THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 21, 1995 TAG: 9503210290
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
A $16 million school bond sale scheduled for today has been postponed until a firm price and a construction timetable are set for a new high school in Currituck County.
The Board of Commissioners' unanimous vote on Monday for a delay was not a surprise; members had said they did not plan to sell the bonds to finance the project - the county's costliest - until recent problems were solved.
``It's a looking-before-you-leap type of decision,'' said County Manager Bill Richardson after a special, 20-minute meeting at the county courthouse.
Commissioners originally intended to place the bonds on the market this week to pay for what was expected to be a $16-million-dollar high school in Barco.
Then came news that the general contractor, Greenville-based J.H. Hudson Construction Co., was being let go by its parent company.
The School Board decided a week ago to rebid the project rather than accept a $15.1 million construction contract with limited negotiability and a change of contractors midway through the project.
New bids are scheduled to be opened April 5.
Monday's vote to postpone selling $16 million in voter-approved bonds is ``based on prudent business practice and for the protection of county residents in handling their money,'' said Commissioner Eldon Miller Jr.
``Delaying the sale does not necessarily mean we're delaying any time line for the construction of the school,'' said Dan Scanlon, the county's finance officer.
Scanlon, Richardson and two commissioners flew to New York last week for a bond ranking and said Monday the county received an A rating from Moody's Investors Service.
Another leading rating service, Standard and Poor's Corp. of New York, gave the county a slightly lower Triple B+ rating.
Plans for the new high school, which will ease some of the overcrowding in other county schools, began after voters approved paying for its construction in November 1993.
Originally slated to cost $11.9 million, the project's lowest construction bid last fall came in $3.7 million more than expected.
To trim costs, schools officials, a facilities review committee and an architect recommended eliminating or scaling back some features and substituting less expensive materials for others.
Board members hope the revised plans, which were available to prospective bidders last Thursday, will cost less in the next round of offers.
Schools Superintendent William R. Capps said earlier that the project may still be completed by September 1996, despite the recent setbacks.
``Is that pie-in-the-sky, or is that realistic?'' Commissioner Owen Etheridge asked Garry Owens, the only school board member at Monday's meeting.
``It's doable,'' Owens answered. ``If everything goes well enough, it's doable.''
Both boards have said they will not sacrifice quality for the sake of time.
The two boards will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Department of Social Services Building to discuss the high school project.
Among items expected to be mentioned are the costs for a septic system, a new road and an electrical hookup. ``These are some unknowns nobody's addressed before,'' Miller said. by CNB