School Board Searching for Available Funding for Building 8 – Approves Sending Employee Bonus to County Commission
The Jefferson County School Board held their Regular Voting Meeting on Thursday, October 23, 2014 in the Patriot Academy.
Chairman Jarnigan Called the Meeting to Order. All School Board Members were present for Roll Call. The Agenda was Approved, with a Motion from Board Member Vines and 2nd from Board Member Cavanah, following additions of the School Board retreat and the intercom system/baseball lights. Only one item was on the Consent Agenda, the Minutes from the September 25, 2014 meeting, and it was moved to an action item per request of Board Member Potts.
One citizen, Jefferson County Commissioner John McGraw, addressed the Board with concerns regarding the safety of Building 8 and a request that the issues by addressed.
The Board received a program overview from a former participant of Powley’s Flight Foundation. In Unfinished Business, information regarding the plans for Building 8 and associated costs were brought by the Lewis Group and Rentenbach. Costs for the repair and renovation of Building 8 were reported to be $3,618,426 not including any Architectural or Engineering fees and the furnishing and installation of equipment in Building 8, beyond a ventilated chemical storage cabinet with a cost of $600. A Rentenbach representative informed the Board that the work would be classified as a change order to the current renovation contract to allow the bids to remain with current contractors, rather than an open bid. According to information by the representative, $624,000 for work on Building 8 that was in the original Jefferson County High School renovation plans is now in the neighborhood of $450,000. Upon questions being presented regarding owner and contractor contingency, the representative stated that the owner contingency is tapped when changes or issues are outside the scope of the contract and the contractor contingency kicks in for project scope gaps and issues related to sub contractor performance.
Jefferson County Finance Director Helton and Director of Jefferson County Schools Edmonds stated that the amount needed to fund the project currently is $2,726,369 which includes around $200,000 in design, inspection and equipment fees. Should the School System by successful in its pending litigation against Traveler’s Insurance, that amount would drop by $800,000 to $1,926,369. Upon recommendation from Edmonds and with a Motion from Board Member Rogers and 2nd from Vines, the Board Approved 6-0 (Board Member Lowery abstaining) to accept the Building 8 plans and use Rentenbach as the construction manager. Edmonds also recommended sending a request to the County Commission for funding for the project in the amount of $2,726,369 and Vines made the Motion (Rogers 2nd) to accept that recommendation. Board Member Potts stated that she has concerns with asking for the total amount, rather than utilizing funds available to bring a lower funding cost to the County Commission. Potts offered an amendment to use $450,000 of previously funded money for the Building 8 portion of the renovation of JCHS proper, $575,000 of funding from Capitol Projects that was discussed in previous meetings as available for use on the Building 8 project and $760,000 in owners contingency that will be available if the County Commission takes out a bond for the $5 million dollar cash commitment because slightly over $1 million of the $5million cash contribution to the renovation of JCHS proper is designated to come from the School Board Fund Balance and will not be needed if the full $5 million is funded. The conbined amounts will lessen the funding request by $1,785,000. She was 2nd by Board Member Bradley. Potts/Bradley withdrew their amendment in favor of waiting until Finance Director Helton could return with more information regarding the Capitol Project’s Budget and other items. Potts made a High Priority Motion to Postpone until the next meeting and was 2nd by Bradley. The Motion Passed 4-3 with Jarnigan, Rogers and Vines voting No.
Policy Changes for review and adoption (second reading) were Approved with a Motion from Bradley and 2nd from Vines. Resolution 2014-19 declaring surplus property for student nutrition was Approved with a Motion from Bradley and 2nd from Vines.
Upon a Motion from Rogers and 2nd from Bradley the Board Approved the 2014 School System Compliance Report. Finance Director Helton informed the Board that documents have been sent to the Jefferson City Tennis Association for review. In other general items of information the Board was informed that the JCHS band, choral and art rooms, as well as the restroom will be ready by the 1st of the year. According to contractors the renovation project is more than 60% complete.
Director Edmonds recommended that two surplus buses be donated, with one going to the Jefferson County Rescue Squad and one to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department. The recommendation was Approved with a Motion from Bradley and 2nd from Rogers. Upon a Motion from Vines and 2nd from Rogers, the Board Approved General Budget Amendment #4 and Federal Budget Amendment #4. With a Motion from Potts and 2nd from Cavanah, the Board Passed minor policy changes ( first reading) on policies 1.101 Duties and Power of the Board of Education-1.102 Board Member Legal Status, 2.805 Purchasing ( no change) and 2.8051 Authorized Signature. The Motion Passed 4-3.
Finance Director Helton stated that the Department of Education rolled over $240,000 from last fiscal year. Board Member Potts made a Motion to request a bonus in the same fashion as the County Commission approved for County employees for all Department of Education employees, including certified. Potts stated that she would rather see all employees get some bonus than to exclude certified employees. Her motion was 2nd by Bradley and Passed 6-0-1 with Jarnigan abstaining. Chairman Jarnigan requested an extended January work session. The Chair decided, due to the late hour, to roll agenda items under items for information. Board Member Potts made a Motion to have the Baseball lights and intercom systems installed by March 1, 2014 and was 2nd by Cavanah. The Motion Passed 7-0. The Minutes from the September meeting will be corrected and presented at the next meeting, as well as requested financial information. The Jefferson County School Board will meet for a Called Meeting on Tuesday, October 28, 2014 at 6:30 in the Patriot Academy.
