Madison, Leesburg Projects Awarded To Fetters
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
The Warsaw Community School Corp. Board of Trustees awarded the Auburn company the bid during a special meeting for $24,506,800, including alternates.
The bid award to Fetters was approved by a vote of 5 to 0. Board member Tammy Dalton was absent, and board Vice President Dan Robinson abstained due to previously cited conflicts of interest.
Bids for the Jefferson and Claypool elementary schools projects will be awarded at a later date.
The process for the awarding of the Madison and Leesburg projects took almost the full 60 days allowed. The board acknowledged it took almost the entire time in order to do a thorough and complete investigation of the bidders.
Fetters Construction previously filed a notice of bid protest when the construction company thought the bid was going to be awarded to another construction company despite Fetters being the lowest bidder. On March 5, the school board's facility committee cited five reasons for concern about Fetters' bid.
At Friday's meeting, Attorney Daniel M. Drewry, with Drewry Simmons Vornehm LLP, Indianapolis, representing Fetters, said Fetters has submitted a number of letters, most recently trying to address the concerns, questions and issues raised by the board March 5.
"We hope, we feel we've done that ...," Drewry said. "We very much appreciate the board raising the questions it had and taking the time to consider all the information."[[In-content Ad]]Friday's meeting started with board Secretary Delores Hearn reading a prepared statement from Dalton.
In part, Dalton's statement said, "It is my hope today that the board will bring some closure to the bid process for Leesburg and Madison schools, and that we can move forward and not delay this project. I am confident the board will make the best decision, for not only for the school corporation but our community as well."
Board President Deb Wiggins then read a statement regarding two previous meetings. She said, "I would like these minutes to reflect that the board held an executive session at 1 p.m. today pursuant to the public notice. We also held an executive session on March 6th at 10 a.m. No subject matter was discussed in either of these executive sessions other than the subject matter specified in the public notices and no final action was taken in either executive session meeting."
During public comments, taxpayer Jack Kelley said he studied the bid documents thoroughly.
"The bid documents support the position that Fetters has taken, in my opinion. And also, it will save the taxpayers some $160,000. And Fetters' reputation has checked out. I don't know them, I have nothing to do with them, period. But their reputation is good," Kelley said.
After public comments, Wiggins said there's been some misunderstandings and concerns with what's happened during the bidding process.
"It's been very arduous, very long, and to be honest with you, it's been very intensely investigative," she said. "We've tried to reach discussions where the focus has always been what's best for the children, in particularly with the timeliness and opening of the schools. We've looked at what's best for teachers so they can properly set the classrooms in place for those children in which they are going to operate, and what's best for taxpayers whose hard-earned money is going to support and provide the backbone to get these projects going."
She said they've also looked at the ability for the administration to work with the contractor chosen, and potential litigious behavior in the future. The board has considered what the state law says, what case law states and what the school corporation protocol is.
"We've also had some erroneous comments made publicly by legal counsel that we did not follow some of the law or that we had closed meetings. In point of fact, this was not done. We are very considerate of that which we must follow," said Wiggins.
She said the board worked around a subcontractor (Robinson), who serves as a board member, who withdrew his subcontractor bid. His withdrawal has been accepted.
"This decision is probably, in this whole process, the only non-self-serving decision made by any bidder or subcontractor throughout this whole process. I think this shows the integrity of not only of this board member but I think it shows the integrity the entire school board has and I hope this is not questioned when the final decision is made," Wiggins said.
Other factors the board reviewed, she said, included today's economics, past behaviors of bidders and the facilities committee's report.
As part of the board's investigation, the board received an opinion by the certified public accountants of Alerding & Co. LLC, Indianapolis, regarding the financial capacity of Fetters. Wiggins read the final opinion of Alerding & Co.
The final opinion states that "based upon review of the information provided, as set forth above, it is our opinion that Fetters is financially responsible and has the capacity to perform both the individual contracts related to the Leesburg and Madison school projects and the combined contract covering the school projects. This would include having the financial capacity to make payments to its subcontractors and suppliers on the school projects."
In addition to the school projects, Wiggins said the school board is addressing other issues, including finding a new superintendent of schools since Dr. Robert Haworth resigned last summer.
Wiggins read a list of expectations for the project. The list included that the project work will be done on time; subcontractors will be paid in a timely fashion; there will be a collaborative and conciliatory relationship between the contractor, subcontractor and school administration; all will work with the architect firm of Kovert Hawkins harmoniously; the performance of the work will reflect the budget as presented in the bid accepted; and the contractor will "build the best quality schools possible for our children."
Board member Kent Adams commented that there were no closed meetings on the project and that the school board is transparent in the matter.
Ron Yeiter, a board member, said the school board is as anxious as anyone to get the projects moving, but they want quality and punctuality.
The Warsaw Community School Corp. Board of Trustees awarded the Auburn company the bid during a special meeting for $24,506,800, including alternates.
The bid award to Fetters was approved by a vote of 5 to 0. Board member Tammy Dalton was absent, and board Vice President Dan Robinson abstained due to previously cited conflicts of interest.
Bids for the Jefferson and Claypool elementary schools projects will be awarded at a later date.
The process for the awarding of the Madison and Leesburg projects took almost the full 60 days allowed. The board acknowledged it took almost the entire time in order to do a thorough and complete investigation of the bidders.
Fetters Construction previously filed a notice of bid protest when the construction company thought the bid was going to be awarded to another construction company despite Fetters being the lowest bidder. On March 5, the school board's facility committee cited five reasons for concern about Fetters' bid.
At Friday's meeting, Attorney Daniel M. Drewry, with Drewry Simmons Vornehm LLP, Indianapolis, representing Fetters, said Fetters has submitted a number of letters, most recently trying to address the concerns, questions and issues raised by the board March 5.
"We hope, we feel we've done that ...," Drewry said. "We very much appreciate the board raising the questions it had and taking the time to consider all the information."[[In-content Ad]]Friday's meeting started with board Secretary Delores Hearn reading a prepared statement from Dalton.
In part, Dalton's statement said, "It is my hope today that the board will bring some closure to the bid process for Leesburg and Madison schools, and that we can move forward and not delay this project. I am confident the board will make the best decision, for not only for the school corporation but our community as well."
Board President Deb Wiggins then read a statement regarding two previous meetings. She said, "I would like these minutes to reflect that the board held an executive session at 1 p.m. today pursuant to the public notice. We also held an executive session on March 6th at 10 a.m. No subject matter was discussed in either of these executive sessions other than the subject matter specified in the public notices and no final action was taken in either executive session meeting."
During public comments, taxpayer Jack Kelley said he studied the bid documents thoroughly.
"The bid documents support the position that Fetters has taken, in my opinion. And also, it will save the taxpayers some $160,000. And Fetters' reputation has checked out. I don't know them, I have nothing to do with them, period. But their reputation is good," Kelley said.
After public comments, Wiggins said there's been some misunderstandings and concerns with what's happened during the bidding process.
"It's been very arduous, very long, and to be honest with you, it's been very intensely investigative," she said. "We've tried to reach discussions where the focus has always been what's best for the children, in particularly with the timeliness and opening of the schools. We've looked at what's best for teachers so they can properly set the classrooms in place for those children in which they are going to operate, and what's best for taxpayers whose hard-earned money is going to support and provide the backbone to get these projects going."
She said they've also looked at the ability for the administration to work with the contractor chosen, and potential litigious behavior in the future. The board has considered what the state law says, what case law states and what the school corporation protocol is.
"We've also had some erroneous comments made publicly by legal counsel that we did not follow some of the law or that we had closed meetings. In point of fact, this was not done. We are very considerate of that which we must follow," said Wiggins.
She said the board worked around a subcontractor (Robinson), who serves as a board member, who withdrew his subcontractor bid. His withdrawal has been accepted.
"This decision is probably, in this whole process, the only non-self-serving decision made by any bidder or subcontractor throughout this whole process. I think this shows the integrity of not only of this board member but I think it shows the integrity the entire school board has and I hope this is not questioned when the final decision is made," Wiggins said.
Other factors the board reviewed, she said, included today's economics, past behaviors of bidders and the facilities committee's report.
As part of the board's investigation, the board received an opinion by the certified public accountants of Alerding & Co. LLC, Indianapolis, regarding the financial capacity of Fetters. Wiggins read the final opinion of Alerding & Co.
The final opinion states that "based upon review of the information provided, as set forth above, it is our opinion that Fetters is financially responsible and has the capacity to perform both the individual contracts related to the Leesburg and Madison school projects and the combined contract covering the school projects. This would include having the financial capacity to make payments to its subcontractors and suppliers on the school projects."
In addition to the school projects, Wiggins said the school board is addressing other issues, including finding a new superintendent of schools since Dr. Robert Haworth resigned last summer.
Wiggins read a list of expectations for the project. The list included that the project work will be done on time; subcontractors will be paid in a timely fashion; there will be a collaborative and conciliatory relationship between the contractor, subcontractor and school administration; all will work with the architect firm of Kovert Hawkins harmoniously; the performance of the work will reflect the budget as presented in the bid accepted; and the contractor will "build the best quality schools possible for our children."
Board member Kent Adams commented that there were no closed meetings on the project and that the school board is transparent in the matter.
Ron Yeiter, a board member, said the school board is as anxious as anyone to get the projects moving, but they want quality and punctuality.
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