Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter will meet with Director of Schools Corby King Thursday to look at the one bid received for Park View School and discuss options.
The bid came in some $20 million above expectations. Porter said they will discuss alternatives to fit the project within the $45 million bond.
“They put a lot of alternates into the bids, so I think they can cut a tremendous amount out, but when you start cutting on a school, you’re cutting classrooms most of the time,” Porter said. “So instead of it being a K-8, it may be a K-4.”
Porter said the county does not know how they will move forward at this time, but one option could be borrowing more money. However, Porter said only a couple million dollars could be borrowed without raising taxes.
“When we did the $98 million bond for the jail and the school, that was pretty much tapping us out at the time,” Porter said. “Sales tax has been really good. Been doing really well with hotel motel tax and everything…. We could. If it is a large amount, it would take a tax increase to be able to do it. If it’s a small amount just a few million, we could probably handle it, but we are pretty close to the top with our bonds.”
Porter said making cuts for any project is one of the most difficult jobs as mayor. Porter said a school for example shows the importance of balancing needs versus costs.
“You have to be careful with what you cut, because something you cut was there with a purpose to start with,” Porter said. “Some things you cut out and you can live without, but with a school building, it is difficult. So, we look at these projects and try not to cut anything that would be detrimental to the way the project will operate in the future.”
Porter said the bid prices are locked for 30 days, so there is time to plan. Porter said he believes labor shortages and an influx of federal money are the main driving forces behind the high prices.
“The school system only had one bidder which is unbelievable,” Porter said. “We only had three bidders on the fairground dirt work, so I think these folks are overloaded with projects.”
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