Unexpected school board members align in Columbus High parking decision

When the Muscogee County School Board has a split vote, the members most critical of the administration, Frank Myers of District 8 and John Thomas of District 2, usually are in the minority. Tuesday night’s meeting, however, provided an unusual case of Myers and Thomas supporting the administration amid a controversial decision.

This time, Myers and Thomas were in rare agreement with Cathy Williams of District 7, Naomi Buckner of District 4, board chairwoman Pat Hugley Green of District 1 and vice chairwoman Kia Chambers, the countywide representative, as the board, in a 6-3 vote, approved spending an extra $200,000 on the project designed to give Columbus High School 60 more parking spaces – increasing the total cost to approximately $935,000.

Vanessa Jackson of District 3, Laurie McRae of District 5 and Mark Cantrell of District 6 voted against superintendent David Lewis’ recommendation.

According to the bid tabulation attached to the agenda, Landmark Grading Company of Fort Mitchell was the low bidder among seven contractors. The bids ranged from $571,727 to $859,360.

Even the low bid exceeded the original estimate MCSD construction manager Bobby Hecht gave the board. Add in $50,000 for engineering design, $20,000 for construction testing and $43,273 for contingencies, and the administration now estimates the project to be $685,000 – which requires the additional $200,000 in funding.

But some board members argue the true cost of the project is more than $900,000 when the purchase of the property is taken into account. In March of last year, the board voted to buy the house and half-acre property at 1906 Cherokee Ave., adjacent to the school, for $250,000. It was owned by Walker Garrett, who then was a candidate for the District 8 seat on Columbus Council, which he won.

The project will combine the former Garrett property with an MCSD-owned retention pond that will be filled and paved.

McRae, who has a daughter attending Columbus High and joined the board in January along with Jackson and Williams after they won their 2016 elections, said she experienced “sticker shock” when she learned the project’s cost is now more than $900,000, including the purchase of the property.

Myers, who represents the district where Columbus High is located and also has a daughter attending Columbus High, agreed with McRae’s concern but, he said, “We’re stuck with making the best of a bad situation. … We’ve just got to do a better job estimating these things.”

Myers said he has “caught flack” for the $250,000 purchase of the former Garrett property but “value is what it means to the person who wants the property, so I stand behind it. … We’ve got a rat snake-infested detaining pond in front of one of the premier high schools in Georgia.”

This project must be approved to help alleviate the complaints from neighbors around the school who say students are parking in front of their houses and littering the area, Myers said. “God knows, I don’t think anyone from Columbus High would litter,” he joked.

Chambers noted the administration had told the board that another option, constructing a parking garage, would cost an estimated $1.2 million.

“If think if we knew up front it was going to be $900,000 (for the parking lot), we probably would have chosen the other option,” Chambers said.

Myers countered, “The problem is, we already bought the farm. We own a house nobody wants.”

Williams said, “I agree with Mr. Myers,” and, acknowledging the rarity of that situation, added, “Now that everybody’s over the shock, it’s not like we were given bad figures. We didn’t know the engineering until the engineering was done.”

Hecht apologized to the board and explained the original estimates for the construction cost, one for $430,000 from an unnamed engineer and another for $450,000 from an unnamed contractor, were based on a proposal to cover the detention pond with a plastic underground structure. But the project’s engineer, Moon, Meeks, Mason & Vinson of Columbus, prefers precast concrete, which is more expensive.

Williams, who works in the construction industry as president of NeighborWorks Columbus, concurred. She said it would be “foolhardy” to use the cheaper plastic, which would end up costing more because of eventual problems.

McRae remained skeptical. She contended, “Spending another $600,000 to keep from losing $250,000 does not make economical sense.”

Jackson asked, “What other options do we really have?”

Green answered, “If the board wants to explore other options, we can do that.”

Cantrell asked how many parking spaces would be constructed on the former Garrett property and how many over the detention pond. Hecht said the project could produce about 45 parking spaces if the detention pond weren’t included. Either way, he said, the cost breakdown is approximately $16,000 per parking space.

“Believe me, everybody that’s been involved in this project from the very beginning feels that same sticker shock,” Thomas said. “… But at this point, plant the flag. Let’s move forward.”

Although she voted to approve the additional funding, Buckner told Hecht, “I’m not in construction, but I want the best presentation. You’re being judged on what you know and what you should have known.”

This story was originally published February 22, 2017 at 2:02 AM with the headline "Unexpected school board members align in Columbus High parking decision."