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Bids come in about $800K less than estimated

The Albert Lea school board on Monday approved bids for various mechanical systems replacements at the district’s buildings, including Southwest Middle School, Lakeview Elementary School and Albert Lea High School.

The bids, plus contingency, evaluation and other design and engineering now total about $3.12 million, down from a pre-bid estimate of $3.96 million.

Assistant Director of Finance and Operations Paul Durbahn said the projects were bid separately in an attempt to keep the projects open for smaller local companies.

He said the bids came in on Friday, and ISG, the firm the district is working with for the project, reviewed all of the bids and issued a recommendation for the low bids for each of the projects. One of the bids came in slightly higher than the estimate, while the other two came in well under.

For the first project, the boiler replacement at Southwest Middle, only one bid was received from New Line Mechanical of Byron for $1.233 million. The estimate was $1.045 million.

For the boiler replacement at Lakeview Elementary School, two bids were received, ranging from about $357,000 to about $623,000. The low bid came from JF Ahern Co. of Rochester for about $357,000. The pre-bid estimate was about $567,000.

For the third project, which includes the pool boiler and air handler replacement at the high school, the district received two bids, ranging from about $750,000 to about $814,000. The low bidder was again JF Ahern Co. for $750,000.

Durbahn said the Southwest and Lakeview boiler replacements will begin as soon as the old boilers get demolished and removed, with work probably concluding over summer.

The pool dehumidification unit will be completed next summer, but the bid is locked in. He said unless there is a significant change order, the company is committed to the project at the rate of the bid.

Gary Schindler, vice chairman of the board, asked if it was typical to only see one or two bids.

Board member Bruce Olson said for this type of work it is.

Durbahn said they had split all of the work into three portions to try to attract more local companies, and they were at least able to draw from the region.

Two of the units with the steam boiler system at Southwest Middle School are from 1957, and two of the units with the hot water boiler system at Lakeview Elementary School are from 1961. The pool dehumidification unit and pool boiler/heater at Albert Lea High School were installed in 2000.

Superintendent Ron Wagner said he hopes to move forward with the maintenance bond sales to pay for the projects in an upcoming meeting. The bonds will be paid for through long-term facility maintenance funds.

Durbahn said with the project being significantly under budget, he expects Ehlers and Associates Inc., the financial advisement firm the district works with for long-term maintenance projects, to give advice on the best way to proceed. He said the board could bond the whole amount it had originally been approved for and put any extra money toward other mechanical projects, or it could sell less bonds.

In other action, the board:

• Approved a two-year master agreement for the technical staff unit, which consists of two employees.

Board member Angie Hoffman voted against the agreement and said she felt that district spending was surpassing income.

According to a district statement on Tuesday, the agreement included two additional holidays, updated language to child event leave and earned sick and safe time to reflect recent statutory changes. Additionally, on the base salary, a 3% increase in the first year, a 2.75% increase in the second year of the agreement, and a stipend for pre-approved professional development or course as determined by the district.

• Approved a two-year master agreement for the Albert Lea Administration Association, which includes nine staff.

Board member Neal Skaar said this settlement reflected the going rate and noted if the district did not remain competitive, it would not be able to hire people or keep them.

Hoffman said while she was concerned with what she described as “a high level of spending” in the agreement, she was voting in favor of it because these employees needed to be caught up on their compensation.

According to the district in a statement, major changes included updated language to child event leave and earned sick and safe time to reflect recent statutory changes. There was no increase to the district’s contribution toward eligible health insurance plans. Base salaries were increased to align with comparable surrounding districts and a 2% increase was approved for the second year of the agreement.

• Worked on the school board’s three-year governance work plan.