By Holly Fesperman Lee

Salisbury Post

Members of the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education on Monday reluctantly approved terms of a contract between the system and Bill Hill for construction administration services through January.

During Monday's meeting, Jim Christy, assistant superintendent for operations, told board members that a contract with Construction Control Corporation expired Aug. 31, but several projects still have extensive punch lists — finishing tasks — and the new east-area elementary has a long way to go.

Christy said he would like to contract with Hill for $5,000 a month, plus a $500 monthly travel allowance, for the next four months. He said he looked at contracting with Shuler-Ferris-Lindstrom & Associates — the architects for Carson High School and the new east-area elementary school — and Construction Control Corp., but those options didn't provide someone on-site and were too expensive.

Construction Control Corp. was contracted to oversee building projects approved by voters in a 2002 bond referendum. Hill worked for the company.

Christy said no additional funding would be required because money is already available from the bond. When the new east-area elementary was delayed, the line item was increased by $70,000, he said.

Hopefully, many projects will be closed out and the new elementary school will be further along, Christy said. "This will get us over the hump," he said.

Christy recommended looking at the situation in January to evaluate the amount of work still needed.

A motion was made to approve the terms, but no one spoke quickly for a second.

"Nobody wants to second it, but I guess we have to," board member Kay Wright Norman said.

The motion carried 5-to-1, with board member Linda Freeze casting the dissenting vote. Board member Jim Shuping was absent from Monday's meeting.

"This will ensure we have a quality product," Christy said.

He reminded board members that the system had a capital projects director at bond time, but that person was moved to part time and eventually let go. "The regular staff can't handle it," Christy said.

Hill gave a construction update on current school system projects.

The contractor has completed work in the gym, auditorium, energy building, and concession stand at Carson High but is still working on punch list items in the main building, according to Hill. Footings have been installed at the east-area elementary and crews have started putting in structural steel in the media center area. The bus parking area has been stoned and Hill said crews were supposed to start pouring asphalt Monday.

Contact Holly Lee at (704)797-7683 or hlee@salisburypost.com