Director calls for increased transparency

A contract involving rooftop heating and air conditioning at Ramsey Elementary School sparked a lengthy discussion among Gateway school board members and the process by which the district seeks bids from contractors.

After the discussion at its May 23 meeting, the board voted 8-1 to replace the rooftop HVAC units at Ramsey for $538,384.

Board member Chad Stubenbort voted against the motion, citing a lack of transparency.

Trane U.S. Inc. will do the work. The board also approved an expenditure of $130,000 to Trane for computerized control systems for the new HVAC system at Ramsey.

The district had solicited bids for the project, but board member Steve O’Donnell said all of the initial bids came in too high. He said he talked with district architects and said that a less complicated system was needed.

Mr. O’Donnell said the district’s facilities director, Robert Brown, went back to the other three companies as well as Trane and asked for a less complicated system that would provide HVAC controls for each classroom pod in the school rather than each individual classroom.

Trane came back with the lowest bid, saving the district about $30,000, he said.

Mr. Stubenbort said that new requests for proposals should have been sent out to the companies. He was also upset that the board received emails May 9 asking for a “call around” vote prior to receiving any public comment on the matter. He added that purchasing the HVAC units was added to the agenda after the board’s study session.

“Again, we are getting back to the transparency thing,” Mr. Stubenbort said. He said if the district is talking about changing the bid, “just pass that information on to the board.”

He added that more than $1 million in expenditures were added to the agenda after the study session.

“We continually hide stuff from the public,” Mr. Stubenbort said. “That’s disturbing.”

Mr. Stubenbort also wondered why the HVAC system was even on the agenda if a call-around vote had already occurred.

Board member Neal Nola said he was happy the cost ended up being lower, but he would like the board to plan ahead a little better, “so we can see the things coming easier.” He said the board tries to rush things.

Mr. O’Donnell said he would make an effort to put out more information to the board prior to meetings.