bids following Board of Commissioner approval .of final plans for the project. If the
BOCC provides that approval at this October 17 meeting, CHCCS will be able to solicit bids in
November with an anticipated mid-December bid opening date. As reflected in the
accompanying site and building design drawings, the final design of Elementary#10 is
substantively unchanged from the prototype design endorsed by the BOCC in June 2006.
Pursuant to a request from the BOCC to carefully review CHCCS' s contemplated project
budget for Elementary #10, County staff asked Jeff Thompson, Executive Director of the Linked
Economic Development and Affordable Housing Foundation (LEDAHF), to examine the project's
anticipated hard costs (e.g. site preparation, construction, infrastructure) and soft costs (e.g.
architectural, engineering, and development review fees) for conformance with the adopted
school construction standards and for potential savings. LEDAHF is anon-profit agency
previously retained by the County that has rendered excellent project and construction
management services related to various County projects such as the SportsPlex acquisition and
the development of two new senior centers. Mr. Thompson's analysis is provided in.the
accompanying memo. Specific cost saving opportunities will be pursued in collaboration with
CHCCS staff over the next several months and can be factored into the bid award and project
budget decisions to be made by the Board of Education and BOCC in January 2007.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The County's current debt issuance schedule includes $12.8 million in
alternative financing towards the construction of Elementary #10. Moreover, additional debt for
this project has been earmarked as part of the multi-year $92 million debt issuance plans the
Board endorsed at the September 14, 2006 work ,session.
The project is currently under development review by the Town of Carrboro, in whose planning
jurisdiction the new school is situated. The Town has accepted this project for expedited review,
so development approvals are anticipated in December 2006. The final project budget for
Elementary #10 will be shaped both by the conditions placed on the development approvals by
the Town, and by the construction market as it exists when bids are received by CHCCS in
December 2006.
The final project budget would be established as part of the capital project ordinance to be
adopted by the BOCC to carry through the construction phase of the project. Based on
CHCCS's current project timeline, Board of Education consideration of the bid awards is slated
for January 4, 2007. BOCC approval of the project budget and associated capital project
ordinance is tentatively slated for the January 23, 2007 regular Commissioners' meeting. This
timeline would track with CHCCS plans to open Elementary #10 for the 2008-09 academic year.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board approve the final plans
for Elementary #10 grid authorize the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools to solicit bids for the
construction of a 90,229 square foot elementary school consistent with the accompanying plans.
MEMORANDUM
TO: Rod Visser, Interim County Manager
FROM: Jeff Thompson, LEDAHF, Inc.
RE: Elementary #10 Budget and Funding Process Analysis
DATE: October 10, 2006
Over the last several weeks, I have examined the processes and documentation
surrounding Elementary #10 project budgeting, historical budgeting, procedures
surrounding the last three elementary school projects (McDougle, Scroggs, and
Rashkis), and the existing and contemplated school construction standards. I have had
nothing short of the full support of both the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School System
staff (Steve Scroggs and Bill Mullin) as well as the Orange County staff (Donna Coffey,
Ken Chavious, and Pam Jones) through this process.
At this point, I~submit several relevant observations and recommendations to Orange
County Commissioners and Staff:
1. Conformance with existing construction standards. The Elementary #10 design
and pre-construction process is in conformance with the published County
policies and procedures. The County and CHCCS staffs enjoy a productive,
collegial relationship that fosters this conformance as well as the collective
attitude to improving the standards for higher efficiencies in cost and effort to
deliver optimal learning and instructional environments.
2. Necessity to authorize CHCCS to solicit bids for the construction of a 90,229
square foot Elementary #10 facility and grounds. I strongly recommend that
CHCCS be allowed to solicit bids without disclosing to the public through apre-
bid construction and development budget to the marketplace. CHCCS loses
nothing in receiving bids for construction prior to the County Capital Project
Ordinance being presented, debated and acted upon. Orange County and
CHCCS must protect and defend their internal planning budgets and allocated
development and construction funds against a construction marketplace that will
"price" any budget expectation into its offered contract for services pricing at bid
time. The same is true .for "soft costs" such as design, engineering and other
professional fees.
3. Process improvement. On a policy and protocol level, I suggest several areas
that can be improved upon within the school standards, funding policies, and
accountability processes within the current system. I have presented various
themes for improvement with the joint County and CHCCS staffs over several
meetings. Both groups have embraced the notion of working together in
partnership to craft recommendations for the Board of County Commissioners
and the CHCCS Board of Education over the next several weeks.
T
4. Budget line item examination and improvement. On a more tactical level, I
recommend that the County and CHCCS staffs work together to:
1) remove redundancies in costs within the budget;
2) examine and negotiate third party standards and scopes of service; and
3) disconnect cost expectations and fee structures from the hard construction
costs.
Again, I have presented variations of these themes for improvement with the joint
County and CHCCS staffs and have had the same positive response in working
through them for presentation to the BOCC and CHCCS School Board over the
next several weeks.
5. Inclusion of the Orange County Schools within the spirit of the policy and budget
improvement process. All of these themes should be applicable to the Orange
County School System. At some point and with the appropriate protocol, the
Orange County Staff should be invited to the discussions.
I look forward to continuing to work with the County and CHCCS Staffs on these
initiatives. I am confident that, together, we can present a defensible, reasonable
budget ready for approval at the appropriate point after construction bids are received
and evaluated (targeted for the January BOCC meeting cycle). This presentation time
will not extend the anticipated CHCCS construction schedule.
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