Central Lee pushes K-8 project back

DONNELLSON – A $3.5 million expansion of the Central Lee elementary school has been put on hold due to project bids above expected estimates.
At Tuesday’s regular board meeting, the board voted unanimously to reject all project and bond bids for the project with an aim to rebid the project in the fall of 2026.
Superintendent Dr. Andy Crozier recommended the rejection saying the move just wasn’t in the district’s best interests currently.
“I make the recommendation that we reject the construction bids and the bond bids today,” said Superintendent Dr. Andy Crozier.
“The bond bids are in there, too, because if we do this process again in the fall, the interest rates might be better. I don’t know about construction costs at that point. And obviously, we know the world doesn’t get cheaper each month or each year you prolong something. But at this point, I don’t feel like this is the right move for the district.”
Kendall Deter, a pre-Construction Manager with Estes Construction, said the project came in over budget because the original estimates were overly optimistic considering the small footprint of the project. He also said several of the bid packages only garnered one bid.
But he agreed that bidding could be more favorable in the fall as prices continue to stabilize in the market as well as redefining the scope of the project a little bit around concrete.
“On the next go-round let’s get some changes implemented and, unfortunately, we had a couple packages with just a single bid and we need to do a little more reconnaissance on why that was,” Deter said.
“While the costs may go up we don’t have the whole crystal ball. We know labor costs are not going to go down. Materials are the fluctuating factor, and we haven’t seen a lot of cost escalation in the last year or two so, hopefully, that trend continues.”
Board member Brock Westfall said he wasn’t excited about pushing the project down the road but understood the reasons why. The project at $3.5 million was for four classrooms, with the fourth classroom being bid as an alternative package.
“I’m for the four classrooms. I just want that out there,” Westfall said.
“I don’t like pushing this down the road. I know it’s more and I don’t like spending money. I struggle with pushing this. But I know from sitting in on earlier meetings, I had my mind set at $4 million. I really did. But I get it.”
Mark Hulsebus made the recommendation that the district reject the construction bids and the four bids for borrowing against the district’s SAVE funds.
Crozier said the district put in 12 months of work and to deny it at the last minute is disappointing.

“Not that it’s anyone’s blame by any means. But you put in a lot of work and you hope to see that to fruition and then you have to wait a year,” he said.
“I’m not saying this is going to make it any easier, but sometimes patience is a virtue.”
The district got just one bid each for concrete work, masonry work, and window glazing work. And Estes Construction themselves had the low bid on general trades work on the project.
Accepting the low bids on just the base package was right at $2.12 million. With $1.17 million in indirect costs which includes construction management costs, contingencies, and design costs, the project came in at $3.3 million. 
Minimal bids for the fourth classroom alternative added $550,000 to the work, for a $3.8 million project.
The board held a public hearing in September with no opposition to the project, which was planned to be funded out of the district’s Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) funds. Those funds are not property tax generated but come from sales tax generated throughout the state.
The district had planned to pay off the bond in just four years and not the typical 10-to-20-year term, and the funds cannot be used for anything but the K-8 building expansion.
The project would have added three additional classrooms to the building with some additional restrooms and common spaces.
Crozier also had some cautious words about state per-pupil funding over the next three or four years. Crozier said he's hearing that state funding allowances for next year is being kicked around at 0 to 1% and he said that could be the case for the foreseeable future.
"We're hearing anything from 0 to 1% for SSA. I'm telling you right now, you're going to be hearing 0 to 1% for the next three years," he said.
Crozier said the work the district did to put itself on solid financial footing will be important over the next three to four years.
"I'm saying public education, in general, is going to have some significant challenges over the next three or four years," he said.
"I'm not trying to project doom and gloom. I'm just projecting what I believe to be reality," he said. 
He said the state is projecting net revenue growth of -9% this year, or about $800 million, that will present "severe" challenges over the next few years.