Photo by J.J. Kindred
Matt Myers, deputy director of purchasing for Knox County, addresses the Knox County School Board on the approved construction bid for the new Southwest Elementary School during their meeting Jan. 11.
By J.J. KINDRED
J.Kindred@theknoxvillejournal.com
The Knox County School Board approved a $15.5 million contract with Rouse Construction during its Jan. 11 meeting to build the new Southwest Elementary School.
However, many board members were skeptical, and added that they should look for better ways to bid for construction projects instead of just picking the lowest bid.
“A number of us had concerns that an invitation for bid only includes the lowest bidder,” said board member Karen Carson. “As I looked at it, we could truly have concerns about it but what we’re truly asking for is a price. There should be some consideration of the quality of work, but we can’t look back and see anything different in the research.
“I will say that I appreciated getting information on other jobs that were done,” Carson continued. “That was beneficial. I don’t know, but prior to a vote, is there a way that it could be done differently? I don’t think it does any good to put it back in a bid process and wind up in the same place. Regardless of (which construction firm) is chosen, we would not have anymore additional information.”
Matt Myers, deputy director of the Knox County Purchasing Department, responded to Carson’s comments, adding that it was “not the mandatory language that (any project) should be designated to the lowest responsible builder.”
Law director Joe Jarret said there was no third option at that point.
“To do something different in future, it’s a matter of changing the state law and looking at your procurement code. You have to follow procedures in compliance with them,” Jarret said.
Board member Pam Trainor said she would support the bid, but said there was a still a bad taste in her mouth when Dogwood Elementary School in South Knoxville, the district she represents, had to under go more than $1 million in remedial work four years ago. Rouse Construction built the school in the mid-90s.
“I don’t know how this construction firm received the bid,” Trainor said. “I will support the construction because the safeguards have been put in place and the time sensitive nature. When I was the PTA president at Dogwood, there were countless time and dollars spent on mold and fixing clocks and such.
“What happened at Dogwood was a travesty and it’s my sincere hope that these folks have learned from their mistakes,” Trainor continued. “Everyone is supposed to forget what happened at Dogwood. How is this being a good steward of the taxpayers’ dollars? We should do better for citizens on our behalf.”
Most board members didn’t have a problem with what construction company was chosen, but did with not having any say in choosing it.
Board member Cindy Buttry passed on the vote, saying she didn’t feel comfortable just making a quick decision.
“Has this board ever approved a CM (construction management) for any project and have we considered this approach?” she asked.
“In 10 1/2 years the facilities department has been in existence, they have never used construction management,” said Doug Dillingham, facilities supervisor for Knox County Schools. “We as a school entity have not used that process in the past, and it’s my opinion that all a construction manager does is replicate the process. We would be more than happy to use the CM process, but my experience in the past is that it’s more expensive, and this layer would just cost more money.”
Buttry responded that she understood Dillingham’s concerns, but said she studied the CM process enough to know that his claims were not necessarily true.
“In light of what happened, such as places like Dogwood, I don’t think you can have too many people checking on things,” Buttry said, “but I would like to see a cost analysis of what it would look like to do a CM versus a lowball bid because I think we are in a position to where we could end up in another situation like this.”
