Linda Trimble, News-Journal
November 19, 2008
FLORIDA: The economic slowdown that's sparked deep budget cuts has finally produced a bonus for the Volusia County School Board with an elementary school construction bid coming in $3.5 million lower than expected. The board agreed to hire Mark Construction Company of Longwood to build the new school at Hazen Road and Plymouth Avenue in DeLand for $14.987 million. The architect's cost estimate was $18.5 million, and the board is spending $18.3 million to build a Hurst Elementary replacement from the same basic design. The Hurst project was bid about a year ago, facilities director Pat Drago said, and included $800,000 worth of fill dirt for its site off LPGA Boulevard in Daytona Beach. No fill was needed for the DeLand site, she said.
Drago attributed the lower than expected price to a highly competitive bidding environment with construction companies scrambling for business in the slumping economy. Fourteen companies bid on the DeLand elementary school project. That's a stark contrast to just two years ago when construction projects were plentiful and a new high school in Orange City attracted only one bidder the first time around. The board rejected that $99.3 million price as too expensive and rebid the project with some changes. It got two bids the second time around and the board agreed to pay $95 million -- the most ever for a Volusia school -- to build the high school that's now expected to open in August 2010.
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Competitive bidding for Riverdale School construction/renovation should be a basic demand from our neighborhood. Whatever reason is there to not do so? Is anyone seriously considering paying based on an estimate of costs? If so that is irresponsible.
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