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communicate to the School Superintendents, the Board's intention for value engineering on future school <br />projects. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that he believes that the County is very late in the process for <br />both systems. The Smith facility will be going out for bids in September or October 1999, and the <br />elementary school in Orange County is a prototype building, which has been previously built three (3) times. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis also expressed his disappointment with the cost of hiring PES as consultants on <br />these projects, particularly since the consultants had indicated that they would be able to train County staff <br />in this process. He believes use of the consultants is too expensive and too late to be of benefit to the <br />school projects, and he would rather support hiring a full-time County employee to serve in a value <br />engineering overseer capacity. <br />Commissioner Carey stated that this type of consultant would work best if brought into any <br />project from its inception. He questioned whether this action would delay the school projects from going out <br />for bid. Purchasing Director Jones explained the process that the consultants followed. If July 8, 1999 is <br />the submission date for bids, there may be some limited opportunities for savings with the Chapel Hill <br />middle school project. <br />Chair Gordon questioned why the consultants fee was as large as quoted. Purchasing <br />Director Jones referred the Board to the cost breakdown sheet included in the agenda abstract. <br />Commissioner Brown stated that she was very surprised at the proposed cost of the <br />consultants' services on these two (2) projects. Purchasing Director Jones explained that the team of <br />consultants would meet for one (1) entire week to complete their evaluation. During this time, they would <br />meet with the relevant school system to determine what does and does not functionally work on that project. <br />Commissioner Brown stated that this was not exactly how she believed the consultants would function; <br />rather, she believed there would be someone assigned to work full-time to work with the two (2) school <br />systems. Commissioner Brown further stated that she believes the County needs to pursue more <br />information with regard to this issue. <br />Commissioner Jacobs stated that if the Orange County schools are going to bid within the <br />following week, then it is already too late to pursue this course of action. However, he does not agree that it <br />is too late to utilize this process with the Smith Middle School project and he would be comfortable <br />attempting this process on that project. He agrees that any value engineering consultant should be involved <br />in the process from its inception. Commissioner Jacobs believes the County needs to send a letter to the <br />two (2) school boards involved stating that our decision was based on time constraints. <br />Commissioner Carey stated that the County needs to proceed with establishing a value <br />engineering process, even if it is only for one (1) project. <br />Chair Gordon stated that the County should follow through with obtaining a value engineering <br />firm, but that she is not comfortable singling out one (1) school system at this time. She believes that the <br />optimal usage of the County's funds would be to hire a firm that would be capable of performing all <br />necessary functions to ensure value engineering goals are met. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that he believes that the County needs to better define and <br />justify the costs for these schools and that this initiative is long overdue, with the need having existed for <br />several years. <br />Commissioner Carey made reference to the policy whereby the Board of County <br />Commissioners will be making decisions at each step in the process, and these decisions will be made <br />based on the County Commissioners' judgment only. Commissioner Carey stated that he would be <br />uncomfortable following this policy unless a value engineering process exists so the Board can learn <br />whatever information it needs to make an informed decision. <br />A motion was made by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to approve <br />a maximum expenditure of $39,000.00 for the Smith Middle School project. <br />VOTE: AFFIRMED: Commissioners Carey and Jacobs <br />OPPOSED: Commissioners Gordon, Brown, and Halkiotis <br />Commissioner Brown stated that one well-experienced person could work very effectively <br />with the schools and she is still interested in pursuing value engineering. She believes the committee that <br />has been formed could address this issue.