ORD-2000-030 Approval of Capital Project Ordinances for Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools

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Smith Middle School ConstructionAK-12 Campus When the original concept of a new middle school in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district was proposed, the anticipated location was the Meadowmont development(on land donated by the developer). Since that time, the original concept has changed and the District has decided upon-a new site for the middle school. Current plans include constructing the new school, now known as Smith Middle School, on a site occupied by Chapel Hill High School and Seawell Elementary School, thereby creating a shared campus for kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12). To that end, the project's scope has transformed from solely a middle school construction project to a campus-wide project. The District had to undertake several site preparation details in order to locate the new school in an appropriate location on the campus. Many of the special site preparations include relocating and/or reassigning playing fields and playgrounds of the existing schools to other areas on the site. For example, in order to locate the middle school physical education field adjacent to the new building, the District has to relocate Seawell Elementary's playground. Other project evolutions include the request from the Town of Carrboro and Orange County to develop an additional playing field for community use. Staff will address this part of the project in the 2000-2010 Capital Investment Plan when Orange County receives funds from the recent sale of the first installment of the 1997 bond. The project budget totals $19.8 million with funding coming from the 1997 voter approved bonds ($18 million) and the remainder coming from the District's impact fees. To date, the Commissioners haye approved funding for the following components of the project: Plan ning/Architect/Engineer $1,505,000 Site Development $1,000,000 New School Construction (per bids $12,688,924 received by Board of Education) Contingency $250,000 Total Project Budget Before This $15,443,924 Request Since the date of the last Commissioner's update on this project in late January 2000, work as the site has progressed. • Site Development and Survey Work: When the Commissioners approved the original ordinance for the project in June 1998, estimated site development costs were $1 million. As mentioned previously, the project concept has undergone much transformation since that time. Relocation of many of the playing fields and construction of new ones have caused site development costs to increase. The total contract for site development now totals $2,061,197. In addition, costs for survey work at the project site total $22,600. Therefore the District requests that the Board approve an additional $1,083,797 for these two items. • Construction: The District has a need for two small scope contracts that were not included in the phase approved by the Commissioners in late January 2000. The two contracts cover balancing the HVAC system and installing the security system. The