High School moves forward
Bids to be let on March 22
Hartselle School Board heard some good news and some not so good news about the status of the new Hartselle High School construction project at a regular board meeting Monday night.
Project manager Brian Moore of Martin & Colby Construction reported that architectural plans for the $40 million facility will be handed over to the Alabama Department of Education this week for review and approval and March 22 is the target date for putting the project out for bids.
“We’ve got a healthy number of bidders lined up,” he added, “and I see no red flags as far as staying within budget is concerned.
When board member Dr. James Joy asked about the timetable for completion; however, Moore said opening the school in August 2012 is a little iffy.
“This is a big project,” he pointed out, “and we knew at the start that it will take 18 months to complete. “It will take approximately four weeks to mobilize the project after a low bid is accepted and a contract is signed.
While site preparation work is going full speed at present, Moore pointed out that inclement weather in January and early February slowed down site preparation.
“The contractor lost 20 working days in January and early February due to bad weather,” reported Jim Maynard, who is also a project manager with Martin & Colby. “The lost days were added to a 120-day contract and the due date for completion was extended to late April.
Dr. Joy also asked for scenarios in the event the project is not competed in time for school opening in 2012.
“There’s always the possibility of getting the main building ready for occupancy first and completing other parts of the project after school starts, Moore stated. ”I’ll let you know exactly what to expect at your March meeting.”
“Should the building not be ready, it’s not inconceivable that we couldn’t move in the building prior to the start of the second semester.” Superintendent Dr. Mike Reed stated. “We have to take into consideration that we still have 18 month of weather ahead of us and there’s nothing we can do about that.”
