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Construction News
We are going to remodel both
fire stations in 2007 !!
This is a new page to bring viewers
up to date on the progress of our station remodel projects.
To begin the process it might be
helpful to understand what has taken place to start this process. Below are
excerpts of the accomplishments to get the project moving. This
information was taken from official fire board meeting minutes from January of
2006 to present date.
To see what the
progression of actual site work is being done, we will be adding photos of the
construction site from time to time. To view these photos please click here:
Construction Photos
Election, Bond, Levy and Construction Business
Special
Board Meeting. The Board of Directors met in special session on January 17,
2006, at 9:00 a.m. at Fire Station No. 1 of the
District. The matter of calling a special election on a general obligation bond
question came on for consideration. Director Ross introduced a resolution
entitled as follows:
A
RESOLUTION CALLING A SPECIAL ELECTION ON A GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND QUESTION IN
RAYTOWN FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT.
On motion duly made and seconded for the passage of the Resolution, the
Resolution was considered and discussed and the President put the question of
the passage of the Resolution to a roll call vote. The President declared the
motion carried and the Resolution duly passed.
The matter of calling a special election on an increase in the annual tax rate
came on for consideration. Director Palmer introduced a Resolution entitled as
follows:
A
RESOLUTION CALLING A SPECIAL ELECTION ON THE QUESTION WHETHER TO LEVY AN
ADDITIONAL TAX TO BE USED FOR THE SUPPORT OF RAYTOWN FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT.
On motion duly made and seconded for the passage of the Resolution, the
Resolution was considered and discussed, and the President put the question of
the passage of the Resolution to a roll call vote. The President declared the
motion carried and the Resolution duly passed.
Special
Board Meeting. A special meeting of the Board of Directors was called on
February 22, 2006. The purpose of the meeting was to hear from the Election
Committee and discuss items concerning the April 4 election.
Consideration of Bond Election and Operating Levy Election. The
representative from Piper and Jaffrey,
after receiving additional information about the cost of remodeling the fire
stations, provided updated Debt Service Schedules and Summary of Projected Cash
Flows, as well as a proposed ballot for the April election. After reviewing the
documents, the directors agreed to leave question 1 of the proposed ballot as
drafted and to set the tax rate at 78 cents in question 2. A special meeting of
the Board will be held January 17 at 9:00 a.m. to consider a resolution
authorizing the District to go before the voters in April for a bond election
and an operating levy election.
Discussion
of Oversight Committee. Mr. Ross asked if an oversight committee had
been put in place. Mr. Mace, Chairman of the election committee, stated
that he brought it up at the last committee meeting and everyone was in favor of
an oversight committee and three people volunteered to serve. In the beginning,
the oversight committee would meet frequently to oversee the campaign.
Later, if the election is successful, the committee would meet less frequently
to oversee how the money is spent. Mr. Mace will contact the above-named
persons and get the oversight committee established.
Election
Results Discussion. The certified election results will not be available
for a week or so; however, the Jackson County Board of Election Commissioners
website shows the unofficial results as follows:
Yes
No
Question 1 6,302 1,316
Question 2 4,929 2,637
Chief
Mawhirter stated that he had spoken to the representative of Piper Jaffrey and
asked how we should proceed. He said that it would be in our best
interests to go ahead with the sale of the bonds as soon as possible so as to
lock in the interest rate. Mr. Bruch suggested a special meeting be called
with him
in attendance to discuss a timetable for sale of the bonds.
Oversight
Committee. Chief Mawhirter introduced the members of the Oversight
Committee who were in attendance at the meeting. One of the members said that having been on oversight committees in the
past, it was his understanding that the duties of an oversight committee were to
see but not to interfere, to raise red flags and substantiate the reasons there
for. It will be the responsibility of this oversight committee to see that the
bond money is used as stated in the ballot that went before the voters.
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Piper
Jaffrey Update. The representative of Piper Jaffrey reported on
the progress of the bond issue. They have been working with the bond
attorneys to get the preliminary official statement in place and that is taking
longer than originally anticipated. Once it is ready, it will be sent off
to four or five bond insurers. They will need at least a week to respond
back with their quotes. He hopes that by the 5th or 6th of June
they will be in a position to distribute the preliminary official statement to
potential investors. The earliest that we can be into the market is probably
towards the end of the week of June 5. The Board meetings for June will be
rescheduled for the 6th and the 20th for whatever action
is required to sell the bonds the first week in July.
Status
of Building Project. Chief Davis reported that he and Chief Jones had
visited several new or remodeled fire stations during the last week and got some
good ideas as to fixtures and furnishings. They got names of contractors and
architects. He believes that a single ad in the Kansas City Star plus phone
contact with recommended contractors is all that is needed because the word is
out that the District is going to remodel its stations. But he needs to know what direction the Board wants to take in order to
put together a bid packet. Mr. Palmer had some concerns about the building
being able to support the second floor. Chief Davis assured him that the second
floor is self-supporting. Although Mr. Palmer is opposed to a remodel of
station #2 versus a teardown and rebuild, he acquiesced to the ballot language
that stated that the bond was for “remodeling” the stations. Therefore, the
project will be put out for bids using the Gunther-Mills designs for both
stations.
RFP
Update. Chief Davis reported that the ad for design-build bids has run in
the paper and several companies have picked up RFP packets.
Mr. Odneal
remarked that it would be appropriate now to think about getting together with
the oversight committee. Chief Mawhirter will contact the members of the
oversight committee to determine if they can be available for a special meeting
on Tuesday, June 27, 2006.
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Bid
Opening/Station Remodels. Chief Davis stated that he wanted to acknowledge
that all bids were received in a timely manner, through the proper channels, and
in accordance with instructions set out in the RFP. He said that once the
proposals are opened, he wants to meet with the Board members and the Building
Committee to go through the proposals and grade them to get them down to a short
list. Then the Board will meet with the Oversight Committee members to bring
them current as to the short list and the timeline for selecting the finalist.
Chief Davis then opened the proposals from the following design teams:
K.C. Heritage Construction/Wellner Architects Inc.
JE Dunn Construction/Shaughnessy Fickel & Scott
McCown Gordon Construction/HWA
Orr Construction/Hollis & Miller Group
Williams Spurgeon Kuhl & Freshnock/Kraus-Anderson Construction
Guenther Mills/Stanger Industries
Titan Construction/Gossen Livingston Associates
Chief Davis
stated that all proposals appear to have been submitted in accordance with
instructions set out in the RFP. The grading process will now begin. A special
meeting of the Board and the Oversight Committee was scheduled for August 7,
2006 at 9:00 a.m.
Special
Board Meeting. The Board of Directors met in special session on August 7,
2006. The purpose of the meeting was to bring the Oversight Committee up to
speed with regard to the design/build proposals solicited and received by the
District. Chief Davis gave a presentation, the outline of which is attached to
these minutes. He explained that the building committee has narrowed the
proposals to three and those three teams will be scheduled to give presentations
before the Board and the Oversight Committee. These presentations will be
completed by August 31, 2006
Bond
Resolution. The matter of authorizing the issuance and delivery of
$7,740,000 principal amount of General Obligation Bonds, Series 2006, came on
for consideration and was discussed. Director Ross introduced a Resolution
entitled as follows:
A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE
ISSUANCE, SALE AND DELIVERY OF $7,740,000 PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF GENERAL OBLIGATION
BONDS, SERIES 2006, OF RAYTOWN FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT, AND
AUTHORIZING
CERTAIN OTHER DOCUMENTS AND ACTIONS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH.
Bank
Account/Bond Money. The matter of setting up a bank account for deposit of
funds from sale of general obligation bonds came on for consideration and was
discussed. Director Bruch introduced a Resolution entitled as follows:
A RESOLUTION
AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A BANK ACCOUNT WITH UMB BANK
ENTITLED “CONSTRUCTION FUND”.
Levy
Hearing. A public hearing was held for the purpose of setting the levy rate
for 2006 on all taxable real and tangible property within the Raytown Fire
Protection District. A motion was made by Mr. Bruch to set the 2006 levy
at $0.78 for general operations, $0.0457 for the pension fund, and $0.16 for
debt service, for a total of $0.9857 per $100 of assessed valuation. Mr. Palmer
seconded the motion. The motion having passed unanimously, a Certificate of Rate
of Levy was executed and will be filed with the County. It was noted that no
one from the public attended the hearing.
Notice of
RFP Presentations Chief Davis stated that the three RFP presentations are
scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on August 23, 24 and 25. He distributed a sheet that
will be used to rate each design/build team. He asked if it would be okay to
tape the presentations for viewing by those who might be unable to attend the
meetings. Mr. Odneal said he thought it was a good idea.
Special
Board Meeting. The Board of Directors met in special session on September 5,
2006, for the purpose of selection of the finalist for the building remodel.
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Building Committee Recommendation to Board. Chief Davis reported that
the Building Committee met August 30 and graded the three design/build finalists
using the same criteria for all three. The final scores were as follows:
McCown Gordon/HWA 95 points
Guenther Mills/Stanger Industries 84 points
Titan Construction/Gossen Livingston 46 points
It is therefore the recommendation of the Building Committee that the
design/build team of McCown Gordon/HWA be given the contract to remodel the fire
stations.
Board’s
Action on Building Committee’s Recommendation.
After considering the Building
Committee’s recommendation, Mr.
Ross moved that McCown Gordon/HWA
be given the contract to remodel
the fire stations. Mr. Palmer
seconded the motion. A voice vote
was taken with unanimous affirmative result.
Discussion/McCown Gordon Contract. Mr. Odneal reported that he had been
provided a contract that is pretty straight forward. Since Chief Davis is out
of town and had indicated some concerns about the contract, Mr. Odneal, Chief
Davis and Chief Mawhirter will meet and go over the contract. It will then be
ready for action at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board.
Discussion/McCown
Gordon Contract. Chief Mawhirter reported that he, Chief Davis and Mr.
Odneal met and went over the McCown Gordon contract. Chief Davis had some
concerns that will be clarified with McCown Gordon before a final contract is
presented to the Board for action.
McCown
Gordon Contract. B.C. Davis stated that after having met with Chief
Mawhirter and Mr. Odneal to review the contract, he took their concerns to
McCown Gordon who answered all questions to their satisfaction. The contract
was then presented to the Board for its consideration. A motion was made by Mr.
Ross to accept and execute the design/build contract between the Raytown Fire
Protection District and McCown Gordon. The motion was seconded by Mr. Palmer
and a roll call vote was taken. The motion having received the affirmative vote
of all members of the Board, Mr. Bruch declared the motion carried.
McCown
Gordon Update. Chief Davis reported that McCown Gordon needs a letter to
proceed which he has drafted for the Board’s approval. Mr. Odneal reviewed the
letter and found it to be satisfactory. Mr. Bruch signed the letter on behalf
of the Board and Chief Davis will deliver it to McCown Gordon for their
signature. A discussion of allowable expenditures from the bond funds ensued.
Written opinions from Marr and Company, and
Gilmore and Bell were discussed and copies were attached to the minutes.
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