Committee hears facilities updates; Middletown construction bid comes in under hard-construction budget

The Building & Grounds Committee of the Frederick County School Board on March 2 received a series of facilities and capital-project updates and was told two contract awards — one HVAC and one casework/millwork for the Middletown project — will be forwarded to the full board for approval.

Dr. Hummer, a committee member, opened the updates and said operations staff would present progress on planning, construction, facilities, safety and transportation and that the two contract awards are slated to go to the full board for consideration. ‘‘We have 2 items that are up for consideration to go to the full board for approval, and they are 2 contract awards,’’ Dr. Hummer said.

Mr. Keaton, the operations presenter for capital projects, reported mechanical and safety-system work in several schools. ‘‘The old chiller has been removed. The new chiller is in place and currently being piped in now,’’ Mr. Keaton said of work at Bass Hoover. He also said the James Wood fire-alarm replacement is underway and that the Millbrook fire-alarm bid was pushed back to allow contractors time to clarify questions; the Bass Hoover boiler work is in place and being phased in.

On larger construction projects, Mr. Shepherd summarized the Middletown procurement: four bids were received and Howard Shockey was awarded the contract. ‘‘Our budget was 19,040,000, so it did come in, under that budget,’’ Mr. Shepherd said, referring to the hard-construction budget. Committee members clarified that the difference between the hard-construction number and the overall project total reflects soft costs — architecture and engineering fees, furniture and equipment, permitting and IT — rather than changes to the hard-construction line item.

Committee members praised staff and outside partners for work on interior and exterior selections and the procurement process; Mr. Shepherd singled out the project architect and staff members who helped keep the project on track.

The committee took no final action on the contracts at this meeting; Dr. Hummer said the two contract awards will be sent to the full board for formal approval at a later date. The committee did vote at the start of the meeting to approve the agenda as presented.

What’s next: The two contract awards discussed will be placed on the full board agenda for approval. Staff said they will continue to provide project updates as procurement and construction progress.