Contractors hired, bonds sold, RC ready to start building project

By MaryHelen Swanson
At two special board meetings recently, the Rush City School Board approved some important contracts and awarded the sale of building bonds for the new elementary project.

On May 23, after reviewing fees and clarifications with the architectural firm Setter, Leach and Lindstrom, the board moved to procure the services of the firm for design of the building project.

More formally, the board directed Superintendent Tim Eklund to draft a letter in the form of an AIA document so the process can proceed more quickly.

With a tight timeline before them, the architect expects construction to begin in October.

The board also reviewed fees and clarifications with RJM Construction, and took similar action to obtain the construction management services of this company. Joe Maddy was present from the firm; he will be the construction manager for the Rush City school project.

On May 30, the school board took action on the bond sale for the funds to do the upcoming building project awarding the bonds to the lowest of three bidders UBS Painewebber Inc. at a price of $12,810,866 with an interest rate of 4.96 percent.

Carolyn Drude of Ehlers and Associates, school financial advisors, said it was a ìvery favorable bond sale action.î

The favorable action is due in part to the districtís bond rating upgrade which recently went from a BAA2 to a BAA1.

According to Supt. Eklund, this improvement is due to the financial strength of the school district.
On another issue last week, the board acted on revisions of the school budget, which, according to Eklund, were late in the year, even for Rush City.

Issues that affected the need for this action included the recent ratification of the teacherís contracts and costs of bond referendums.
An area of the budget that drew special concern was Community Education which is expected to see expenditures $21,000 higher than revenues in the coming year.

The board, administration and the community education director will be working on ways to correct that situation. Possible solutions might include program reductions or fee increases.

The board also attended to personnel business by accepting the resignation of Stephanie Jansen, high school business and Stacey Johnson, 8th-grade volleyball.

They also approved the hiring of Alissa Schlagel, elementary long-term substitute (one year) and a volleyball coaching position, yet to be determined; and Scott Arcand, high school business, Business Professionals of America, and junior varsity volleyball coach.

The next regular board meeting will be 7 p.m., Thursday, June 13.

Top of Page

©ECM Post Review

6448 Main Street
North Branch, MN 55056
Telephone: 651-674-7025
Fax: 651-674-7026
E-mail: editor.postreview@ecm-inc.com