Columbia School Board to vote on contractor bids

COLUMBIA — After Tuesday, 164 contractors will know for sure whether they were selected to help build Columbia's new high school.

The Columbia School Board will meet to hear final bid recommendations from JE Dunn, the company serving as the project's construction manager, at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Administration Building, 1818 W. Worley St.

The high school, scheduled to open in fall 2013, is being built using a construction management model, which means different contractors are assigned to specific parts of the project.

JE Dunn out of Kansas City is the construction manager for the project, meaning the company manages the various contractors who will take part and is evaluating the 234 bids received for the project's 48 bid packages.

The School Board chose to use this construction management model to have more say in which contractors will take part in the project.

During the board's July 15 meeting, project directors including JE Dunn, DLR Group and Charles Oestreich, director of building services for the district, told board members that the project is $7.8 million over its $75 million budget.

The project directors decided to rebid several of the packages to save money by using different building materials. They also suggested several reductions to the project plan, such as removing tennis courts and reducing bleacher seating.

The reductions mean the budget would be reduced by $6,027,805, according to documents prepared for School Board members. This would make the budget for the new high school about $160,000 over with a 5.98 percent contingency. The contingency is money set aside for unexpected costs in the construction.

Last week, board President Jan Mees said the board plans to vote on the final bid recommendations presented by JE Dunn at the Tuesday meeting.