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Monticello Board accepts bids for building project SYLVIA MCGINNIS News Reporter The news was a little bit better for members of the Monticello Independent Board of Education Monday evening, as they once again heard from Joe Nance of Ross, Sinclaire and Associates, fiscal agent for the construction project for the new school. During their regular monthly meeting Monday, March 20, Nance informed board members that they have received approval from the Department of Education to move forward with the project and that funding is now in place to cover the cost of the base bid. This was definitely better news than the board received during last month's meeting, when Nance advised them to wait another 30 days before taking any action on the bids that had been submitted just to make sure that funding would be available for the project. It was a disappointing delay, but the board opted to take Nance's advice. At last month's meeting they did not take any action on the bids for the construction project but did approve the site development package so they could get the project started. After informing board members that they had received approval to continue with the project and that funding was now available, Nance reviewed the BG1 form and other handouts with the board members. He noted that the original plans for the building includes the base bid plus five alternates. Nance stated that the funding that is currently in place will only cover the cost of the base bid and will not cover any of the alternate packages. However, he explained to board members that there is the strong possibility that they will be receiving additional funding that will cover the cost for most of the alternate packages. That funding is not in place yet, and Nance indicated that they should know within the next couple of weeks if Monticello Independent School had received the additional money. Once they know whether or not the additional funding is available for the project then at that point they can decide which alternate packages to accept. For now, Nance said the board could move forward with the base bid and take action regarding the alternate packages at a later date, if the need arises. Following this discussion, the board recessed the regular meeting and called to order the meeting of the Monticello Independent School District Finance Corporation. The first order of business for the Monticello Independent School District Finance Corporation, which consists of the board members, was to confirm officers for the entity. Ronnie Sexton serves as president of the district finance corporation, Jack Lair acts as the vice-president, Donnie Robison is the secretary and Glenette Hurd is the treasurer. Once the officers for the district finance corporation were confirmed, they voted to adopt a resolution regarding the issuance of revenue bonds and to also adopt a resolution authorizing the issuance of qualified zone academy bonds. After adopting these resolutions, they adjourned the meeting of the Monticello Independent School District Finance Corporation and returned to the regular board meeting. Once the regular board meeting was called back to order, the board heard from Daryl Wheeler of Venture Contracting, Inc., the construction manager for the project. He provided board members with a list of all the bids they were going to ask the board to approve. He noted that board members had already approved the first bid last month, which was for the site development package. After Wheeler and members of the board reviewed the bids, the board voted to accept construction bids and purchase orders as recommended by the const ruction manager and architect. Then, they had to adopt two resolutions as the Monticello Independent Board of Education, which were similar to those they had already adopted as the Monticello Independent School District Finance Corporation. Board members adopted a resolution authorizing the issuance of revenue bonds and they also adopted a second resolution which authorized the issuance of qualified zone academy bonds. Board members questioned Wheeler about when construction crews will actually start working on the project. He noted that they plan to start moving dirt soon if the weather cooperates. In other action, the board: * approved the calendar for the 2006-2007 school year. The calendar approved by the board has August 9 slated as the first day of school for students, with August 7 being the opening day for faculty and August 8 set aside as a professional development day. * recognized three students who competed in Governor's Cup competitions. Jarrod Ingles competed in social studies, Chelsea Cordeiro-Shaffer competed in language arts, and Tasia York competed in areas of written composition. Monticello Principal Johnny Chaplin noted that these students competed in the District Governor's Cup competition, as well as Regional and State Governor's Cup competitions. "They've really represented Monticello well," noted Chaplin. * approved offering college credit courses through Somerset Community College (SCC). Monticello Independent currently has two teachers that meet SCC's criteria and are qualified to teach a college-level class. With this partnership, students enrolled at Monticello Independent can take a course and receive both high school and college credit. However, students who enroll in these classes will be required to pay tuition to SCC. The dual credit courses Monticello plans to offer to students includes Chemistry and English. Chaplin noted that there is a possibility that Spanish may be offered as well. * approved 2006-2007 tentative school council allocations. * reviews Monticello School staffing policies. * approved Greattinger and Crowley as auditor for the 2005-2006 school year. * voted to increase stipends for the volleyball head coach and assistant coach to match the stipends of the softball head coach and assistant coach. * heard a personnel report. * heard a request from board member Jerry Lair that the school contribute toward the purchase of a child-size resuscitation mat for the Wayne County EMS. Superintendent Donnie Robison noted that this is a worthy cause and he felt like the board could contribute to it. He asked that members of the board wait until next month before taking any action in the matter so he could review the school's budget and determine how much they could contribute. Add a comment |
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