Bus barn plans changed

Dec. 19--The original plans for Creston Community School District's new bus barn changed and so did the cost. The bus barn will now have a concrete floor instead of the gravel originally scoped out.

The building was destroyed in the April 2012 tornado, and since then, the district has been holding hearings for contractors to rebuild.

During Monday's school board meeting, Superintendent Steve McDermott presented the findings of the state fire marshal's office.

Concrete

"Recently, we've received a ruling from the state fire marshal's office concerning the main storage area of the bus barn, the transportation building, where the actual vehicles will be stored," said McDermott. "Originally, if you remember, we had gravel planned for that space. We did receive a ruling that said, strictly by code, that needs to be a hard surface back there instead. Which means concrete."

However, this change will require an increase of cost for the structure. Insurance will cover 57 percent of the new construction, which represents the cost of the original building, while the school district pays for the remaining 43 percent.

"However, we have yet to know what kind of cost difference that will be," McDermott said. "Concerning that hard surface, that also means in order to make that safe back there, we're talking about a heat source to make sure those floors stay dry -- radiant heat."

There were concerns for the cost of the changes, including heating the building to prevent ice from forming on the concrete.

"Heating a bus barn, so to keep ice off the concrete floor? I think we're looking at a major expense there," said Ron Dunphy, Creston School Board member.

Radiant heat is a process that transfers radiant energy from one heat source to another object. It is a common heating process for outdoor buildings. It can be placed under the floor, in the walls or in ceiling panels, and then heats people or objects, rather than air, which is a more direct path for the heat to travel.

Building

Creston School Board held a special meeting in October and voted for C and J Conservation to do the dirt work for the bus barn, which includes excavation, sewer work and parking lot surfacing. The bid was $192,680, while the engineer's projected cost was $18,765 more.

Instead of keeping other bids on their own, the plan will be to compile them as a whole.

"Originally, the concrete was a separate bid, the steel building was a separate bid, the automatic doors were a separate bid. And, at this point, because of the bid process and the bids we've received, and this change from the state fire marshal, we've decided to roll those together into one bid package. We believe that will get us better pricing when bid in January, so the building can be completed hopefully this spring and summer," said McDermott.

McDermott said, considering the ruling, he felt it was the best thing to do for the bus barn and plans to have more information by January's regularly scheduled board meeting.

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