Beaufort Co. schools makes big hire for referendum projects without knowing what it’ll cost
Beaufort County School District has made its largest bond referendum decision yet: approving a project manager to oversee work paid for by the $345 million voters approved for construction last November, which is expected to last for the next four to five years.
It’s the latest move from November’s landslide referendum victory, with classroom expansions at River Ridge Academy and May River High School already underway as district officials get ready for their first major wave of summer construction and referendum work.
Still unknown: the price tag for that project manager, Atlanta-based CBRE Heery Inc., which district officials say will be determined after a site visit from firm representatives to understand the scope of the school district’s needs.
It’s also unknown how that price could change over the course of the referendum, which could be a concern after the company’s experience in Broward County, Florida.
According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, CBRE Heery Inc. was awarded a $16.2 million contract to become the project manager for the Broward County Public Schools’ $800 million referendum in August 2015, nine months after it passed.
Since then, the Broward County district has paid $66 million to the company, following delays and several extensions to the referendum projects. That includes a $21 million contract renewal that the Broward school board approved in August 2019, two days before reviewing an audit that criticized CBRE Heery’s management decisions, the Sun Sentinel reported.
The Broward referendum work was originally slated to end in 2021. This month, district officials told the public that it could drag on until 2032, the Sun Sentinel reported.
District chief operations officer Robert Oetting said Wednesday that firm representatives are in Beaufort County this week, and that he expects the board to vote on the finalized project manager price in April.
He declined to name a maximum price tag or range for the project manager contract, but said both would be based on the personnel brought in by the firm.
Oetting said the firm is expected to bring in a technology consultant, referendum manager and office assistants to help the district with referendum work, and could bring in an additional project manager and more personnel based on the district’s needs.
Who’s doing summer work at 11 district schools?
The school board also approved four construction contractors to assign to referendum projects over the next two years: Contract Construction of Ballentine; H.G. Reynold Co. of Aiken; M.B. Kahn Construction of Columbia and Thompson Turner Construction of Sumter.
Oetting said each firm will be assigned to complete technology and security upgrades at nine district schools this summer, expected to cost $40 million of the $345 million referendum. Those schools are:
Beaufort High School
Lady’s Island Middle School
Beaufort Elementary School
Hilton Head Island Elementary School
Whale Branch Middle School
H.E. McCracken Middle School
Right Choices
Bluffton Elementary
Whale Branch Elementary
The firms will also complete $10 million of “8 percent” work, which is funded yearly by allowing the school district to borrow up to 8 percent of the county’s assessed value for building maintenance, at Bluffton Elementary and Whale Branch Elementary.
Whale Branch Early College High School will get an upgraded track and football field this summer, and St. Helena Early Childhood Center will get an improved playground.
Oetting said Tuesday that construction will begin as soon as the school year ends, and that though the district wants “as much as possible” done by the start of next school year, some will carry into next summer. The projects at Beaufort High and Beaufort Elementary are expected to take two years.
The school board approved the project manager and construction contracts with identical 7-0-3 votes. Board members William Smith, JoAnn Orischak and Rachel Wisnefski abstained from the vote; John Dowling was absent.
Who’s watching the referendum?
While CBRE Heery, Inc. will help the district manage the referendum, there’s already an independent group monitoring the work going on.
District superintendent Frank Rodriguez named nine members to a Citizen-Led Oversight Committee to watch the referendum in December, many of whom are local government officials:
David Ames: Hilton Head Town Council member
Ted Barber: Retired Coca-Cola Co. executive
Derrick Coaxum: Town of Bluffton public works manager
Carlton Dallas: Owner, Dallas International Trading and Solutions LLC
Kim Fleming: Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort External relations director
Ron Groteluschen: Hilton Head Regional Healthcare chief financial officer
Michael McNally: Retired owner of McNally Engineering
Richard Tritschler: Property management team at 303 Associates, LLC
Ray Warco: Retired CPA
The committee has met twice and named Barber as their chairperson and McNally as their vice chairperson. They’ve also heard updates from district operations officers on the current construction at May River High School and River Ridge Academy.
Currently, the committee plans on presenting an update to the school board at their March 17 meeting.
The committee’s presentations and meeting notes are available on the school district’s website. The next meeting will take place at River Ridge Academy, on March 4, at 6 p.m.
This story was originally published February 28, 2020 at 1:11 PM.