ASMSA foots part of bill for maintenance costs

The consent agenda the Hot Springs Board of Directors will consider tonight includes a resolution awarding a contract for two new elevator systems in the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts’ Academic and Administration Building, an obligation proceeding from the city’s ownership of the building.

Much of the ASMSA campus is on city property. The University of Arkansas has leased the land since it opened the ASMSA campus in the 1990s. In 2018, the city deeded to the university the Whittington Avenue parcel where ASMSA built its Creativity and Innovation Complex.

The Academic and Administration Building is between the complex and the old St. Joseph’s Hospital. The city said the building’s two battery-operated elevators are obsolete, with one out of service. It ranked Otis Elevator Co. the highest of the four companies that responded to the city’s request for proposals.

According to city code, the RFP process is used in lieu of an invitation to bid when the selection of goods or services is based on several factors, including price. Otis ranked first in all four criteria used to evaluate the elevator proposals, including price, the criterion assigned the most weight.

Otis quoted a $366,809 price for the two elevator systems. The $391,809 the resolution would allocate for the project includes a $25,000 contingency for fire alarm modifications and other costs that might arise after the state’s final inspection.

ASMSA Director Cory Alderdice said the Academic and Administration Building is the school’s primary classroom space, housing the humanities, science and math departments. He said the school is using Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding to pay for a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system in the building.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act and the American

Rescue Plan Act directed almost $200 billion to the ESSER Fund.

“Since the building is owned by the city, technically that would be their responsibility to replace that HVAC system on this building,” Alderdice said. “Given the simultaneous need for both the elevator and the HVAC, we’ve come forward to say we would bear the cost of the HVAC replacement.

“The timeliness of these two things happening almost together means we certainly don’t want to put an undue burden on the city. We thought it was a reasonable action for us to bear the HVAC replacement cost.”

City Manager Bill Burrough said the city is appreciative.

“Those are costs we could’ve had to bear, but Mr. Alderdice has worked through other grants and proposals to assume those expenses,” Burrough, noting ASMSA took on a city obligation that could have cost the city about $300,000, told the board last week. “We appreciate they were able to find funding for that and alleviate that much of the burden for the city.”

The city said the University of Arkansas System will assume maintenance of the building when the city demolishes the old hospital. It’s estimated a $3 million cost to abate and raze the hospital, an obligation that represents one of the city’s largest unfunded liabilities.

The old hospital houses mechanical systems for its Pine and Cedar street wings and the chapel and convent. When those systems are relocated, the city has a set amount of time to demolish the hospital. Alderdice said earlier this year that the school expected to vacate the old hospital by the end of 2023.

Board travel

A resolution authorizing the city to pay for District 4 Director Carroll Weatherford’s travel to the National League of Cities Summit in Salt Lake City, Utah, in November was pulled from the consent agenda.

The city said NLC has limited attendance to virtual only. Per city code, the board is required to approve taxpayer funded outof-state travel expenses for directors on a case-by-case basis. Payment is contingent on available funding in the board’s travel line item.