Fremont-Mills SD clears final hurdle in $5.6 million addition

The Fremont-Mills School District has selected three contractors and cleared the final major hurdle on its $5.6 million early childhood development center and auditorium addition.

On the recommendation of the district’s architect, Merle Rambo of Facilities Cost Management, the Fremont-Mills school board passed a resolution at its Oct. 25 meeting to enter into contracts for its general, electrical and mechanical needs for the project. With construction contacts in hand and dirt work and grading on the site completed by Leick Construction this Fall, the path is now paved for construction to begin this winter, according to Fremont-Mills Superintendent Dr. Chris Herrick.

Among the largest of the bids awarded was a $2.9 contract to Rogge Construction out of Lincoln, Neb., to serve as the project’s general contractor.

Drees Electric of Carroll was awarded the $359,000 electrical contract and Camblin Mechanical of Atlantic has the mechanical contract with a base bid of $523,000.

“The board still is considering some alternative bids for parking and to the early childhood center with some paving, but the big stuff is done and we’re ready to go,” said Herrick, who had his first pre-construction meeting Nov. 8. Herrick said the board will meet later this month to finalize it’s “project alternate” bids.

The early childhood development center will be located on the school building’s east side, which will allow the cramped elementary school to expand and meet the community’s growing pre-school needs. The auditorium, to be located on the current school’s southwest corner, will seat 350 for performances and large group learning. Site work on the campus will also include a new playground area, a circle drive connecting the Lied Gymnasium to a new paved parking lot and newly re-graded softball and baseball fields on the school’s east side.

Herrick said the project remains on budget at just over $5.6 million. A $3.6 million bond issue that passed overwhelmingly among district voters in September of 2015 will cover the bulk of the construction costs. The remaining $2 million in costs will be financed through the district’s Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) dollars it receives through a one-cent sales tax levy and approximately $500,000 the district has on hand ear marked for the project.

The district’s original plan had construction contracts being secured this summer for an early fall groundbreaking on the project but a crowded construction market that led to just one bid being entered caused the board to re-think. The board decided late last summer to sever the overall single construction contract into multiple, separate work projects. That change in plans saw the second bid letting this fall increase in overall number of competitive bids and had bidding coming in $700,000 less than the original June bid.

“The construction market isn’t quite so crowded now and we had more competition for bids,” Herrick said. “One general contactor bid this summer. That was due to not having enough sub-contractors. They seemed to have figured that our and we’re really pleased to have the companies we do for this work. Camblin had done a lot of our projects and this is the first time with Rogge and Drees but they both have great reputations.”

With a 14 month construction window, the district is targeting a January 2018 completion date.
 

The Opinion-Tribune

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