School Board Hires Milestone

MOORE: Construction Company STOOD OUT

LINCOLN -- A Springdale construction company will oversee a project this summer to completely renovate Lincoln Middle School's cafeteria.

Lincoln Board of Education voted 3-1 last week to hire Milestone Construction Co., as its construction manager for the project, estimated to cost $700,000-$800,000. Board members Kendra Moore, Connie Meyer and Nick Brewer voted in favor of Moore's motion to go with Milestone. Dax Moreton, board vice president, voted against the motion.

During discussion, Moreton said he preferred Pick-It Construction Co. He pointed out Pick-It is local and said his experience with the company has been good. Moreton added that he thought school officials would be able to go directly to Pick-It representatives with questions during construction.

"I just want the best thing for our district and for us to be able to meet our deadline," Moreton said in the meeting.

The project schedule calls for completing the work in about three months so the remodeled cafeteria will be ready for the 2015-16 school year.

The board interviewed four companies Feb. 20 and Moore said she was most impressed with Milestone's presentation. The two other companies interviewed were C.R. Crawford Construction of Fayetteville and Flintco Construction Solutions of Springdale.

"Milestone stood out the most to me," Moore told board members at their Feb. 23 meeting, rescheduled twice because of inclement weather. Milestone brought staff who would serve as superintendent and project manager for Lincoln and Moore said that was helpful in asking them questions.

"I thought they had good experience with remodeling projects," Moore said.

Brewer also agreed that he thought Milestone would be best for Lincoln's project and Meyer said he thought Milestone or Pick-It Construction would do a good job. Board President Jim Ayers was absent from the meeting.

According to Milestone's website, the company has been involved with several school projects, including work for schools in Bentonville and Elkins.

In other action, board members approved a resolution to seek approval from Arkansas Department of Education to refund three 2010 bond issues and issue new bonds at lower interest rates. Refunding a bond issue is similar to refinancing a home mortgage.

Kevin Faught of Stephens Financial Inc. said the district has the potential to save almost $1 million in interest costs by refunding the bond issues, based on the current interest rate market. The net savings would be cumulative but most of the savings would be upfront, Faught said.

Faught said each bond issue would be refinanced separately, with two issues sold in May and the third one offered in June. He stressed that the resolution did not obligate the school district to sell the bonds.

"If rates do not come in as acceptable, you don't have to refund the issues," Faught told board members.

The board approved an evacuation plan for the district's pre-K and Little School programs. This plan is required by Arkansas Department of Health and must include a relocation site. Lincoln High School will serve as the relocation site for the children.

Following executive session, the board voted to extend the three-year contract for Superintendent Mary Ann Spears by one year and to renew one-year contracts for all administrative staff. The board hired a new bus driver and accepted the resignation of a food service employee.

After the meeting, Spears said the board upheld the termination of bus driver Karen Martin following an appeal hearing held Feb. 20. Martin, who had worked for the district for 1 1/2 years, was terminated for violation of bus driver policy and safety procedures, Spears said.

General News on 03/04/2015