By ALICIA FEYERHERM
Tiger Media Network
USD 489 Board of Education approved a Construction Manager’s Guaranteed Maximum Price for the Felten Elementary School project for $5,734,887.
Board member Derek Yarmer said he has requested several times for larger purchases to be brought up at least one meeting prior to approval.
“This is a recurring theme of ‘we have to do this now, ’” Yarmer said.
Superintendent Ron Wilson said Nabholz attended the January 19 board meeting and discussed these projects, citing a Hays Post article.
Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Chris Hipp further clarified that the exact Guaranteed Maximum Price was not set until last week, but the proposal comes in lower than what was presented to the board in January.
“Yes, you didn’t have the GMP because they were still working on that, but as far as the budget piece, their GMP is coming in under what was held,” Hipp said.
Wilson emphasized the importance of moving forward with these projects to ensure a smooth transition at the start of the school year.
“You are putting these teachers in a bind,” Wilson said.
“We’re not saying we’re not going to approve it, we’re saying we’re just trying to make sure that we have the right information,” Board Member Jayme Goetz said. “I don’t know why you’re getting so upset about it.”
Building and Grounds Director Rusty Lindsay came forward and urged the board to approve the Guaranteed Maximum Price, as delays cause further issues.
“It just creates utter chaos and creates a bad work environment for everybody involved because everybody is pushed up against it and they’re mad at everybody,” Lindsay said.
He said he understands wanting these decisions to come before the board sooner.
“I get the procedural piece of it, but also keep in mind what you’re doing to your own staff by having this argument at this point,” Lindsay said.
Board Vice President Ruth Ruder said she was confused about the delay, since this was part of the bond and had been brought up at a previous meeting.
Yarmer reinforced that large expenditures should be brought before the board in advance.
“In the future, going forward, say expenditures more than $100,000 that we talk about at the board meeting before it’s actually brought before us for a vote,” Yarmer said.
He understood the concerns about delaying approval, but further stated that large purchases should be brought forward sooner.
“My answer to the problem would be vote ‘yes’ on this, but the admin have [that agreement going forward],” Yarmer said.
Wilson said it had been brought up before, but Yarmer requested that the final proposal or numbers be brought to the meeting beforehand.
“That was an estimate, not a proposal,” Yarmer said.
Board Member Ken Brooks called for the vote. The motion passed 4-2 with Yarmer and Park voting against.
Other items from the meeting included:
- Approval of the HVAC preventative maintenance agreement with Glassman Corp.
- Instead of approving an agreement through December 31, 2029, as presented, the board amended to extend the preventative maintenance agreement through the end of this calendar year and to discuss the agreement again no later than the last board meeting of November 2026.
- A motion to approve the District Administrator and Director contract extensions failed. The contracts will be revisited at the next meeting.
The next Board of Education meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. on March 9 at the Rockwell Administration Building.