Board sticks with tradition on high school construction
Posted on Sunday, June 29, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/hl/News/24890/
The new Siloam Springs High School will be built using the traditional bidding and construction process, members of the Siloam Springs School Board agreed Thursday afternoon.
The board met for a work session, which is a planning meeting designed to allow the board to discuss issues at length, but no binding vote is taken. The board can, however, come to a consensus on issues to provide district leaders with direction.
Such was the case in Thursday’s meeting, when the three board members present at the work session told architects from Hight-Jackson that for this project, they want to stick with the traditional process.
The traditional process of “ design, bid, build” first involves the architects designing the full project, then putting the project out for bids. Contractors then bid on the project, and the board awards a contract, most likely to the lowest bidder. The winning company then constructs the project, in this case a new high school.
Gary Jackson of Hight-Jackson presented another, newer option called the construction-manager method. This method would involve contractors submitting proposals to the board that would be based on the company’s qualifications, instead of on a set price for a given project.
This would happen during the final stages of the design project, and the contractor would work closely with the architects during that process.
The contractor, acting as the construction-management company, would then oversee the entire construction process, including subcontractors, etc.
Jackson presented several advantages and disadvantages of both methods and said he was not trying to be a proponent of either method.
“ We can be successful in either (method ), ” he said.
The three board members present — Paulita Brooker, Louis Thomas and Brian Lamb — discussed the issue, and the members agreed they still liked the idea of the “ hard bid” process.
“ I’m comfortable with things how they are, ” Brooker said.
Construction on the new high school is expected to start next year with the building being ready for the 2011-2012 school year.