By Staff
Moss says no more local funds needed
By DAN PARSONS, Staff Writer
At a special called meeting Thursday night, the Beaufort County Board of Education approved to take a $10,352,933 construction bid for the new John Small Elementary School before county commissioners for approval.
Bids were accepted by Greenville-based Hite Associates, an architecture, engineering and technology firm until 3 p.m., Dec. 19 in two formats.
Jim Hite, owner of Hite Associates and the project architect, presented a separate-prime bid, which the board ultimately approved.
In a separate-prime bid, a general-construction bid is taken, which is the proposed cost of the physical building itself. Then separate bids are accepted from other companies for other elements of construction such as electrical and plumbing.
The board’s acceptance of Hite’s recommendation was based not only on trust in his experience, but also the project price tag.
The single-prime bid presented by Hite, in which the contractor submits the cost of constructing all elements of a project, carried a price tag of $10,749,000.
New board member Teressa Banks was concerned about the size of the proposed school building, which is designed to accommodate about 600 students.
Superintendent Jeff Moss explained that the City of Washington’s school attendance district, because the board is committed to limiting its northern boundary to this side of the Pamlico River, is in a position where it cannot grow in size. And even as population increases in Beaufort County, the school system experienced a decline in number of students this year.
The new John Small will be built with nearly the same architectural plan as P.S. Jones Middle School, which was completed in 2006. Both schools will face each other on a shared campus. A central, loop-shaped drive will allow parent, staff and bus traffic access to both schools.
Board member H.E. Boyd cut discussion short by addressing the chairman and making a motion to accept the separate-prime bid and take it to the Beaufort County Commissioners for approval. The motion, seconded by Warren, passed unanimously.