A familiar face was back at the Aug. 25 Bayfield School Board meeting: Marty Zwisler, who managed the high school addition and district lighting upgrade projects in 2013 and 2014.
The school board approved an agreement with him on the 25th to again be the owner's representative in preliminary steps this fall toward a bond issue election next year and an application for a state BEST grant.
They also approved a notice of contract award and authorized Superintendent Troy Zabel to negotiate a service contract with a Grand Junction architectural firm for very preliminary work on a new grade 3-5 school proposed to be built on 40 acres the district owns south of the middle school.
"We brought Marty in to guide the final portion of the (architect) selection process," Zabel said. A district selection committee looked at all the proposals that were submitted, minus any consideration of the fees attached, "because we wanted their choices to be just on the merits," Zabel said.
"I asked Marty to do a deep analysis of those proposals and the fee structures," he continued. "Two firms clearly came to the top with the selection committee, and it was clear to us that one of those was really the best" - the Chamberlin firm from Grand Junction.
Zwisler said Chamberlin recently built five elementary schools in Mesa County, and their fees are way lower than the other top contender. "Even if they were more, I'd be inclined to go with them, but they were half," he said. Chamberlin did work on Bayfield's elementary school built in the late 1980s, he added.
They also designed the new Southern Ute Growth Fund building in Ignacio, Zabel said. Chamberlin's fee for the work this fall is $70,000 plus expense reimbursements, he said. That and Zwisler's fee (a maximum $25,000) will come out of proceeds from selling 23 acres of district land to the town. That land is between the old middle school west building and the Pine River. "We expect to have that (sale) closed in the next few weeks," he said.
"We really need someone to guide the process," Zabel said. "That's why I brought in Marty." He referred to a very rigorous meeting schedule between now and December. It would be hard for district staff to manage that on top of day-to-day duties, he said.
Zwisler said, "These guys (Chamberlin) really focussed on what we are wanting to do with this project rather than a bunch of boiler plate language. You could tell they really want this job." He cited a chart included with their 50-plus page proposal, a timeline for what will happen starting right after Labor Day and the staff hours it will involve. "Their fee is very reasonable for what they are putting into it," he said.
"The product of this exercise, how good that is, is very, very important," Zwisler said. "It sets the foundation for everything going forward. We'll end up with a really solid product."
The district hopes to get a BEST grant from the State Department of Education to help pay for the new school. Zabel said the process this fall will include several community meetings intended to demonstrate for the grant application why the district needs to move out of the old buildings on South Street currently used for grades K-2. If a new school is built for grades 3-5, grades K-2 would move back to the elementary school.
Referring to the maximum $70,000 plus expenses for Chamberlin and maximum $25,000 for Zwisler, Zabel said, "When you add the fees together, it seems like a lot, but it will put us a long way to get the BEST grant and the bond election."
He asked for board approval for the notice of contract award, with the actual contract negotiation to follow, because, "We want to get them up and working. They will basically start tomorrow. Then we'll negotiate the contract."
