ORD-2005-005 - Middle School #3 Capital Project Ordinance 01-24-2005-6a

Browse Search

With the $19,087,525 in earmarked funding noted immediately above, and the estimated total Middle School #3 project cost of $22,608,091, there remains a project budget gap of $3,520,566 for the Board of Commissioners to consider funding. Representatives of OCS and the architectural firm Corley Redfoot Zack will attend the January 24 BOCC meeting to address any questions about project design, bids, or overall costs. The Superintendent's response to the County Manager's inquiry about what other sources or capital project realignments might be considered to produce additional Middle School #3 project funding will be reviewed January 24. In December 2004, the Board of Commissioners indicated its intent to reallocate some or all of $12.8 million in anticipated debt for Chapel Hill - Carrboro Elementary School #10 to help address anticipated cost overruns for Middle School #3, CHCCS High School #3, County senior centers, or other projects. The main decision for the BOCC at this January 24 meeting is whether it wants to appropriate all or a portion of the $3,520,566 funding gap outlined above. The Board's decision on this matter directly affects the action that the Orange County Board of Education will take later in the evening on the middle school bid awards and contracts, as the amount they can approve for construction contracts depends on the amount of funding appropriated by the BOCC by capital project ordinance. The attached capital project ordinance contemplates approval by the BOCC of the entire additional amount of $3,520,566. However, the BOCC is under no obligation to appropriate that much, and the capital project ordinance can be revised at the BOCC meeting if necessary to reflect whatever additional amount of funding the BOCC approves. A number of outstanding issues remain to be resolved at some point in the future, but need not be resolved on January 24. For example, the work group plans to address at a future meeting ideas that have been generated regarding how to manage approximately 25 acres of OCS owned property that were not included in the school site footprint but which are in fact needed to meet impervious surface limitations under the existing project concept. County and school staffs will be exploring how conservation easements might be employed and will address with the work group any financial transactions, if any, that might be warranted in the future regarding these 25 acres. The work group recommends that the Board include in whatever additional appropriation it decides to make for the middle school project an amount that will cover the $271,000 difference between the $52000 initially budgeted for land acquisition and the $795,000 that was actually paid for 66+ acres. Also, it should be noted that the costs of providing water and sewer service to the school property line are NOT included in the middle school project budget. Utility extensions are being worked on by County staff in collaboration with the City of Mebane, and costs for these are to be addressed through bond, grant, or otherwise funded appropriations that the BOCC will address at a later date. Finally, OCS representatives noted during the recent work group meeting that the identified total project budget does not address all one -time start up costs or any ongoing startup costs for Middle School #3, nor does it consider decisions that OCS will need to make in the future about comparability of facilities between this new middle school and the two existing middle schools. FINANCIAL IMPACT: As described in the "Background" section of this abstract. It should be noted that any debt issuance must receive formal approval from the North Carolina Local Government Commission. Staff expects that alternative financing for additional costs for Middle School #3 will receive LGC approval when presented, as the additional debt involved remains within the County's self- imposed debt management parameters and would be issued in lieu of other debt on the BOCC- endorsed Debt Issuance Schedule, which has previously been shared with LGC staff.