Robbinsville – Graham County Schools’ ongoing effort to build a new sixth-grade wing at Robbinsville Middle School took a step forward, after opening two bids at its Nov. 30 Board of Education meeting.
On Monday, Nov. 29, the district opened two bids for the project, including one from the Asheville-based H&M Constructors, at a base amount of $4,539,000. The second bid was from the Sylva-based Western Builders of Sylva, in the base amount of $4,126,000.
The board unanimously approved continuing to negotiate with Western Builders of Sylva, to attempt to bring the price down a little further.
Superintendent Angie Knight emphasized that the vote was not to accept the bid immediately, but to continue to work with the contractor.
“We don’t have very many frills in the plan, but there are some things that we can redesign to get the cost down,” Knight said. “My recommendation would be to allow myself and (Accountability Director Kevin White) and (Board Attorney M. Ellen Davis) to work with the architect and Western Builders, to negotiate and possibly come back here later.”
Wish list
White also gave the district’s facility needs report, which essentially serves as a wishlist for projects that the district would undertake with unlimited funds.
However, within the plan were some issues that would soon need to be addressed.
“The instructions tell us to go ahead and include any plans for any construction that is currently in progress,” White said. “Since we are kind of in between those two, I included the new middle school into the capacity. That being said, the capacities are based on our elementary school being pre-K through 5. Sixth grade is going to move over to the middle school, so the capacity is sixth, seventh and eighth.”
One of the more urgent projects he mentioned was replacing stadium lights on the football field. He said if this work was not undertaken, the Black Knights would not be able to host playoff games.
White added that the work was urgently needed and would likely cost the district approximately $800,000.
“We’re going to have to replace the football field lights soon, and when I say soon, (I mean) by August,” White said.