Friday, March 28, 2003
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Friday, March 28, 2003 |
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Is the money there? Uncertainty about state funds making Fayette school board hesitant to proceed with capital projects By J. FRANK LYNCH
Long-awaited additions to both McIntosh and Sandy Creek high schools could be put off another year if the legislature doesn't finalize the fiscal 2004 state budget within two weeks, the Fayette County school board learned Wednesday. That was one of the possibilities spelled out by central office administrators in a called meeting that lasted more than two hours and accomplished "nothing," in the words of board member Janet Smola. The board has a two-week "window of opportunity" to start the process of seeking bidders on the projects or roughly until April 14 because the first phase at both schools must be completed during summer vacation. The advertisement for bids runs four weeks by law, and two more weeks are set aside for school system staff to review them. Under that timeline, it would be Memorial Day before contracts could be awarded. Any delay beyond that will make it harder to reconstruct the parking areas before students return in August. If that threat exists, both projects will have to hold until next year. The board is hesitant to begin the bid process until it knows for certain that $6.4 million due the county will be included in the state budget. And with this week's defeat of Gov. Sonny Perdue's plan to raise the tobacco tax, all bets are off as to when an agreeable state budget will even come up for a vote. Wednesday, Smola supported going ahead with the advertisements for bids even without the state funds in hand. "The money will be there," said Smola, who along with board member Greg Powers represents the district on legislative matters. Fayette's delegation at the Capitol assured her this week that the capital outlay of $6.4 million would not be slashed from the final spending plan, she said. But Powers didn't want to risk the chance that the state wouldn't come through, forcing the board to pull the plug on both projects after bids had gone out. "I don't think we should put out bids when we don't have the money to pay for the buildings," said Powers. "I know we won't get many low bids if we make that a practice." Klaus Darnell, construction manager for Fayette schools, suggested that the bid process could be halted if the state money doesn't come through, or the board could reject all the bids automatically setting the work back to next year. Nobody felt comfortable with that approach. The $6.4 million was originally earmarked by the state for Whitewater High, but that project came in way below estimated costs. Superintendent John DeCotis proposed last year to do the McIntosh and Sandy Creek additions using that windfall, along with about $5.5 million from other capital projects that the system had managed to save here and there. But none of the proposed facilities a physical education building, renovated cafeteria and fine arts wing at McIntosh, and an auditorium at Sandy Creek can start until the parking lot work is complete, Darnell said. And at McIntosh, that means a complete reworking of the school's drainage system since laws on stormwater runoff have changed in the 20 years since it was built. Making the timing even more dicey is the fact that architectural drawings of the McIntosh project have been delayed. Specifically, the plans for retrofitting the old gym into a fine arts facility are still two weeks away from completion another complication for potential contractors. In contrast, the Sandy Creek project has been ready to go for some time, said Mike Satterfield, system facilities director. And the $5.5 million the district has on hand now is more than enough to complete it. Board members Marion Key and Powers insisted, though, that it wouldn't be right to proceed with the Sandy Creek auditorium when the board "promised" the McIntosh community it would be next on the list of priorities. "When we approved the last bond, we said if we get some leftover money we're going to use it on McIntosh," said Powers, pointing out that most of the work scheduled for McIntosh was originally part of the SPLOST referendum that failed in 2000. "Taking that and putting it toward Sandy Creek would be like robbing Peter to pay Paul." Board members agreed that both projects need to be undertaken at the same time, though the McIntosh plans call for a near two-year completion time. If the Sandy Creek work gets underway this summer, the auditorium could conceivably be done by spring of 2004. Satterfield said county staff is prepared to manage the reconstruction of the McIntosh parking lot and the work needs doing as soon as possible anyway. The board gave the OK to proceed with that. But DeCotis expressed reluctance to ask the board to vote on going ahead with the full bid process. "I think the whole board needs to be behind it," he said. Powers and Key were against proceeding, while Smola and board member Lee Wright expressed the desire to go ahead and approve the plan, giving the state the benefit of the doubt. Board chairwoman Terri Smith said she couldn't decide which way to go, and the meeting adjourned without any official action. If lawmakers finish the 2004 spending plan or offer any other assurance that the board feels confident in, they can proceed with the bid process until April 14 or so, said comptroller Jim Stephens. After that, it would be nearly impossible for a contractor to meet the deadlines. "Hopefully, by April 14 we'll have a state budget," said Stephens.
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