Survey Crew

The architect and survey team were on the job site today to stake out the corners of the building and to establish the property lines. The building has to be located on the property before the soil engineering team can perform the core drills to determine what type soil is present at various depths and if underlying rock is present. The soil engineers should be on the site next week to begin the core drills. The core samples will then be sent to a lab for analysis. The results of the core drill analysis will be used to develop the specifications for the bid on the excavation.

State Reimbursement

We received confirmation today from the Arkansas Facilities and Transportation Department that our grant for reimbursement on the new facility has been approved in the amount of 3.766 million. A final approval will be made when a visiting team confirms that it is a wise and prudent use of state money. This amount is 47.5 percent of the total cost of the facility. We have our financial advisors at Stephens Inc. from Little Rock tentatively working on the process to structure another election to lower our millage by approximately 2.5 mills. This will honor a committment the board and administration made before the election to apply the reimbursement toward our debt to lower the millage rate.

Project Update

Our board and administration have been working with our architect along with the mechanical, structural, electrical, and civil engineers for the past few months on the building plans and specifications. The engineers are preparing a storm water prevention plan that must be approved by the appropriate state agencies before major site preparation can begin. Also, the engineers are working with the Federal Aviation Administration to secure the required permits with regard to our building plan and the FAA requirements. In addition, approval must be secured from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department before road construction can begin. We are awaiting approval on these requests from the various agencies.

The architect estimates that the core drills and surveys will be completed in time to have the specifications ready for bid by the middle or end of February for the excavation and site preparation. He also expects the design team to have specifications ready for bid on the building erection by the middle or end of April.

Additionally, we have applied for a grant to install the internal technology connections, switches, servers and related technology in the amount of $115,000. If approved, the district obligation will be approximately 20% of the total amount requested.

Architect Profile

Our architect for the project is Bob Bailey, with Bailey and Associates from Little Rock, Arkansas. Bob has been designing and building schools in Arkansas and surrounding states since 1960 when he began working with the Stowers and Boyce Architectural Firm. He started his own firm in 1964. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects and is licensed in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Louisiania. Mr. Bailey has a solid reputation for building quality facilities at reasonable prices.

Completed Project