001you all. Um, so we are living in interesting times and um, Peter's going to bring up a a graphic for you, but so I've uh, as you know, I've been here for a couple days now and uh, I've had the opportunity to uh, look through what we have uh, the voters have voted on in terms of a levy. So we have an EPNO levy, we have a capital and tech levy, and we have the remainder of a bond from 2017. So these are um essentially sources of funding and those sources of funding have some limitations. So, the educational programs and operations levy uh helps support everything we do that's not paid for by the state for our teaching and learning. So, athletics, transportation, uh additional teachers beyond the prototypical school model. It's uh close to
002$6 million a year that we've authorized. We don't collect that much. We collect what we can collect based on our enrollment. So short and sweet, that levy is coming up for expiration in February 2026. We need to put it out to the voters again. We have to put it into the county by December. So that one is sort of an easy conversation. We have to do it. Um it will not increase the tax rate. It is a continuation of a current levy. So that one I think we can we can continue talking about it by December. You have to have had a resolution. We have to give it to the county. So the resolution will come in November. We have to give it off to the county prosecutor who creates the write up for what
003that levy says. Then it goes on the ballot in February. and you hopefully have a levy team somewhere out in the ether that works on getting communication out to people and and working on that levy process. So, I know I jumped ahead. That's February 2026. That's where it is on your timeline here. In February 2024, the community passed the capital and technology levy. You all worked on that levy as not you personally but the board worked on that levy. Uh it was passed by the community at a very high percentage and it suggested to the community that you would be doing um HVAC changes and that you would be working on uh let me get my notes. Sorry. I know I should have it all memorized for you by Okay. Fire suppression, playground work, HVAC,
004um bathrooms at McMurray, um so on and so forth. So, some of those things uh have been worked on. You've got generators that you're going to replace or uh remodel. You also have about $800,000 in bond money um from that bond in 2017. Um we have three years to spend that amount of money on capital improvements. The bond uh that was put out to the voters back then, all of the items on that bond list were accomplished. So this 800,000 is able to be used for capital, but it's not earmarked for specific things. The $1.9 million you collect from that levy every year is divided at about 5545. 55% to the technology world in the district. 45% of that 1.9 million is dedicated to the abs the actual capital improvements. And that's what I really
005want to talk about tonight. The technology side of that cap of that cap tech levy is accounted for. There's a plan um we have technology uh renewal plan where you buy things every year and you have a plan for when we're going to do servers and so on so forth. the levy plan for the capital side is not so robust. Um it is not developed. And so from my estimation, we don't have folks on staff who can develop that levy plan and get that work accomplished. we can get it done peacemeal, but for example, we needed HVAC uh improvements. We had a bid we thought we could put out, but it wasn't complete. When I found out it wasn't complete, Cassie and I withdrew it. We put it out for HVAC controls. It really needs
006to be HVAC controls and commissioning and other things that go along with it. You don't have the expertise in the house. most districts do not have the expertise in house to do that level of work. So that's a piece of this puzzle. The other thing that I've come to find out is that we also do not have a building condition survey done which is a requirement which should be done on a regular basis. Nor do we have a 10-year facilities plan. Again, districts don't car districts like Highline might carry the expertise for doing that work in house. Districts our size do not. There are three components to that word that we're looking at. An owner's representative, which is the person who would be the owner's representative. The person who would say these are the things
007we need. This is the scope of that work and these are, you know, some things that we need to figure out how to put a bid together for. They are not the clerical support to do that work. They are the oversight for that work. So, we've got to figure out clerical support around that work. You need an architect to tell you the conditions of your buildings and what you may need going forward. And you need engineers. We did get an engineering an industrial grid audit that talked about our green schools and our energy and whether or not we're compliant with that. and they indicated that two of our three buildings are compliant. Um, McMurray is not compliant. It's close, but it is not compliant. That by 2027 it's meeting the energy requirements of the state.
008So, these are things that are in the hopper and you have the means to do those things. We just don't have the people on staff um and shouldn't be on staff. We don't have people under contract to do that work. So, so you have a levy in place and we don't really have the personnel to put that all that work together. Um, and you need this 10-year facilities plan and building conditions survey and you've got a new superintendent coming and you have buildings that are aging. Okay. So, your buildings are uh the basic structural, you know, so McMurray is your oldest. In the 60s it was built. Um high school the newest in 2014 and then Chicago right in the middle at 1994. These buildings as they age they start to falter just like our
009homes and they are need have needs that already need to be addressed even in our newest building. uh the high school is the one looking for HVAC improvement. Um we've got security issues that we have to work on. These are the things that are happening. So legitimately, if we look at this timeline in 2028, if you were to go forward and vote on a bond in 2027, we wouldn't even be breaking ground until 2028. I never thought I'd be saying a date like that. 2028. And that work will go to 2034, right? That's how long a bond will last. We need to identify what's the work, what's coming up. Do we need a roof? Do we need to fix that infrastructure under the tennis court that keeps failing? Do we need to um, you know,
010get new HVAC because we're not energy efficient? Do we want to be seeking a solar grant um and doing some work around that? the engineers help with that and they know those grants and they know whether or not the roof can hold the solar structure and they know whether or not you know what the returns are going to be on things like that. So I'm telling you all of this as we go to the next slide. I think it is my recommendation that we go forward with getting an owner's representative. I sent you information as background that you could read through. Um, I would love to to get owners rep and architects and engineers on board. Um, as soon as you feel like you're comfortable doing that and we have the ability to pay for
011those services, it's an appropriate thing to pay for through the levy and through that bond money. The bond money, I mean, technically the bond money would be used for the improvements. the levy money would be used to pay for these services. Um it's an appropriate use of the that funding and it allows us to use the money appropriately. Right now we're um we're in a situation where we just don't have the the capacity to do all the things we need to do without some expertise. So I'm telling you all of that. I've laid out a timeline for you for just this year that we hopefully select one or all three tonight or one or two or however you want to do that. Maybe none. Hoping you don't do none. Um, and at the very least,
012I'm working with an owner representative to create a timeline to look at what the things are that we do have so that we can make some plans. Eventually, we will need um in order to get that 10-year facilities plan and and building condition survey done, we're going to need the architects and engineers, and they will stay with you until we get to a bond and then through a bond. So, that's that's why you may, you know, there may be some thinking around that. Um I did uh in terms of the owner rep, I put out a request for qualifications. um to three different firms. I received uh information that you have in your packet from one firm. Um she's very good. Uh Ashley McLaren, she's with STD. Um I know of her work. I've not
013worked with her directly, but she's highly recommended. Um and so there you are. I'm more than happy to take your questions to, you know, and our admin team is here. They're in the facilities. Cassie's here to talk to you about the financial pieces. If you have questions, this is this is your meeting. It's your opportunity to talk about this and hopefully give us some direction. So um you said that if you hire them this this set they will stay with us through the bond. Who will then handle the contracts for the improvements? Will that be a separate role? I know some schools the superintendent do that I think that sounds like a horribly hard idea but >> which contracts >> um for the improvements >> like HVAC and stuff that's the owner rep. that person
014will continue to stay on through. >> Yeah, you have an owner rep all the way through. Like if you if you decide to go bond, >> you would keep owner, architect, engineers right through that bond process until things are complete. >> So they'll handle it all. We don't have to put that on our coordinating superintendent. >> That's my point. >> Yeah. Yeah. And and again, whether it's me this year or your new superintendent, somebody needs to be doing that work in order to get it to keep moving forward. And again, this is not because you have a superintendent interim or because you're looking for a new superintendent. That is the normal way of doing business in a district, especially district our size. In a district that's huge, they may have a project department. >> Do
015you have any historical background on how we've done that in the How did we decide we needed new HVAC? Fire suppression. I believe that was a problem. But do you have any does anybody have any background on how we came to that last time? >> Somebody who's been here. I do not know. I've been able to figure it out. >> My understand who was a district employee, right? She was a contractor. >> She was a contractor for a number of years. >> Yeah. She took us through our last one process. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> And is it unusual or is there some reason to be um try again to get more proposals or is this fairly standard that you put out effectively an RFP and you only get one response? >> It's pretty
016standard and again I feel really lucky that that she's responded. Um, you know, sometimes you get more. It's the volume of the projects. Remember, we're only dealing with 1.9 million a year. If this was a $20 million project, you probably have more people bidding on it, right? You may get uh once we get to the bond, you have another opportunity. You don't have to stick with this one, that one, and the other one. If you have bond money where you're talking about millions of dollars, you're probably going to go out for uh you know who who's going to be the owner's rep? Are we going to go design big build? Are we going to go with you know the project management idea? How are we going to move forward? What's the best advice? You will
017get advised along the way by these folks, but you're not obligated to them for, you know, forever. You're obligated for a period of time when you make a contract. is the um in terms of their bid um are we looking at what they provided in the bid the totality through the years that they are with us or are we looking at this is an annual cost and if so um I had something in here but I'm not looking right now what would that annual cost be so right now the bid for just helping us through this levy process is about $38,000 that's just to deal with the levy stuff. As we go forward for the facilities planning and the bond, it's going to extend past this year. It's probably going to be another 40,000 from
018that particular p that particular agent of owners rep to do that next level. What you're seeing for proposal from the architects is to get us all the way through till a bond vote which is going to take two years. So if you look at that over two years time that proposal and the same with the engineers. So the engineer bid is until they get us to the bond. That's in a 10-year facilities plan and building condition survey. That's about an $80,000 bid. That'll take you over the next two years. The architects, like I said, write up to a bond. So, if you vote on the bond in um 2027, that's a a two-year commitment. That's about $118,000 over that two-year period of time. And then this owner's rep is a two-parter, about 40 for the
019first part and 40 for the second. So, it's overtime. So, if you look at it from that perspective of wow, this is two years work. Okay. Is it typical that once we have that money, we would accept more bids to do the work rather than go with the architective engineers to start at all? Or do engineers typically take us through the whole work process? >> They don't do the work. >> Okay. >> No, they set you up so that you know what it is that has to be done. >> They don't do the work. that work gets bid out competitively. There's a whole process around the procurement and that again it's additional work and responsibility on the finance department and they already have a full-time job. That's why I'm trying to set us up to
020give you the capacity to do the work. So I just want to clear the only proposal we have right now is for the honor rep. >> No, you have all three. I gave you the background. In my email from a few days ago, I gave you a cover memo and the the proposals from all three groups. I assume that until we're into the um bidding out the actual work, whatever work seems to be necessary, that's when we start getting into what folks call the bash on tax, right? At this point the their proposals are are what they are transparent national tax of like fair fees. Uh the the the work right now is >> do you know what I'm talking about? >> Yeah. >> They usually anticipate about 10 to 15% add-on to what it
021would be off island. >> Oh yeah. That's when they did the work. At this point, all this stuff is no one's going to come back and say, >> "Oh, by the way, you got to pay my ferry." Yeah. No, that's this is their proposal. >> I should have said that in a more streamlined plan way. Thank you, Amy, for >> figuring out. >> No, no, when you when you put a job out to bid, that bid will be inclusive of, oh, we're not on the island and now we have to the cost of doing business over there is Yes. Just like it was on Wiki. >> Yes. Yes. Yes. Now I understand. Okay. >> That you're you're kind of way ahead of the game. I'm just trying to get us positioned where we actually know
022what >> I just want to make sure what we're looking at is is what we're Yes, that's what you're looking at. Money. Okay, great. >> Does anyone have any other questions about the process or about money? >> Well, it's uh it's almost daunting to make these decisions. Um but uh if indeed I you know we have at 800,000 and the finance department thinks that this is all >> the finance department directly. I don't think >> just just run it by for people like me that are not super techsavvy and and number savvy. >> So I mean I think the the biggest thing is I can confirm we have the capac the capacity to do all of these things. Um what might make you feel better about our market is that Justin has also reviewed the
023numbers and um he actually gave us most of them. So we know that they're accurate. He actually went back um to 201819 to make sure that we captured everything correctly. So um we've kind of triple confirmed all of the numbers and um I think Joe just read everything really well. We just don't have capacity within the people who work here um to take on extra work and and do a good job of it and really give it the attention that it needs. So, um I'm very comfortable with moving forward with everything she does. >> Thank you so much. >> We did have the opportunity to meet in person Justin and his boss and Cassie probably I don't know three four weeks ago to make sure that what I'm seeing and what I believe to be
024true is actually true and we did forensic accounting as she's talking about. So yes, and please ask all the I want you to feel really just ask all the questions. The admin team is here. They know their buildings, you know, >> to the more seasoned team members who were here last time with Roy, did we find that position useful? Was it necessary? Was there anything you would have done differently in that role maybe that would have changed the way that we're looking at it now? >> She was amazing. I think I mean she was she was and you were at a lot of those meetings too. Um having somebody whose job and their profession is um building um what's the word I'm looking for? Big structures that belong in the public venue is the word
025for this. doing public works essentially um because there are so many details, there are so many laws, there are so many places that you can put a foot wrong, it cost you a lot of money. She was very skilled um and having somebody in that role, especially for a district this size, I think is imperative. This is showing. Oh, go ahead. This is uh I feel like I shouldn't be this green in asking this question. In the new business category, approving the contract, is that something we can do at this meeting? I'm assuming so. We can authorize that. Um I I think the piece where I got where I got um confused is when I'm saying that what I'm seeing is a single proposal for the levy, single proposal for the architect and single proposal
026for the engineers. Is that okay? So earlier I thought we were talking in terms of talking about the levy piece in that single proposal. Um and so this sounds great. I my one kind of question sending out for these proposals. uh when you said you only got one back you were still just talking about the le piece and I guess one of the questions is were there in terms of sending out requests for proposals to architects to engineers do you find it >> I didn't actually so so it's professional services so you can procure professional services um without an actual bid process so I went to Integress architecture because that's who built your high I've worked with them. They're quality. You know, they're all on sort of this roster of appropriate school related architect firms.
027Um I can tell you from having done this in a previous district that proposal they have and the dollar amount is is fairly standard for what we're asking for. Um but no, I did not I only did for the owner rep uh request for qualifications, not proposals. Um and for the uh mechanical engineers um McKinstry is one of two in the field. Um again highly recommended. I personally worked with them uh in uh the district I'm in and they are really good at uh securing grants for these kinds of especially the energy reduction projects. So, no, I did not. And it's because of my own experience that I'm recommending them. Um, but again, if the board feels some discomfort, we can do it a different way. Um, that's up to you. Does anyone have discomfort?
028>> I'd like to ask the same you guys. Do do you have opinions or things that should have been done differently last time? anything like that that we can take moving forward to make it a better process. I know not all of you are here. >> I'm highlighting. [Laughter] >> I I think the person knows how to do it and they do it well and um Amy everything Amy said earlier is accurate. Um it makes the process run smoother. um have expertise in the room. They have connections to the larger community um which is huge. So yeah, I think it's really wise and it was really beneficial to our district. What one of the things that we saw with Brandy is because she worked on a lot of worked predominantly with schools, I think maybe
029solely with schools and was working on larger projects and smaller projects simultaneously, she was actually able to get us better prices on things because she would take it on to a larger order for another district and utilize that pricing structure. So just all kinds of things like that that you have to be in the industry >> and good at helping you figure out what to prioritize, how to prioritize or how to shift if you need to ship something to a different price or come back. >> So they're just really valuable folks to have. >> Yeah, I absolutely think it's going to benefit all of us to have sort of a wider view. I mean, you've said pretty much from the jump that having a 10ear facilities plan is is imperative and so that we're being
030thoughtful and proactive and not reactive in the way that we tend our physical spaces and built environment for our kids is obviously incredibly important. There's a lot of things we can plan for and a lot of things that are going to come at us and this is one thing we can I think be really thoughtful about we move ahead. So this to me everything that I've seen obviously not really my wheelhouse but um seems really sound and thoughtful and I'm certainly ready to say yes to this. I would say having having been in this district for as long as I have. I've seen it when these things are not attended to which create a lot more problems and more money issues um and affect our students. Um I do want to see this kind of
031proactive work and planning and I'm ready to go ahead. >> Yeah. We have the money to do it worry about it and from expert expertise or experience I think that we move to move forward. Well, and I would just say as a building leader, not involved with the last process, but thinking about when I have teachers come to me asking about facilities issues that are coming up, I can answer with um in a in a situation like this, if we have someone in place, I can answer with assurance that yes, we have a plan, we have a we have and so I know how this is fitting into the whole piece rather than going I don't know how that's fitting into the whole piece, you know. So that helps me a lot as a leader
032in building. >> That's super helpful. I would also just add that we have probably at least three pretty time sensitive projects and um this step helps us to move forward with those in a way that should set us up to be really successful um through the winter and then setting us up for um you know the start of the new school year. I I also want to give you another tidbit around this that I thought it happened today, so it's um not on your agenda, but it fits. and that is that um we have the opportunity to work with our local community on on clean energy grants and there's a lot of energy around that and um met with um man by the name of Eric who has a lot of energy obviously also connected
033to it >> be prepared be prepared Yes. Uh, and I know John has done a lot of work with Eric to talk about um, solar energy grants and so on. And we look like a very good prospect as an applicant for all of the island reasons. Um, so again, it would be really timely because we would be able to use the expertise of engineers and architects to help us get those grants. So, it just fits nicely in the possibility of having solar on the roof of the high school battery storage. Um, and it really fits nicely with when we look at these generators that we have. The shortterm fix was, okay, we need a new engine and you know, we need to get a new generator and it's like, wait a minute. And this came
034up from our own staff bringing it up in this conversation. Our generators run by natural gas. They're not dual fuel, right? So, let's say we have an earthquake in the gas line. We don't have generators. We're potentially a shelter here. We should be working on be prepared to be a shelter for warming or cooling room when something happens. So, again, the timeliness of this is perfect. So, you know, and again, I don't want you to feel like, oh, I don't have a choice. I I personally would prefer action sooner rather than later because my time is limited and I want to get you ready for your next superintendent. But you take your time. If there's something that doesn't feel comfortable and you think you need to do something else or you want something else, that's
035also okay. Um, you know, if you if you're comfortable tonight, that's great. I'd like to bring this for a vote. Is there anybody here that would prefer that we put this off for any reason or it feels like they need more information to do that which is a legitimate it's a legitimate offer. People are like I can't quite sign off on voice my grit and it's not um major repairs and I put out proposals and I get bids and let's just say plumbers and multiple bids etc. Um, and that's just kind of the vault that makes me feel comfortable with having multiple things. At the same time, once I've worked with people and I have that trust and working in a particular area and particular recommendations, I'm not necessarily doing that. And I I'm only
036bringing that up because as a board member, I feel this due diligence to have those. At the same time, I'm hearing that you've worked with them and hearing their reputation in the field through you. It's just it's a step removed versus my having worked with them. um and the multiple proposals, but I have faith and I also appreciate what everyone has said and I do want to I do want to move forward. So, I would suggest um and I know we wrote it on your agenda as approved contract. I would suggest that you approve each one separately. So the the way I would suggest you do it and Peter can take the notes is you make a motion to approve the contract with whoever you know particular owner rep and particular architects >> okay no
037it's fine yeah >> so it would be uh I'll I'll say the motion and then you makes a motion, but uh make a motion to approve a contract with STV as owner representative for the Bash Island School District. >> Great. So, let's start by uh approving a contract with STV as represented by Ashley McLaren is the name we've been using. So, I think it's important to name that uh to be the owner representative. Um can I get someone uh to make a motion? I guess I will be the one to make the motion that we approve the contract through of STV. Um and um go ahead with this project. >> Can I get a second, please? Second. Thank you. Lucia. Uh anyone opposed? All those in favor? >> I I lovely. Let's move forward with
038STB. Uh, next up is I'd like to make uh I'd like to call for a motion to work with Integris architects um as the architects on this project. Can I get a motion? Thank you. Can I get a second, please? I'll second. Thank you. All those in favor? >> I. Any opposed? Lovely. Let's move. Lastly, Mckinstream Mechanical. Uh, can we get a motion to approve Mckinstream Mechanical contract? >> I motion to like how this is distributed so well. Thanks, Jess. Can I get a second, please? >> Thank you. All those in favor? >> I. Any opposed? >> Love it. Let's move forward with the constraint. I really appreciate the way that you packaged this up for us, especially as folks that obviously this is none of our specialty. um it felt easy to understand, approachable,
039and important. So, I'm really glad that we can go forward with this tonight. Thank you. Well, I certainly appreciate the board's um trust, and uh I think it's going to serve us well to have these folks on board get this work started. Again, it's it's time. So, thank you very much for the thought. And I also have heard Oh, there he's gone. But I wanted to say thanks to John Ericson uh for um enthusiasm in stewarding some of this uh latest energy around um solar which I think is uh obviously quite timely and important and I'm super glad there's a lot of enthusiasm and energy in this community for that. It's absolutely the right thing to do >> and we have structure in place that so yeah it's if we can get a grant for
040that imagine >> yeah it's a no-brainer. Um, I think that's all she wrote, folks. Um, I want to thank all of you for this long night and your energy and enthusiasm and expertise that you bring. Always, always welcome. Um, and with that, uh, it's 6:51. I think I'd like to adjourn this meeting. Thank you everyone.