The Bus Garage Committee for Crookston Public Schools met on Thursday and unanimously voted to forward a recommendation on to the school board for $2.89 million two-building heated option for a bus garage. The design would have the main bus building as a pre-engineered metal building (PEMB) with an auxiliary stick frame garage for other district vehicles.
The committee was presented with three main options with sub-options for heated and non-heated space. The two-building design was an alternative design provided by ICON Architectural Group. In total, the project options ranged from $2.47 million to $3.37 million, with the highest options being pole structures to the surprise of many including Olson. The alternative option to go with two buildings was determined to be the most cost-effective solution and also provides an upgrade over the previous referendum’s design in that the recommendation calls for concrete floors instead of gravel said, Superintendent Jeremy Olson. “This is a recommendation to the school board,” said Olson. “The school board will have the ultimate say on what this looks like. The recommendation to the school board does have a concrete floor in it. It is a very efficient building. Square footage costs money, so we’ve been trying to be efficient with our square footage usage to get the most bang for our dollar.”
Allan Dragseth said one of the points he heard people questioning on the last referendum was the $3.4 million price tag with a gravel floor. The cost to add concrete was estimated by ICON to be roughly a $180,000 increase over a heated garage with gravel, although they said most of that would probably go into the increased depth required for the footings. Olson said he was excited that the diverse group on the committee came to a unanimous decision. “There is a lot of work ahead of us that I’m excited about,” said Olson. “I’m excited that our bus garage committee came to a unanimous decision. That is important as we move forward that we are united in our decision. We’ve had a lot of conversation, a lot of options with a lot of study and research on the different options. We have some great expertise in this group, which is very valuable to the district. These are people that either experience with owning ag buildings, or construction themselves. It’s a representative group of ag, school officials, and community members that came together and talked about what this looks like and what is best for Crookston.”
Transportation Coordinator Rick Niemala said the two-building design would meet the needs of the district and it was an economic decision. “It was an economic decision to go with the design we’ve chosen,” said Niemala. “We were looking for that for the taxpayers from their viewpoint and get something workable for us on our end. It will fit our needs, and it’s very workable for what we need for day-to-day operations.”
In the case of each design, the average cost for the main components of the structure was $1.32 million. That includes general condition such as contractor overhead/profit, insurance, bonding, temporary toilets/dumpsters, and other costs; site work such as asphalt paving, excavation, fill, soil sanitation, storm/gas/electric services, sidewalks and landscaping; mechanical considerations for sprinklers system, heating & cooling systems, plumbing and ventilation; and electrical. Additionally, by selecting the heated option, only one sprinkler system, a wet system, would need to be installed. If they had chosen an unheated building, the committees understanding was they would need both a wet sprinkler and a dry system for when the temperatures were below freezing.
The recommendation will now go before the school board, who will likely need to call a special meeting to meet the August 7 deadline for Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) for review and comment said, Olson. “Our next steps at this point now that we have decided on a number for recommendation is that it goes to the school board,” said Olson. “If the school board okays the recommendation and approves the recommendation, it will go to the architects. The architects will design this and move it towards MDE for review and comment. That will happen by August 7. When that happens, it will go to a vote in November. If the voters decide that this is the right option for Crookston and it passes it would go to a bidding process in January or February with anticipated construction happening in May.”
Additionally, Olson said should the board approve the recommendation of the committee there will be a lot of conversations with the community leading up to the vote. “We’re going to work very hard to make sure our community members understand this project,” said Olson. “They understand why we’re doing this. Why the price point is what it is. And that they understand what the usage of this building is going to be. We want to make sure we’re providing a good option for Crookston, which is what we feel like we did tonight. There is going to be a lot of conversations with our community utilizing our media. We’re thankful to have such a strong media presence in Crookston, and we’re going to utilize the media. Use some small group interactions, some public community meetings to explain what it is we’re trying to do and get the word out there.”
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