Board approves transportation center contract

MOSES LAKE - Moses Lake School Board members awarded a nearly $7.8 million contract to Fowler Construction to build the district's new transportation center at the regular meeting Thursday.

The bids were opened Tuesday, and Fowler was the low bidder when district officials added alternatives of an underground fuel tank and canopies over the bus parking lot.

District officials and board members had their choice of three options for the fuel tanks: off site, above ground or below ground. Board members decided on the below ground option, citing aesthetics in a growing neighborhood.

The board also had the option of waiting until later to build canopies for the buses. Board member Vickie Groff asked about the price, which will come from the district's portion of the project. Groff said she was concerned about price, since the contract price didn't include sales tax and the district might have to come up with money to pay that. District Superintendent Michelle Price said officials had budgeted about $5.7 million for the project, and the current cost, with the bus canopies, was estimated at $5.3 million.

Board member Allan Burritt said if district officials waited, the project probably never would be finished.

The small audience, which included some of the district's bus drivers, broke into applause when the vote was approved.

Mark Johnson, the district's executive director for business and operations, said the next step will be to submit the completed paperwork to the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. State officials will take a week to 10 days to confirm it, and in the meantime, the district will notify Fowler Construction they have the contract.

A beginning construction date will be announced, Johnson said.

In other business, Linda McKay, executive director for elementary education, announced that Columbia Basin Secondary School will be required to institute additional instruction to comply with requirements in the state's school improvement process.

The school's graduation rate did not meet the benchmark, McKay said, and the district will be required to hire a specialist, probably to work on ways to increase the graduation rate. Price said Columbia Basin is the district's alternative school, and the emphasis has been on encouraging kids to graduate, even if takes more than four years. Price said she thinks that should continue to be the focus, even if the district faces temporary consequences.

Dave Balcom, executive director for secondary education, said the contract to build the Grant County Skill Center will go out for bid in late September or early October.