School Construction Report
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December 8, 2006
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BOARD OF EDUCATION CONTINUES DISCUSSION OF PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
At its Dec. 12 Facilities Committee meeting, the Board of Education
heard from Deputy State Treasurer Vance Holloman and Wake County Budget
and Management Services Director Johnna Rogers on public private partnerships.
Managing Growth and ResourcesThe 2007-08 growth management proposal is online for your review and comment. DRAFT |
Holloman said capital leases are allowed under legislation passed earlier this year that permits schools to enter into leases to finance construction, repair or renovation of schools. The leases are subject to approval of the county commissioners and the local government commission.
Holloman said under build to suit capital leases, the board of education must adopt a resolution stating that the lease agreement is in the best interest of the schools considering time, cost and quality. The school board must find that the private developer is qualified to deliver the service. The contract and any pre-development agreements must be approved by the county commissioners.
Holloman said the local government commission would look at the lease agreement to determine if it meets several factors. The commission will consider the necessity of the project, amount and nature of outstanding debt, debt and fiscal management practices and current and future tax rates. He said the school board in its findings to the commission should show the debt is necessary, debt management practices are good, tax increases will not be excessive and the capital lease is preferable to a bond issue.
Holloman said general obligation bonds are a less expensive way to finance school construction than the installment purchase process for a capital lease.
You can see Holloman's presentation here.
Rogers told the board there are different types of public private partnerships that could range from little to complete privatization. She said private participation could occur at various stages of the capital project development. The school board and county commissioners must analyze costs versus benefits on a case-by-case basis.
Rogers said public private partnerships are effective for multi-faceted projects where both public and private components exist and some infrastructure is shared; the private sector is willing to bear certain risks that the public sector wishes to minimize; or other benefits such as timing or construction costs can overcome the county's favorable cost of capital.
Rogers said the county will evaluate public private partnerships on construction comparisons and the cost of capital. Construction comparisons would answer who can build at a lower cost, the quality of construction, or the ability to build the project more quickly to help avoid inflation costs or provide needed seats more quickly. The cost of capital would look at the interest rate being charged by the private sector. She noted there is no one-size fits all analysis.
You can see Roger's presentation here.
Board members agreed to continue their discussion of the issue. The Citizens Facility Advisory Committee will hear a presentation on public private partnerships at its meeting Dec. 18.
BOARD RECEIVES INFORMATION ON INTERLOCAL AGREEMENTS
At its Dec. 5 meeting, the Board of Education received information on the
proposed sales tax interlocal agreement between the Board of Education and
the County Commissioners, under which ownership of school property will
be transferred to Wake County for the duration of the construction project,
so that the county may claim reimbursement for the state portion of sales
tax paid on materials. WCPSS staff consulted with the Board attorney regarding
the agreement and it has been discussed between the attorneys for both boards.
The agreement used for the joint contracts will be modeled after the CM
agreement approved by the Board on November 21, 2006. It is anticipated
that the cost of construction projects will be reduced by the amount of
sales tax.
BOARD AWARDS CONTRACT FOR WAKEFIELD NINTH GRADE CENTER
At its Dec. 5 meeting the Board of Education award of the single-prime contract
to DeVere Construction Company, Inc. in the amount of $4,050,000 for the
construction of Wakefield High 9th Grade Center. Funding is available in
the overall 2007 Crowding Solution project budget of $7,896,677, of which
the budget for this conversion in PLAN 2004 funding is $6,486,327. The funding
for the outfitting of the school is provided in CIP 2006 in the amount of
$1,684,388. Thus, the total project budget is $8,170,715.
BOARD APPROVES EAST MILLBROOK CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS
At its Dec. 5 meeting, the Board of Education approved construction documents
for the construction and renovation of East Millbrook Middle School. Funding
is available from the total project budget of $31,098,704, of which $109,089
is from PLAN 2000 Start Up, $3,470,802 from PLAN 2004, and $ 27,518,813
from CIP 2006.
BOARD APPROVES CHANGE ORDER FOR HERITAGE HIGH
At its meeting Dec. 5, the Board of Education approved Design Phase Change
Order No. 6 to LS3P/Boney for Heritage High School. This design phase change
order, in the amount of $837,708 is to fully fund the design consultant
to include bidding and permitting, construction administration, and close-out
of the project. The design consultant had previously been authorized to
provide services through the preparation of construction documents. Funding
is available from the total project budget of $61,456,416, of which $1,564,638
is from the PLAN 2000 Start Up, $513,391 from PLAN 2004, $56,321,991 from
CIP 2006, and $3,056,396 will be provided by the Town of Wake Forest and
the Wake County Parks and Recreation Department for additional ball fields
and upgrades to the school's ball fields.
BOARD DIRECTS STAFF TO ADVERTISE FOR LAUREL PARK CONSTRUCTION
At its Dec. 5 meeting, the Board of Education gave staff approval to advertise
for project packages for the construction of Laurel Park Elementary. The
Board approved the schematic design for the school at its Oct. 3 meeting.
In order to meet the tight construction schedule needed to complete this
project for a 2008 school opening, the board agreed to advertise six bid
packages early, before completion of the total design package. The award
of the contracts will be presented to the board for approval on Feb. 6,
2007. Funding is available from the total project budget of $21,043,651,
of which $895,000 is from PLAN 2004 Start Up and $20,148, 651 is from CIP
2006.
BOARD IDENTIFIES PROPERTY FOR SALE AND SURPLUS
At its Dec. 5 meeting, the Board of Education identified one tract of land
for surplus and two tracts of surplus land for sale.
The board approved a resolution to surplus 6.659 acres of land in Cary located on the northwestern side of Kildaire Farm Road adjacent to Hemlock Bluffs State Park. The property is not contiguous to other tracts owned by the Board of Education, and is of insufficient size for cost effective conventional school uses. The property is nearly completely covered by stream buffers, floodways, floodplains, and 100-year flood zones. The board ordered the sale of the 6.659 acres of property, which is further identified as Wake County PIN # 0761.07-58-3636, and Wake County Tax Account #0102464.
The board approved of the terms and conditions of the proposed contract, conditioned upon and subject to completion of the advertisement and upset bid process as described in N.C.G.S. 115C-518 and N.C.G.S. 160A-269 for the sale of a tract of land in Zebulon. The 2.51 acres of land in Zebulon is located at the southern end of Jones Street on the eastern side of the road, near the intersection of Dogwood Drive. The Board of Education declared it as surplus property and ordered its sale on August 8, 2006. At its September 18, 2006 meeting, the Wake County Board of Commissioners declined to purchase the property at fair market value. Terms and conditions of an Offer to Purchase and Contract have been reached to sell the 2.51 acre surplus tract to LRC Development Company, LLC at a purchase price of $574,000. The property is further identified as Wake County PIN #2705.05-19-9739, and Wake County Tax Account #0211541. Estimated income to the Board of Education to reduce the County's bonded indebtedness for schools or for future land acquisitions for schools is $574,000.
The board approved of the terms and conditions of the proposed contract, conditioned upon and subject to completion of the advertisement and upset bid process as described in N.C.G.S. 115C-518 and N.C.G.S. 160A-269 for the sale of a tract of land in Fuquay-Varina. The board owns 50.5 acres of land located between Broad Street and Ransdell Road known as the Fuquay-Varina High School tract. The property includes an unusable 0.036 acres of the southwestern end of the property, and is severed from the bulk of the WCPSS tract by Bengal Boulevard. Its size and location prohibit cost effective conventional school uses. The Board of Education declared it as surplus property and ordered its sale at its meeting on August 8, 2006. At its September 18, 2006 meeting, the Wake County Board of Commissioners declined to purchase the property at fair market value. Terms and conditions of an Offer to Purchase and Contract have been reached to sell the 0.036 acre surplus tract to Ruby D. Ransdell, an adjoining landowner, at a purchase price of $1,330. The property is further identified as a portion of Wake County PIN #0667.12-12-1689. Estimated income to the Board of Education to reduce the County's bonded indebtedness for schools or for future land acquisitions for schools is $1,330.
BOARD RECEIVES DONATIONS OF TWO TRACTS OF LAND
At its Dec. 5 meeting, the Board of Education approved the donation of two
tracts of land to the school system.
The board approved terms and conditions of an Offer to Purchase and Contract with Laurel Park Associates, LLC, to acquire approximately 2.33 acres located immediately adjacent to and on the eastern side of the Laurel Park Elementary School site in Cary. The land will be recombined with the Laurel Park Elementary site by recordation of an appropriate plat. The purchase price of the land is shown on the Offer to Purchase as $342,510, but the total cost of the land to Board of Education is shown therein as $1.00, said figure being nominal or token consideration. The balance of the purchase price represents a donation to the Board of Education by Laurel Park Associates, LLC.
The board approved terms and conditions of an Offer to Purchase and Contract with Sausage Patty, LLC, to acquire approximately 0.34 acres located immediately adjacent to and on the eastern side of the East Garner Elementary School site which will accommodate a sanitary sewer easement that will serve the East Garner Elementary School Site. Purchase price of the land will be shown on the Offer to Purchase in an amount to be determined in the future by the Seller, but the total cost of the land to the Board of Education is shown therein as $1.00, said figure being nominal or token consideration. The balance of the purchase price represents a donation to the Board of Education by Sausage Patty, LLC.
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The School Construction Report is published electronically every other week for everyone interested in the Wake County Public School System. Is what you read in this edition helpful? What information would you like to see in future editions? Contact me by calling 850-1829 or e-mailing bposton@wcpss.net.
Bill Poston
Wake County Public School System
Communications Department
3600 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh, North Carolina 27611
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