Increase forced by cost of material, additional fees
Robbinsville – The cost of building a new wing at Robbinsville Middle School has seen a slight increase.
At Tuesday night’s Graham County Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Angie Knight broke down the latest figures, which brings the total cost of construction to $4,681,348.
A grant awarded by the N.C. Department of Instruction last year gave Graham County Schools $3.2 million for the project, with a required 3:1 county match of $1,066,667. Knight said the original figures were tallied before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, which has caused the cost of building materials to skyrocket.
“What we asked for less than the reality,” Knight astutely observed.
The school system received two bids in the fall, but negotiated Western Builders’ base-bid of $4,142,000 down to $4,078,848. The revised bid from the Sylva-based company includes filling in a window in a CTE classroom and adding a storage building for the new wing, which will be near the Robbinsville High School baseball field.
However, additional costs have been calculated and include furniture/equipment ($100,000), IT ($75,000), testing/permits ($40,000), architects/engineers fees ($255,000), topography studies ($12,500) and a 3 percent contingency fund ($120,000), increasing the overall cost by $602,500.
Knight told the board the Department of Instruction has already given the impression that it will adjust the grant award as needed – which sits at an additional $311,010.75 – and felt confident about county commissioners allotting the remaining $103,670.25 needed.
“We actually asked for ⅓ of what we were eligible for. We tried to keep it as reasonable as possible,” Knight said of the grant request to the state. “We feel really good that we’re at (an additional) $400,000, instead of $1 million.
“The county commissioners have been involved in the whole process, and I know they are very interested in helping us with this project.”
Also at the meeting:
* Knight announced Graham County Schools’ intention to dispose of a 1989 activity bus. The superintendent added that the bus has not been used in quite some time, and the board approved putting the vehicle out for purchase, with a minimum bid of $2,000 required.
* Before ending the meeting, Knight announced that in conjunction with the Graham County Health Department and Erlanger Health System, a $150,000 grant has been awarded to bring back the school-based health center. The addition will see a nurse practitioner on campus at all times.