Saint Mary's board hears Garland presentation and approves Garland as elementary roofing project manager

Daniel Becker, a project manager with Garland, told the Saint Mary's Area School District board that roofing projects are long-term investments and that Garland’s manufacturer-led approach emphasizes design, engineering and warranty accountability. "These are big investments... Ideally, you're doing them, you know, once every 30 to 40 years," Becker said during a presentation to the board.

Becker described Garland as a 100% employee-owned company that provides inspections, infrared scans, a web-based roof database and on-site oversight to reduce change orders and ensure performance over the life of a roof. He outlined procurement options including turnkey delivery and a material-purchase model that uses cooperative purchasing agreements such as Omnia Partners to secure manufacturer pricing while bidding labor publicly.

Board members and staff said the cooperative procurement option could reduce time and indirect costs while preserving competitive bids for contractors. A staff member told the board the district is an Omnia member and that using a manufacturer-led manager could create savings compared with the traditional architect-led model, which can add an architect fee of roughly 7% of construction cost.

The board moved to recommend Garland Company as roofing project manager for South Saint Mary's and Fox Township Elementary Schools. The motion passed by voice vote. Meeting materials and staff comments said the action would allow the district to proceed toward summer work timelines while retaining public bid competition for labor under the selected procurement model.

The district will continue to evaluate procurement details and contractor qualification criteria as project design and scheduling proceed.