Stanton Board selects construction manager

 and expansion project has cleared another hurdle.
At a special meeting Jan. 28, the board reviewed four companies that had submitted a request for proposal for the position of construction manager at-risk. Superintendent David Gute recommended the proposal from Hausmann Contractors of La Vista, Neb. based on a scoring rubric that was used to evaluate proposals submitted. The board approved Gute’s recommendation.
At ta recent meeting of the board, Kevin Schluckebier with KPE Architecture of Omaha along with representatives of Hausmann contractors were in attendance to give the latest update on the project now that a construction manager at-risk had been selected.
“We’ve had a couple meetings with Hausmann, digging into the constructability of elements of the project so that the blending of design and construction come together the way they need to. We can design it ten ways to Sunday, but we’ll pick the way that they want to construct it. Then we’re all on the same page as we move forward, thinking about pricing, about availability, about contractors and materials. Those are the things that we’re already digging into as we’re working on their contract to get them on board and proceeding toward the final goal,” advised Schluckebier.
As things proceed, Schluckebier said the board will see a bit more development on the casework and such up front and changes to some of the plan layouts.
“At one point, we had a space set for a conference room. As we looked at the number of spaces and some of those things, we’ve kind of had those breakout spaces be pulled around the building a little bit. The current elementary office we made into a classroom, which was a pretty good-sized classroom. As we’ve continued talking about it, we’ve decided we’re going to make it more equitable to the other elementary classrooms and be able to keep what is currently the nurse’s area in the back couple of offices as Title or a breakout space,” explained Schluckebier.
With that change, they will still be able to maintain a restroom and it would still open up to the lobby area for expanded opportunities, book fair, or whatever those activities may be if it isn’t being used as a full classroom. Plans continue to be to break up the second grade into two spaces.
“We have the spaces for the things that you have on the docket today and we’re continuing to make sure that we have additional spaces beyond what you have now to really expand on the types of programs that could be in shared spaces in the future,” Schluckebier stated.
The guidance counselor was also seeking a spot where students didn’t have to go through the office to be seen, so plans are to move that office to a hub between elementary and the high school which also opened up a bit more storage space for both the nurse and for the guidance counselor.
Schluckebier said they also looked at the flow, the circulation, and connectivity between the different spaces and felt they had some good developments that are happening.
“We’re still working on a little bit more of the detail with the work room, specifically down to different casework types and the locations of equipment. That’s the next level of development that we’ll be working on here, along with the aesthetics from the outside and what they are going to be,” commented Schluckebier.
Also under discussion was some of the phasing elements and discussion in what portions of the project could begin first.
“We may want to keep the office where it is for the first part of next year, utilize those spaces as they are, and get the breakout space going. It allows more area for offices to occur from both areas because that elementary area is probably going to get utilized during this first summer, and that way we don’t have loud and big things coming into the middle of the elementary school during the school year and we can minimize that interruption,” said Schluckebier.
The current plan, as soon as school is out, would be that the district would lose access to the entry to the elementary while ongoing construction takes place. Mechanical work will also be happening around the school as well and within the gym. A big focus now is pricing and they continue to get into some of the cost estimates so they can really understand the phasing and other elements of the construction and timeline. While there was some flexibility, Gute said there were some hard goals
“We have to follow the direction that we were talking about in the bond. The things that are listed in there, those have to be done and touched on. If there’s money left over, there are other things that you can do, but you have to address all the items that were noted in the bond issue’s passing,” advised Gute.
Dan Ritter, representing Hausmann Construction, said they are currently working with the lawyers to get the contracts tied down which will be the next piece submitted to the board for approval.
“Behind the scenes, we’re working with KPE to settle on the materials that are available for the summer. It’s going to be a pretty quick start in turnover. The mechanical equipment, the steel, those are the things we’re getting locked down to make sure that we have them on hand at the time we need them. The lead time on a big AC unit for a gym could be quite lengthy, so we’re getting the jump on those types of things. Some things are eight months out before we can get them, some might only be three or four months out,” explained Ritter.
Ritter added that they’ll be able to find a variety of materials at different availabilities and costs, and the board could then determine if paying a slightly higher cost for materials that were available in a better time frame would be a valid option.
“Sometimes you may agree to have a higher price because the availability is shorter. So we can balance all those and make decisions on the real market that is fairly nimble in how it’s changing,” stated Ritter.
Schluckebier added their drawings are coordinated with the scope of work and the time that they’re going to want to get in, so as the project proceeds they may have multiple packages or pieces for board review so they can make sure that they can get them rolling while things are still being developed.
Plans call for the project to begin during the last week of school in May. The board was advised there will be a lot of logistics that’ll happen during the year, and recommendations made to staff regarding cleaning house and purging, depending on if they’re moving for a period of time through the year.
“We’ll have logistics and directions on what rooms need to be totally cleared, if there are walls we need stuff not stacked up against. Some of those things we’ll continue working on to help inform the staff on how they need to leave the room over the summer. There also may be some selective demolition. We don’t have drawings for every part of the building, so if there are some anomalies that we come up to, I’d rather find that out before we’re digging into it, so we may take out a few bricks here and there to make sure we know what we have behind or how that structure relates in areas that we don’t have access to,” said Schluckebier.
Superintendent David Gute said contractors were out at the school March 11 looking for asbestos and determining places where abatement is needed. 
“They just want to make sure they’re not going to run into surprises. We’re 99% sure the office area is going to have to be abated, and Ms. Brown’s classroom down the hallway, that will have asbestos in the tile underneath the carpet. I’m guessing they’ll want to start abatement as early as the day after school is out, so we may be moving stuff the last day of school,” Gute said 
Gute said construction crews from Hausmann also ran scopes down the drains to examine areas where plumbing will be renovated, and KPE Architecture crews were out taking pictures. An RFP for the project will soon be posted to the district’s website for all contractors to review when bid dates are due for the various portions of the project.