BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – Union County Board of Education selected an architect for upcoming construction projects in the November meeting.

Breaux and Associates received contract approval with the stipulation submitted pending department party approval. The school is only obligated to the architectural firm for the CTA building and primary school. The elementary school is too far out to establish the contract.

The pay schedule will be percentage based depending on the scale of each project.

“We have to have them in place; then we have to have our construction manager advertised for at least 28 days. We believe a construction manager at risk is the best option for our district with three different projects running simultaneously,” Assistant Superintendent David Murphy explained.

The construction company also needs to have the “horsepower” to complete all three projects.

Breaux and Associates have built several school facilities including CCA buildings, additions, and football fields. Image courtesy of Breaux and Associates.

Once selected, representatives from the construction and architectural firm can collaborate to build the best and most cost-effective school facilities.

The contract would cover upcoming architectural work within the next 24 months, such as a new elementary building, college and career academy, and minor projects where an architect is necessary.

The school chose from six architectural firms, interviewed four, and sought prices from the top three. The difference in price between the final two was half a percent.

Officials spoke with other schools in the area to learn more about the quality of work.

“We based our invitations to the firms that we invited to interview on a lot of historical data. Most of the local schools that have had an expansion in the last ten years we contacted them. [We spoke with] all the superintendents and facilities directors [for] preferences that we have, who we should look at, who we should stay away from,” Facilities Director Patton explained.

One firm did turn down the invitation because it had too much work to continue to take on more.

“It came down to a decision on the fee schedule,” Patton added.

Ideally, the school system would like to issue an RFP so construction companies can bid for the job and select the company best suited in January 2021 in a called board meeting.

Superintendent John Hill explained, “We can work on the drawings…and we can start construction of the new facility in September. One reason we want to wait to start any construction on the primary school and renovation to the current CTAE lab is we can apply for state funding in July through the [department of education]. We can get some renovation money on the current vocational lab. We can get substantial renovation money on the primary school.”

The primary and CTAE renovations would begin in the summer of 2022.

Chairman Tony Hunter asked if the application for funds to the state would save local tax funds. Hill confirmed that it would.

Another example of Breaux and Associates’ work.

Pioneer RESA Facilities Consultant Doug Fields advised that the school system could receive $2 million in state funds for the primary school.

“It allows us to deplete our entitlement funds. Remember, [Fields] talked about creating the need. So that depletes our entitlement funds, so I think that gives us $4 or $5 million more plus the early advanced money. That would help us out for down the road as well. He gave us some really good information to maximize dollars for our taxpayers,” Assistant Superintendent David Murphy stated.

Board member Jana Akins asked if Fields’ previous conversations about timetables and processes remained part of the plan. Hill advised that it still is the plan, but timelines needed to be sightly tweaked due to COVID-19 and the career academy $3 million grant.

The site evaluation plan for the elementary is still in process because the department of education is moving slowly. Also, the site approval for the CTAE building has begun.

“Lot of hiccups with the [department of education] on the funding side that Fields can help us,” said Hill.

“So, the idea is still a new 2-5 facility, major overhaul at the primary and then basically [closing older buildings]?” Akins asked.

The board and Fields previously discussed closing the old high school building so it couldn’t accumulate entitlement funds. The facility can still be used, but state funding can’t go toward repairs or updates to the building.

The building would fall into an ESPLOST 6 project.

“We handle ourselves, conduct ourselves properly we can utilize a little bit of ESPLOST 5 money to complete all our projects,” Hill explained. “Our community has grown so much that SPLOST cap was set 21 million years away. If the economy holds strong like it is now, we’ll hit that cap early. We’ll hopefully have that EPLOST 6 passed here early. We can start construction as early as 2023 on the elementary…the elementary would probably be a July abdication of 2023, so it would be 2024…if EPLOST 6 passes, we could bank some money, save our money. Totally believe in what you all have set forward, which is pay as you go, no bonding.”

“Let’s maximize our state dollars, keep our local taxes down, and be able to complete this project. It may take us another year or two, but I’d much rather do that than be in debt,” Hill declared.

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