The development of North Central Missouri College’s Savannah site will take a huge step forward in the coming year after trustees accepted a multi-million dollar bid for renovation of the existing building and construction of an addition during a meeting Tuesday evening.
The winning bid of $8,767,900 was submitted by E.L. Crawford Construction of St. Joseph and was the lowest of six received for the project. Jeremy Proctor of Ellison-Auxier Architects of St. Joseph and NCMC’s Chief Financial Officer, Tyson Otto, presented the bids, which came in very close to each other with the exception of one. In fact, only $12,000 separates the bid from Crawford and the next-lowest submission, which was from Lehr Construction. NCMC Physical Plant Director Randy Young said that means Ellison-Auxier did a good job of making sure “everyone knew what they were bidding on.”
Proctor said he had confidence in all of the bidders, noting that they had ties to the Savannah area.
“They were all reputable bidders and all would have done a quality job,” he said.
Proctor said the bids are a little higher than he had hoped, but with the current shortage of materials and their high price, he was not surprised. He said it was a good time to bid because contractors are looking for work.
The project had two base bids, one for renovating the existing building, which is a former car dealership, to get it ready for students, and the other for an addition to house a nursing and allied health program. The bid for the renovation was $970,000, while the addition was listed at $7,450,000. There were five alternate bids, all of which were accepted. They included $100,700 for replacement of the roof on the existing building; $81,800 for an automated nursing lab partition; $57,700 for an exterior panel on the existing building; $71,700 for HVAC for the shop in the existing building; and $35,100 for window coverings for all spaces in both sections.
The unknowns about the project are the exact cost and the timeline, both due to shortages in materials such as steel, which has a long lead time. There will be a better understanding of the timeline after a pre-construction meeting is held, but at this point, trustees are hoping that Phase I – the renovation of the existing building – can get started by October, with classes in that portion of the building to begin in January 2023. Phase II – the new addition – could be complete by June 2023.
Trustees also discussed the renovations that will be done to the old U.S. Bank Building in Trenton, which was recently purchased by the college. A bid from Foster Refrigeration and Electric/Heating and AC of Chillicothe was awarded the bid for seven HVAC systems which will replace existing outdated/broken HVAC equipment at the building, plus two additional units. The bid was for $71,154 and was the lowest of two received. The cost of the units will be covered 100 percent by state deferred maintenance funds.
Several personnel items were approved during the meeting, including the resignation of Zane Robinson as IT Help Desk Specialist, effective Feb. 28, and the resignation of Carmen Austin as Upward Bound Program Coordinator, effective July 29.
Trustees approved the internal transfer of Jamie Taylor from part-time North Belt Center evening assistant to Andrew County Site Assistant, a full-time, classified position, effective Feb. 14. Others hired include Kyle Jones of Chillicothe as a full-time custodian, effective Feb. 16 and Delana “Lanie” Gardner of Jamesport as the full-time campus store associate, effective March 7. Maggie McAllister of Jamesport was hired as a parttime clinical adjunct instructor for the nursing program.
Four faculty members were approved for tenure. They include Jack Green, agriculture and natural resources instructor; Dr. Sterling Recker, social science instructor; and Sophia Swink, and Ashtyn Wilson, nursing instructors at the Maryville site.
Personnel changes were also approved for the Green Hills Head Start program, which is administered through the college. Chasity Rardon was moved from teacher aide at the Brookfield “B” Center to teacher at tht center, effective Jan. 18. Lynda Brosdahl was hired as the cook at the Brookfield “B” Center, effective Jan. 31, and Karrigan Bowling was hired as a teacher aide at the Bethany site.
In other business, trustees:
• heard a report from College President Dr. Lenny Klaver, who updated the board on recent meetings he has attended, including one with Gov. Mike Parson in Kirksville. The governor emphasized his priorities of infrastructure and workforce development, with a goal of each campus having one new building under the new budget. He also shared the 2022 Community College Federal Legislative Priorities.
• approved the renewal of the college’s Proofpoint email security service at a cost of $33,410.70.
• approved an edit to the college’s mission statement to include the addition of Buchanan County to it’s service region.
• approved a revision to the Child Selection Criteria for the Green Hills Head Start program. The criteria included three changes: adding points for mothers in the prenatal program, for those with an English-language learner in the home and for new applicants with siblings who were previously enrolled in the program. Head Start Directors Susan Ewigman and Janet Gott also told the board that attendance has slumped in the last few months, something they attributed to the health-related questions asked each morning and transportation issues. They noted that the Brookfield “B” Center remains virtual due to the lack of staff.
• heard multiple reports, including one on the Digital Media Club from Rick Cole and an IT Services update from Chief Information Officer Jennifer Triplett. Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Tristan Londre discussed recent activities held on campus and Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Kristen Alley discussed the college’s graduation rate of 42 percent (highest among Missouri community colleges) and withdrawal rate of 39 percent (lowest among Missouri community colleges). She also said the college recently disbursed $732,000 in A-Plus money to over 300 students. She said efforts continue to promote the benefits of the A-Plus program in the service region.
• held an executive session to discuss personnel and real estate, after which the board accepted the resignation of English instructor Brittany Page, effective at the end of her contract on May 7.
The board’s next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 22.
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
