At a special meeting Jan. 17, the board amended the original agreement with contractor Muckleroy & Falls from approximately $27.1 million to about $28 million.
“As the administration has been working with the contractor and as the project went through the permitting process with the city of Southlake, several items required changes by the city along with some existing and unforeseen conditions that have added cost to this project,” according to CISD documents.
There were unanticipated challenges in meeting the city’s requirements and with underground utilities, Bond Program Manager John Haugen said.
“We discovered a lot of utilities were not located where they would have thought to have been,” Haugen said. “As you can appreciate, the intersection of Peytonville and Southlake Boulevard [where the school is] is kind of the main artery that feeds that campus from a utilities standpoint, so we’re kind of building right in the heart of that artery.”
Savings from other areas in the $208 million bond package will go towards covering these new costs, according to meeting documents.
Typically, these bond projects are compiled with worst case scenarios in mind so that there is some flexibility to cover unanticipated expenses, Haugen said.
“The reality is we have to make sure we have allotted enough money to meet the commitments that we’ve made to the taxpayers with the bond dollars,” he said.
Haugen said he will continue trying to negotiate lower costs moving forward.
Trustees approved the adjusted contract with a 6-0 vote. Trustee Bradley Taylor was absent from this meeting.
The school board also approved using 2017 bond funds to purchase and install new sound systems in gymnasiums and cafeterias, add video intercoms for safety and security and add phones across CISD. The district has allocated up to $1.1 million for these projects, which are within budget.
