Board Decides On Two Of Four Improvement Proposals

LINCOLN -- Bid packages on a major project to improve drainage on Lincoln High School campus totaled more than $675,000, leading Lincoln School Board members last week to decide to complete two of the four proposals.

Companies were invited to submit bids on four separate areas for site improvements, with the areas designated as 1-4, based on priority.

Greg Ferus, senior project manager with Milestone Construction Co., in Springdale, presented bid tabulations at the Board's Feb. 27 meeting.

Bids for priority Area 1 totaled $383,350 for expenses that included concrete, earthwork and asphalt paving. Bids for Area 2 were $89,000; Area 3, $67,775; and Area 4, $137,750.

No votes were taken but board members indicated they wanted to go ahead with drainage improvements to Areas 1 and 2 and at the same time, move ahead on another project to finish the high school's football field house.

Bid tabulations for the field house show the project would cost about $550,000.

Board members had several questions about ways to reduce the costs of both projects and Ferus said he would make some calls to check on that.

"If we can find as many thousands as we can out there, I think it would be benefiting," said board member Dax Moreton.

For the field house, Ferus said the school might save costs by going with different manufacturers and different brand names.

The field house plans show the facility would have air conditioning and board members thought that had been removed from the specifications, except for air conditioning in the coach's office. The bid tabulation shows heating, ventilation and air conditioning would cost more than $90,000.

Ferus pointed out that when the school looked at finishing the fieldhouse about 1 1/2 years ago, the cost was estimated to be around $620,000.

"I feel we have some pretty good numbers," Ferus said. "There's a lot of work there."

Board member Kendra Moore said she thought the board should be "good stewards" of the school's money. She said personally she would like to see "a few more scrubbing of the numbers" but added she thought the cost figures were close.

Moreton asked Ferus to see if more savings would be possible if the drainage and fieldhouse projects were completed at the same time.

Ferus said he would bring revised costs to the board's March meeting, rescheduled for March 13.

Superintendent Mary Ann Spears recommended an April 1 start date on the drainage project so it would be finished during the summer before school starts in August.

In other action, board members accepted the resignation of three employees, effective June 30: Brian Davenport, Cynthia Bryson and Helen Oliver. Davenport has been with the district three years and is a coach and physical education/health teacher at the high school. Bryson, a third-grade teacher, and Oliver, an elementary aide, are retiring.

General News on 03/08/2017