By Rachel Herrington (The Citizen-Times, January 29, 2016, Used by permission)
Bonding potential for renovations on James E. Bazzell Middle School was the main topic of discussion during a special-called meeting of the Allen County Board of Education Monday afternoon.
Joe Nance of Brentwood, Tenn.-based Ross, Sinclaire and Associates reported that, as it stands now, $10.1 million is the bonding, or borrowing, potential to fund a major renovation project slated for JEBMS, the last of the buildings within the district that hasn’t been updated.
Nance pointed out that after July 1, an additional $500,000 is projected to be available due to a new offer from the School Facility Construction Commission coupled with an increase in state Facility Support Program of Kentucky funding.
The board is hoping to keep the construction project within an $8 million budget, coming in below the bond potential. Nance reminded board members that approving a bond resolution over the estimated cost doesn’t mean they have to spend the full $10 million.
“This is just a starting point. It doesn’t tie you into anything, but gets the process going,” Nance said. The process he was referring to was filing the BG-1 form to the Kentucky Department of Education outlining the details of the project. Approval can take 45 days.
Following motions by board members Billy Turner and Beth Edwardson, approval to file the BG-1 form for JEBMS renovation and campus site improvements passed unanimously.
In related business, two more architectural firms had given presentations on what they could offer in terms of renovations for JEBMS during a pre-meeting work session for board members.
Frankfort-based G. Scott and Associates brings nearly two decades of experience working in the Allen County school system to the table.
The firm designed the Primary Center, Intermediate Center, the Board of Education office and most recently the AC-S renovations, Athletic Complex and Career and Technical Center.
In terms of smaller projects in the district, the firm also completed work on the football practice fields, softball field, school bus compound and others.
“We have a long standing relationship with Allen County,” G. Scott and Associates project architect and founder Gary Scott said. The team has brought state-of-the-art geothermal heating and cooling capabilities to every building they’ve done here, and earned a concrete masonry award from the American Schools and Universities organization for their facade work on ACIC.
“What we have to offer is familiarity with your campus,” Craig Aossey, principal architect and managing partner added.
The firm has also done small projects such as replacing the ceilings, gym floor and bleachers at JEBMS in the early 2000s.
Aossey said their typical change order percentage is around one percent, and normally due in part to encountering “unsuitable soil,” which he said shouldn’t be an issue with this as a renovation rather than construction project.
The second firm, Lexington-based Sherman, Carter, Barnhart has designed several projects on the University of Kentucky campus, including the men’s basketball locker room. Principle architect Kenny Stanfield said the firm has done work on 95 middle schools overall, and completed 14 middle school renovations just in the past five years.
Focusing on JEBMS’s main renovation goals in the science labs, cafeteria, media center and classrooms, the firm showed conceptual images of the potential for these areas, incorporating ideas for changes to the color, acoustics of loud areas like the cafeteria, daylighting to cut energy costs and LED lighting.
“We like to say instruction drives construction,” Sherman, Carter, Barnhart’s Allison Cummings said during the presentation.
The firm also carries a reputation of less than one percent of change orders, Stanfield said.
Both firms said they’re experienced and comfortable with doing renovations with students in the building, adding that since the project will involve a construction manager, projects requiring less time could potentially be completed in phases to make the overall completion schedule more efficient. Work would tentatively begin this summer.
With more presentations to hear, the board took no action.
In other business:
Pridemasters, a leadership initiative for Allen County-Scottsville High School students, was introduced to the board in December by Public Relations Coordinator-Community Education Director Don Meador. Pridemasters’ main objectives are to help students develop pride in who they are, where they’re from and how they can make a difference in the community.
The board was unanimous in supporting the endeavor. A letter outlining the program will be sent home with AC-S students in the coming weeks.
•Several school-related items left over from the old Technical Center and AC-S renovations were declared surplus, including shop tables, computer desks, a piano, chain link fence and other items.