[00:00:08]
OKAY, SO LET'S GO AHEAD AND CALL THIS SPECIAL CALL AND OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MEETING TO ORDER IF WE COULD ALL PLEASE STAND FOR THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE.
AND WELCOME TO TODAY'S COMMITTEE MEETING.
UH, THIS MEETING IS BEING BROADCAST OVER THE COUNTY CHANNEL.
SO THE FIRST PART OF OUR AGENDA IS WE NEED TO APPROVE THE AGENDA.
SO MS. BOATWRIGHT OR MR. SMITH, I MOVE THAT.
MR. SMITH, ARE YOU A SECOND? I WOULD PREFER NOT TO.
UM, THE REASON WHY I AM NOT REALLY MOVING FORWARD WITH THIS AGENDA IS BECAUSE THE DOCUMENT, IF OUR RITUAL RECTALLY AND LOOKED, IT WAS NOT, IT WAS NOT SENT TO US BEFORE TODAY.
AND NORMALLY THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE, UH, WE NORMALLY JUST BE QUIET SO THAT WE CAN READ IT AND UNDERSTAND IT.
AND I BELIEVE THAT I THOUGHT THAT THE STAFF AND THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE ALREADY HAD AN UNDERSTANDING WHAT THAT, UH, AND IN THE PAST, UH, IN THE PAST PRACTICE THAT NORMALLY WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THINGS BEFORE THAT THEY ALL AS SAME AS, UH, AS A BOARD MEETING.
AND SO I'M REALLY NOT WITH BOTH THE AGENDA FORWARD.
THANK YOU, MR. ANY OTHER DISCUSSION? I'LL JUST SAY, I AGREE WITH MR. SMITH AND THAT, YOU KNOW, HAVING FOUR HOURS TO REVIEW THE DOCUMENTATION MAY NOT BE ADEQUATE, BUT I STILL MOVE TO APPROVE THE AGENDA.
CAUSE I THINK WE CAN BRING THAT UP IN THE COURSE OF THE AGENDA.
UM, I BELIEVE THAT YOU BRING UP A GOOD POINT.
UM, HOWEVER, I FEEL THAT IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE, WE HAVE THIS, UH, INFORMATION PRESENTED TO US.
AND, UM, AS I CAN SEE ON THIS, THERE DO NOT APPEAR TO BE ANY ACTION ITEMS OTHER THAN TO, TO BRING IT FORWARD TO THE FULL BOARD, IF, IF THAT IS THE DECISION.
SO, UM, I AM GOING TO, UM, SUPPORT THIS MOTION.
SO HEARING, UH, ANY OTHER DISCUSSION HEARING NONE ALL IN FAVOR.
ALL OPPOSED ANY ABSTENTIONS YOU'RE OPPOSED.
AND ONE NAY THE MOTION IS APPROVED.
MS. CUSHION BARRY SAID THERE ARE NO PUBLIC COMMENTS, SO WE WILL GO RIGHT INTO THE CONSTRUCTION UPDATE.
AND MR. AUDITING, UH, WILL THAT BE YOU OR WILL IT BE MR. CORGAN? SURE.
CORBIN WILL BE PRESENTING, BUT I JUST LIKE TO SAY JUST A FEW WORDS, UM, UH, JUST FIRST, UH, YOU KNOW, TO ADDRESS MR. SMITH'S, UH, CONCERN.
I DO UNDERSTAND THAT AND WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE HAD THIS TO YOU SOONER.
UM, I WOULD SAY TO THIS HAS BEEN THE, UH, COMING TOGETHER, UH, PROBABLY A MULTI-MONTH PROCESS IN A LOT OF HOURS BEHIND THIS AND WE'RE ACTUALLY STILL WORKING DILIGENTLY ON A LOT OF THESE ITEMS. UH, SO A LOT HAS COME TOGETHER TO GET US TO THIS POINT.
SO I JUST WANT TO PREFACE WITH THAT.
AND ALSO WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE WAYS THAT, UM, WE'VE MODIFIED THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING.
AND I JUST WANT TO MAKE EVERYONE AWARE THAT, UM, WHAT WE ARE DOING AS FAR AS TECHNOLOGY AND SECURITY IS FAR AND ABOVE WHAT WE HAVE SEEN THROUGHOUT, UH, SOUTH CAROLINA.
AND THAT'S ACTUALLY ONE OF OUR BIGGEST PROBLEMS IS WE WEREN'T REALLY ABLE TO FIND AN EXAMPLE THAT WE COULD USE BECAUSE WE ARE REALLY SETTING THE BAR IN THIS AREA.
UM, AS FAR AS WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO FIND WITH OTHER DISTRICTS IN THE STATE.
SO WITH THAT, I'M GOING TO HAND IT OVER TO ROB CORBYN AND LET HIM TAKE IT FROM THERE.
[00:05:01]
I'M THE BOND REFERENDUM PROGRAM DIRECTOR WITH CVRE HEARING AND, UH, THE FOCUS OF THIS, UH, INFORMATION TODAY IS A REFERENDUM UPDATE, SPECIFICALLY ADDRESSING PROJECT FUNDING NEEDS.
WHAT I WANTED TO DO WAS BEGIN WITH A RECAP ON THE BOND REFERENDUM, JUST SHARING SOME OF THE FIGURES SO THAT WE CAN KEEP THESE IN MIND AS WE GO THROUGH THE PRESENTATION.
THE TOTAL FUNDS OF THE REFERENDUM WERE JUST OVER $344 MILLION, UH, IS TO, UH, UH, ACCOMPLISH, UH, IMPROVEMENTS FOR 36 PROJECTS.
AND THE FINANCIAL FIGURES AS OF THE END OF, UH, JANUARY 30, FIFTH, 31ST ARE PROVIDED, THERE WERE PAID TO DATE FIGURES ARE JUST OVER 47 MILLION, WHICH REPRESENTS, UH, JUST OVER A 0.7% OF THE OVERALL BOND REFERENDUM.
AND WHEN WE LOOK AT WHAT HAS BEEN ENCUMBERED AND PAID TODAY, THAT WOULD INCLUDE DESIGNER CONTRACTS AS WELL AS MULTIPLE GUARANTEED MAXIMUM PRICE, UH, AMENDMENTS THAT WE HAVE IN PLACE WITH VARIOUS, UH, CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS.
THAT FIGURE IS OVER 87.7 MILLION.
SO LOOKING AT THAT ON A PERCENTAGE BASIS OF THE OVERALL REFERENDUM, THAT IS, UH, JUST OVER 25% OF THE OVERALL BOND REFERENDUMS. SO WITH THAT, WE'LL MOVE TO PROJECT CONTINGENCY.
UM, INSIDE OF THE BOND REFERENDUM, UH, A PROJECT CONTINGENCY WAS CREATED BY TAKING THE VARIOUS, UH, REFERENDUM PROJECTS AND, UH, ALLOCATING JUST OVER 5.4% FROM EACH PROJECT TO THE PROJECT CONTINGENCY.
AND THAT'S HOW WE ARRIVED AT THE INITIAL ORIGINAL TOTAL CONTINGENCY AMOUNT THAT'S SHOWN THERE THAT'S $17,781,187.
UH, LOOKING BACK AT OUR CONTINGENCY FIGURES THROUGH THE END OF JANUARY OF THIS YEAR, THE AMOUNT THAT HAS BEEN USED TOTALS $2,778,503.
SO ONCE AGAIN, THAT'S 15.6, 3%.
AND OUR REMAINING BALANCE, UH, DOING THE MATH WILL SHOW THAT THERE'S 15 MILLION, $2,683 REMAINING.
WE DO HAVE A PROJECT CONTINGENCY LOG THAT WE IMPLEMENTED, UH, EARLY ON IN 2020.
AND ANY PROJECT USE OF THE CONTINGENCY HAS BEEN PLACED ON THAT LOG AND UPDATED.
UH, WE HAVE NOT HAD TO USE ANY ADDITIONAL CONTINGENCY SINCE SEPTEMBER, BUT AS YOU WILL GO THROUGH THIS, UH, PRESENTATION MATERIAL AT THE END, WE ARE GOING TO MAKE A RECOMMENDATION, UH, TO, UH, UTILIZE, UH, UH, PROJECT CONTINGENCY.
SO, UH, WITH THAT SAID, WELL, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND MOVE FORWARD, MR. CORBIN, IF I COULD JUST INTERRUPT YOU FOR A SECOND, I CAN NOT SEE EVERYBODY'S EVERYBODY'S PICTURE, UH, YOU KNOW, WITH THE SHARED SCREEN.
SO IF ANYBODY HAS A QUESTION, IF WE COULD JUST, YOU KNOW, VERY NICELY INTERRUPT MR. CORBIN AND, AND ASK THAT QUESTION, UM, AND, AND IN DOING SO, CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHY NO CONTINGENCIES HAVE BEEN USED SINCE SEPTEMBER 15TH? WOULD YOU SAY THAT'S BECAUSE THE, UM, BUDGETING, UM, THE PROJECTIONS WERE MORE ACCURATE OR WHAT WOULD BE THE REASON FOR THAT? UH, THE ACTIVITY SINCE SEPTEMBER 15TH HAVE NOT REQUIRED IT.
SO WHETHER WE ARE STARTING NEW DESIGN CONTRACTS OR, UH, PROCESSING AMENDMENTS TO MOVE FORWARD, THE VARIOUS SCOPES AT DIFFERENT CAMPUSES, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH THAT WITH THE ORIGINAL BUDGETING.
SO THAT'S THE PRIMARY REASON WHY WE HAVE NOT HAD TO USE ANY OF THE CONTINGENCIES SINCE SEPTEMBER.
AND BY ALL MEANS, SO JUST PLEASE, YOU KNOW, ANY QUESTIONS, I'LL BE GLAD TO FEEL THEM AS WE GO ALONG.
UH, YOU GOT A QUESTION IN HERE, MADAM CHAIR.
UM, ROBERT, IS, IS THIS THE ONLY CONTINGENCY OR IS THERE ALSO A CONTINGENCY AT THE PROJECT LEVEL OR AT OFF? YEAH, WHEN WE START OFF, I THOUGHT THERE WAS A BOND CONTINGENCY AND THEN THERE WERE PROJECT CONTINGENCIES.
AND I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE I HAVE THE RIGHT PICTURE.
SO WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT AS FAR AS A PROJECT CONTINGENCY LOG IS FOR THE OVERALL REFERENDUM.
[00:10:01]
SO AS, AS ROB CORBIN WAS SAYING EARLIER FROM EVERY PROJECT, WE TOOK A PERCENTAGE OUT AND PUT IT IN A, IN AN ACCOUNT CODE THAT WE HELD THERE AS PROJECT CONTINGENCY FOR ALL PROJECTS IN REFERENDUM, I GUESS THAT'S TO BALANCE THEM OUT.UM, BUT EVERY PROJECT THAT BIDS HAS AT LEAST A 5% CONSTRUCTION CONTINGENCY.
SO THOSE ARE TWO DIFFERENT CONTINGENCIES.
AND THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS AT THE WE'RE ABOUT TO GET TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA KIND OF, UH, SPOIL THE WHAT'S COMING NEXT, BUT AS WE GET TO THE END OF A PROJECT, IF WE HAVEN'T HAD TO USE THAT PROJECT CONTINGENCY, A LOT OF THAT COMES BACK.
AND WHEN THAT COMES BACK, THAT GOES BACK INTO THE OVERALL REFERENDUM CONTINGENCY.
SO DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION BECAUSE I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GOING TO MOVE TO NOW.
THAT'S THE PICTURE I HAD IS THERE REALLY ARE LIKE TWO CONTINGENCIES AND I KNOW, UH, CONSTITUENTS ARE VERY FOCUSED ON CONTINGENCIES BECAUSE THAT'S MONEY.
THEY COULD GET BACK THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO BORROW, UM, TO AVOID, YOU KNOW, GOING THE FULL THREE 44.
SO, UM, THAT'S WHY I'M KIND OF FOCUSED ON IT.
CAN I ASK A FOLLOW ON QUESTION, PLEASE? DO.
WHAT ABOUT, UH, WHEN YOU CLOSE OUT, YOU'RE GOING TO BE CLOSING OUT MAY RIVER AND RIVER RIDGE.
UH, WHAT ABOUT, I'VE HEARD THAT THEY'RE COMING IN UNDER BUDGET.
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE FUNDS THAT ARE UNDER BUDGET THAT WE, WE DON'T HAVE TO PAY? WHERE'S THAT WHERE'S THAT MONEY GO MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE IF WE COULD BE SO, UH, BOLD THERE.
UH, AND DAVID, I APPRECIATED YOUR QUESTION.
I WAS GOING TO ADDRESS IT ON THIS SLIDE HERE, BECAUSE AS ROBERT WAS SAYING, WE HAVE A CONSTRUCTION THAT IS, UH, INSIDE EACH OF THE GUARANTEED MAXIMUM PRICES.
AND THAT IS HISTORICALLY BEEN SET AT 5% FOR EACH PROJECT.
ALL OF THE PROJECTS THAT HAVE MOVED FORWARD TO DATE, ESPECIALLY THE ADDITIONS AT RIVER RIDGE IN MAY RIVER HIGH, WE HAVE NOT HAD TO UTILIZE A LARGE PORTION OF THAT 5% PROJECT LEVEL CONTINGENCY.
BUT IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE ALSO HAVE AVAILABLE REMAINING BUDGETS THAT NEVER HAD TO BE ENCUMBERED ASSOCIATED WITH THE ADDITIONS, FOR EXAMPLE, AT RIVER RIDGE ACADEMY AND THE MAY RIVER.
LIKEWISE, WE SEE A, A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO RECOVER THE CONSTRUCTION CONTINGENCY AS WELL AS THE REMAINING UNUSED BUDGETS AT BUFORD ELEMENTARY.
SO WHAT THIS SHOW, THIS PAGE HERE SHOWS IS WHAT THOSE FIGURES ARE LOOKING LIKE FOR A SAMPLING OF SOME OF OUR, UH, UH, PROJECTS THAT HAVE, UH, UH, MOVED TO THE POINT WHERE WE CAN NOW PROJECT THE SAVINGS.
AND FOR EXAMPLE, AT RIVER RIDGE ACADEMY, THE PROJECTED SAVINGS IS ROUGHLY $1.1 MILLION WITH A TARGET CLOSE OUT IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF THIS YEAR AT MAY RIVER HIGH SCHOOL, THE PROJECTED SAVINGS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ADDITION IS ROUGHLY 2.7 MILLION, SAME CLOSE OUT PERIOD THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IT TO OCCUR IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF THIS YEAR AT BUFORD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, WE HAVE PROJECT SAVINGS OF ROUGHLY 1.9 MILLION, UH, BECAUSE THAT, THAT WORK IS GOING TO BE WRAPPING UP IN THE FALL.
WE'VE GOT A TARGET CLOSE OUT OF Q4 OF 2021, BUT AT THE BOTTOM THERE, YOU ALSO WILL SEE THAT WE ARE RETURNING FROM OUR SERVICES ASSOCIATED WITH YEAR ONE SAVINGS OF 178,627.
I INCLUDED THAT ONE BECAUSE WE ARE ACTUALLY ROUTING AN AMENDMENT RIGHT NOW AND WE'LL HAVE THAT CLOSED OUT IN THE FIRST QUARTER.
BUT THESE FOUR ITEMS THAT I JUST RECAP TOTAL 5 MILLION, 878,627.
AND WHEN THE CLOSEOUT OCCURS, THESE DOLLARS GET RETURNED TO THAT LARGER BUCKET OF PROJECT CONTINGENCY THAT I REFERENCED ON THE EARLIER PAGE, PERHAPS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WOULD AID IN THESE TYPE OF CONVERSATIONS IS TO KEEP THE PROJECT CONTINGENCY REFERENCE SPECIFIC TO THE CONSTRUCTION CONTINGENCY OR WHAT IS AT THE PROJECT LEVEL AND WHAT I'VE USED FOR OTHER BOND REFERENDUMS THAT OTHER BIGGER BUCKET.
I LIKE TO RECALL PROGRAM CONTINGENCY BECAUSE IT'S THERE FOR ASSISTANCE NEEDS ON ANY OF THE PROJECTS THAT MAY REQUIRE IT, UH, IN EXECUTING THE OVERALL REFERENDUM, BUT THESE DOLLARS GET, DO GET RETURNED.
AND I THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO CUE UP THIS INFORMATION SO THAT
[00:15:01]
WE CAN PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE.YES, WE ARE GOING TO MAKE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS TO USE SOME OF THE EXISTING REMAINING CONTINGENCY RIGHT NOW, BUT WE ARE GOING TO BE RETURNING A GOOD PORTION OF CONTINGENCY.
LIKE I JUST RECAPPED ON THIS, UH, FOURTH SLIDE.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS BEFORE WE MOVE ON? YEAH.
WE'LL GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON WITH REGARDS TO THE TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE SCOPES, AS ROBERT MENTIONED, THIS IS A, UH, AN EXERCISE THAT WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON DUE DILIGENTLY FOR A FEW MONTHS NOW.
AND THERE ARE 28 PROJECTS IN THE BOND REFERENDUM THAT, UH, HAD INCLUDE TECHNOLOGY, INFRASTRUCTURE, SCOPES, AND, UH, WE HAVE COMPLETED THE DESIGNS ASSOCIATED WITH THOSE TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE SCOPES FOR 10 PROJECTS OF THOSE 10 PROJECTS.
TWO PROJECTS ARE STILL, UH, REPORTING WITH THE GREEN TRAFFIC LIGHT.
AND ONCE AGAIN, THE GREEN TRAFFIC LIGHT IS FOUR INDICATING THAT WE DON'T HAVE A BUDGET CONCERN.
WE DON'T NEED ANY ADDITIONAL DOLLARS TO BE ADDED TO EXECUTE THOSE PROJECTS.
THERE ARE EIGHT ADDITIONAL PROJECTS THOUGH THAT HAVE YELLOW TRAFFIC LIGHTS.
UM, WE HAVE ALSO NOW COMMENCED EIGHT ADDITIONAL PROJECTS THAT HAVE COMMENCED THEIR TECHNOLOGY, INFRASTRUCTURE SCOPES, AND THOSE ARE MOVING ALONG.
UH, THOSE ONES WE COMMANDS BACK IN THE FALL OF LAST YEAR, SO THAT WE WERE ABLE TO START THOSE A LITTLE SOONER, AND THAT WILL PLAY INTO SOME OF THE LESSONS LEARNED THAT I'LL COVER LATER ON IN THIS PRESENTATION.
BUT, UH, AFTER THOSE PROJECTS, THERE'S 10 ADDITIONAL PROJECTS THAT WILL START FOR YEAR THREE AND YEAR FOUR.
AND ONCE AGAIN, WE WILL BE LOOKING TO START THOSE IN THE THIRD QUARTER OF THE CALENDAR YEAR PRIOR TO, UH, NEEDING THAT WORK TO BE, UH, DESIGNED.
AND SO, UH, JUST WANTED TO RECAP THAT INFORMATION.
UM, THE, THE OTHER IMPORTANT THING THAT BEFORE WE MOVE OFF OF THAT FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THE PROJECTS, WHETHER IT'S DESIGNS THAT HAVE BEEN COMPLETED, WHETHER IT'S DESIGNED SET OF COMMANDS NOW, OR THE FUTURE ONES, WE ARE TREATING ALL OF THEM THE SAME.
THEY HAVE A QUALITY AND CONSISTENCY WITH THE TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE STANDARDS.
SO I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S NO CONCERNS THAT THE FIRST PROJECTS OUT OF THE GATE MAY BE DONE DIFFERENTLY THAN THE NEXT PROJECTS THAT ARE STARTING.
WE ARE VERY, UH, FOCUSED ON KEEPING A QUALITY AND CONSISTENCY ACROSS THE BOARD WITH EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THE PROJECTS.
LET ME JUST GET THIS, THIS NEXT SLIDE IS SOME EXAMPLES.
IT'S NOT AN ALL EXHAUSTED LIST OF EVERYTHING THAT WE'VE DONE, BUT EACH PROJECT IS UNIQUE WHEN IT COMES TO ITS TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS.
SO IT, IT, IT, EACH ONE HAS TO BE EVALUATED AND DESIGN BASED ON ITS OWN REQUIREMENTS, BUT THERE THERE'S EXAMPLES THAT ARE ON HERE, WHERE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE CONDUIT REDUCTIONS, NOW IT'S NOT AFFECTING ANY OF THE END USER, UH, OR SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.
AND THAT WAS JUST SOMETHING THAT WE WERE ABLE TO WORK WITH THE DISTRICT ON, AND THE CONTRACTORS THAT THE CONDUIT THAT WAS RUN FROM THE CABLE TRAY OUT TO THE END DEVICES, WASN'T SOMETHING THAT WAS NECESSARY.
AND IT DID RESULT IN SOME SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS, UH, THE REDUCTION OF DATA OUTLETS AND THE ASSOCIATED DATA CABLING, PRIMARILY THAT, THAT WAS MORE IN THE OFFICE AREAS.
FOR EXAMPLE, WHERE, UH, INITIALLY COMING OUT OF THE GATE, WE HAD TWO, TWO PORT OUTLETS THAT HAD BEEN INITIALLY SHOWN IN PRICED.
AND, UH, WE WERE ABLE TO WORK THROUGH THOSE DETAILS AND, UH, DETERMINED THAT ONE, TWO PORT, UH, OUTLET WAS SUFFICIENT.
UH, THE USE OF BULK CABLING ALSO CAME INTO PLAY.
UH, THE EXAMPLE THERE WAS IN THE, UM, SPEAKER CABLING.
UM, ONE OF THE EARLIER DESIGNS HAD UTILIZED.
WHAT'S CALLED PRE-PACKAGE WIRING KITS.
YEAH, THEY'RE, THEY'RE EASY TO USE, BUT THEY COME WITH A PREMIUM COST.
AND BY USING THE BULK SPEAKER CABLING AND USING THE FIELD LABOR, WE, WE RECOGNIZE SAVINGS.
UM, THE OPTIMIZATION OF THE SECURITY CAMERAS, EXAMPLES.
THERE ARE THE INITIAL DRAWINGS THAT THE DESIGNERS HAD PUT TOGETHER WHERE FOR FIVE MEGAPIXEL CAMERAS, WHICH DEPENDING UPON WHERE THAT CAMERA IS AND THE DISTANCE THAT IT'S TRYING TO VIEW THAT IS APPROPRIATE.
BUT WE HAD MANY CAMERAS THAT DIDN'T HAVE LONG
[00:20:01]
VIEWING DISTANCES AND WORKING WITH MARK'S TEAM AND WITH TECHNOLOGY, WE WERE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THOSE SPECIFIC CAMERAS AND GIVE DIRECTION BACK THAT A TWO MEGAPIXEL CAMERA WOULD PROVIDE EXCELLENT CLARITY FOR THE PURPOSES, UH, ASSOCIATED WITH THOSE CAMERAS.THE OTHER THING THAT WE DID WITH THE CAMERAS WAS, UH, INITIAL DESIGNS MAY HAVE HAD A CORRIDOR WHERE A CAMERA WAS POINTING IN ONE DIRECTION AND THEN 180 DEGREES THE OTHER DIRECTION IT WAS POINTING IN AS WELL.
WELL, THAT'S TWO SEPARATE CAMERAS AND THEY DO HAVE CAMERAS THAT CAN BE FURNISHED AS ONE.
AND IT HAS THE ABILITY TO VIEW 180 DEGREES.
SO THESE ARE ACTIONS THAT IMPLEMENTED TO HELP PULL DOWN THESE COSTS AND TO CONTROL THEM.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME STILL PROVIDING THE FEATURES THAT THE DISTRICT WAS LOOKING FOR, UH, REUSING EXISTING CARD READERS ALSO ALLOWED US TO, UH, OPTIMIZE SOME OF THE, UH, UM, DOOR CONTACTS, UH, DOOR CONTACTS WERE INITIALLY SHOWN, UH, BUT WHERE THERE'S A CARD RAIDER THERE, SOFTWARE INTERFACE THAT WE CAN CAPITALIZE ON AND NOT HAVE TO PUT IN THOSE ADDITIONAL CONTACTORS, UH, THE USE OF SINGLE CAT, SIX CABLING TO ALL THE WIRELESS ACCESS POINTS WAS WHAT WAS NECESSARY AS WELL.
WHERE, UH, INITIALLY WHAT WAS OCCURRING WAS A DUAL CAT, SIX CABLING HAD BEEN SPECIFIED IN THOSE NEEDS.
I DON'T BELIEVE WILL EVER BE NECESSARY IN THIS DISTRICT OR ANY DISTRICT, UH, TO MEET THEIR NEEDS.
UM, THE, A SINGLE SENSOR DEVICES, I SORT OF GAVE EXAMPLES ON BEFORE, AS WELL AS THE DOOR CONTACTS.
AND THE OTHER PIECE THAT WE NEEDED TO DIVE INTO WAS THERE WAS SOME MISUNDERSTANDING THE, WHERE THE REFERENDUM NEEDED TO PICK UP ANY OF THE NEW SWITCHES AND UPS DEVICES TO SUPPORT OUR, UH, UH, OUR TECHNOLOGY, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE IMPLEMENTATION.
BUT THERE'S A SEPARATE SET OF FUNDS ASSOCIATED WITH TECHNOLOGY REFRESH DOLLARS, AS WELL AS E RATE FUNDS.
SO WE WORK CLOSELY WITH THOSE TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE WAS NOT A BURDEN BEING PLACED ON THE REFERENDUM FUNDS WHEN WE COULD TAP INTO THE REFRESH DOLLARS OR THE E RATE.
AND WE WE'VE INCORPORATED THIS INFORMATION, UH, NOT ONLY ON THE DESIGNS THAT HAVE BEEN COMPLETED, WE'VE INCORPORATED THIS STRATEGY ALSO ONTO THE, UH, PROJECTS THAT HAVE COMMENCED DESIGN, AND LIKEWISE, THE FUTURE DESIGNS THAT WILL START, UM, IN 2020.
AND, UH, UH, AND EVEN INTO JANUARY OF THIS YEAR, WE REALLY HAD SOME LESSONS LEARNED THAT CAME INTO PLAY HERE.
AND THIS SLIDE HERE SORTA RECAP.
SOME OF THESE LESSONS LEARNED ONCE AGAIN, IT'S NOT AN ALL EXHAUSTIVE LIST, BUT IT DOES HAVE ACTIONS THAT WE'RE MOVING FORWARD WITH.
BEFORE WE CONTINUE, IS THERE ANYONE WHO'S A QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PREVIOUS SLIDE ROBIN, COULD YOU JUST GO BACK UP FOR A MINUTE? ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS? OKAY.
I THOUGHT SOME OF THE INFORMATION YOU JUST PROVIDED ABOUT USING ALTERNATE FORMS OF, OF, UM, DOLLARS INSTEAD OF JUST REFERENDUM MONDAY IS, IS VERY IMPORTANT.
SO I APPRECIATE YOU BRINGING THAT OUT.
UM, MR.
IT'S NOT IN THE FUTURE ANYMORE.
AND SO ALL OF THESE THINGS LIKE WE'RE OPTIMIZING CURRENT THINGS FOR THE FUTURE, ARE THEY GOING TO BE LONG-TERM ENOUGH? I'LL LET MARK, AND I SEE YOU RAISED HIS HAND AND I'LL LET HIM ANSWER THAT SINCE THIS IS HIS AREA MORE THAN OURS.
AND THIS IS ALSO SOME OF THE WAYS WE WERE ABLE TO UTILIZE THE SAVINGS IN THE PROJECT.
UH, FOR INSTANCE, HE WAS SPEAKING ABOUT THE TWO, UH, WIRELESS ACCESS POINT DROPS IN THE PAST AND OLD ACCESS POINT COULD ONLY DO A THOUSAND MEGS PER CAT, FIVE DROP THE OLDER STYLE AND ACCESS POINTS COULD GO IN THEORY UP TO 1.6 GIGS.
SO WE WERE FUTURE-PROOFING IT WITH TWO CABLES.
UM, UH, GOOD NEWS IS THAT WITH THE UPGRADE OF OUR SWITCHING INFRASTRUCTURE, WE WILL BE ABLE TO UTILIZE NEWER TECHNOLOGIES, WHICH IS ABLES 2.5
[00:25:01]
GIGS PER SINGLE DROP OF CAT FIVE CABLE.SO IN UTILIZING SOME OF THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY, WE ARE ABLE TO REALIZE THE SAVINGS AND WE ARE FUTURE-PROOFING OUR DISTRICT.
UH, SOME OF THE OTHER THINGS THEY WILL TALK ABOUT IS SOME OF THE INCREASED COSTS DUE TO CLOSETS.
UM, ONE OF THE BIGGEST THINGS THAT WE'VE SEEN IN THE PAST 15 YEARS IS TECHNOLOGY WAS AN AFTERTHOUGHT IN EDUCATION.
THE BUILDING WAS BUILT, THE CLASSROOMS WAS BUILT, AND THEN THEY SAID, PUT TECHNOLOGY IN THE BUILDING.
SO WE GOT WHATEVER WAS AVAILABLE AT THE TIME, WHETHER IT BE A CLOSET OR WHETHER IT BE A CLASSROOM.
AND IN EITHER OF THOSE APPLICATIONS, THEY NEED TO BE MODIFIED INTO AN ADEQUATE SPACE TO SECURELY, UM, STORE THAT TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT AWAY FROM PRYING EYES AND HANDS.
I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE WEREN'T, UM, ARE THAT WE'RE SETTING OURSELVES UP FOR FUTURE TECHNOLOGY AND, AND, UH, NOT STEPPING OVER DOLLARS TO PICK UP PENNIES, YOU KNOW, SO WELL, AND THAT, I GUESS AT THIS POINT, ONE QUESTION I WOULD HAVE IS LOOKING AT THIS, WOULD I BE WRONG IN SAYING THIS DOESN'T REPRESENT SUBSTANTIAL COST SAVINGS, SAVINGS, OR, YOU KNOW, ARE WE TALKING ABOUT, BECAUSE TO ME, YOU'RE, YOU'RE CUTTING BACK ON WIRES AND OPTIMIZING SECURITY CAMERAS ARE THOSE BIG TICKET ITEMS. WELL, WHEN YOU MULTIPLY THAT BY THE THOUSANDS THAT WE ARE PURCHASING, THEY BECOME VERY BIG TICKET ITEMS. SO, UM, I MEAN, DO YOU KNOW SOME OF THOSE OFF THE TOP? I KNOW THE CONDUIT WAS ONE OF THE BIG ONES.
ROB, DO YOU KNOW? AND THE CONDUIT IS AN EXAMPLE, ALTHOUGH, UM, TRISH THAT WE, ONE OF THE THINGS WE LOOKED DOING OR EARLY ON WAS ADDING EXTRA CONDUIT JUST FOR SOMETHING IN THE FUTURE, BUT WE HAD NO KNOWN USE FOR IT IN THE FUTURE.
LIKE RIGHT NOW, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT WOULD BE, AND WE'RE TALKING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN SAVINGS PER BUILDING, SO THAT IT JUST MADE NO SENSE TO PUT THAT IN AHEAD OF TIME.
UM, WHEN WE DIDN'T HAVE, UH, UH, USE AND WE'RE COVERING ALL THE USES WE CAN THINK OF.
AND I, AND AS I SAID EARLIER, WE'RE REALLY BUILDING A SYSTEM AND KIND OF SETTING THE BAR.
THIS SHOULD BE A 10 YEAR SYSTEM.
I MEAN, I'LL LET MARK SPEAK THERE, BUT WE'RE AHEAD OF OUR, I DON'T KNOW SEVERAL DISTRICTS WON'T GET HERE FOR THE NEXT 10 YEARS.
I WOULD SAY IF THERE IS AN INTEREST IN KNOWING A LITTLE BIT MORE OF THESE TYPES OF COST REDUCTIONS, KEVIN KELLY WITH MY OFFICE IS ON THE CALL TODAY, AND HE IS PREPARED TO SHARE SOME MORE EXAMPLES.
IF THAT'S AN INTEREST TO RECEIVE THAT LEVEL OF DETAIL, KEVIN CAN PROBABLY GIVE US SOME DOLLARS.
NO, I'M TALKING ABOUT HOW MUCH SAVINGS SOME OF THESE ITEMS ARE TALKING ABOUT.
WELL, THE ONE THING I WILL TELL YOU THAT DEEPLY APPRECIATE THE WAY MARK JUST EXPLAINED THAT BECAUSE THAT'S BEEN THE THING I'VE BEEN FOUND IN MY HEAD AGAINST THEM BODY FOR ALL WITH, BUT JUST TO GIVE YOU A KIND OF A, A COST SAVINGS ON THE CONDUIT ALONE, WHICH IS JUST THE PATHWAY BETWEEN THE A AND I HATE TO CALL THEM CLOSETS MARK, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THEY WERE IN THE SEVENTIES AND EIGHTIES, AND NOW THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE, YOU KNOW, UH, ROOMS ADEQUATE IN SIZE.
BUT THE CONDUIT THAT WENT BETWEEN ONE IDF AND THE MAIN, UH, DISTRIBUTION THAT SAVINGS ON ONE OF THE PROJECTS WAS $300,000.
YOU GO 300,000 TIMES, THE 28 PROJECTS.
ROBERT, I MEAN, ROB, SORRY, THEO'S GOT SOMEBODY ROBS AND ROBERTS OUT THERE.
THE, UH, ROB HAD MENTIONED CAMERAS.
THE, WHEN HE MENTIONED CAMERAS, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT JUST ONE OF OUR PROJECTS.
THE, THE MAIN FOCUS ON CAMERAS IS TO GET 360 EARLY TO GET A A HUNDRED PERCENT VIEW INSIDE OF A SCHOOL FOR SAFETY AND SECURITY PURPOSES, TO BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THAT TOO, OR AN ITEM GOING ON.
WE HAD REDUNDANCY IN CAMERAS, WHICH HAD ONLY 180 DEGREE VIEW.
THE CAMERAS WE PUT IN PLACE OR WENT FOR AN OPTION ON WAS A 360 VIEW, WHICH TOOK THE PLACE OF THREE CAMERAS.
SO NOW WE'RE PAYING FOR ONE CAMERA, 204.
THIS IS AN EXAMPLE, $250 FOR THAT ONE CAMERA.
AND WE REDUCED THREE CAMERAS AT $200.
SO THERE WAS A SAVINGS THERE AND YOU TAKE THAT AND YOU MULTIPLY THAT BY 150 CAMERAS AS A VERY BIG CHUNK OF CHANGE, THE CAT SIX CABLE, THE A MARK, YOU AND I BOTH, WE KNOW THAT IS THE CADILLAC OF TABLES.
WELL, JUST TAKING OUT THE DOUBLE ON THAT.
YOU SAY THESE TO GO ON ONE PROJECT ALONE THAT WAS IN THE CATEGORY OF $78,000, THE, UH, THAT CAT SIX CABLE, JUST TO GIVE YOU THAT COMFORT FEELING.
OH MAN, THERE'S NOT ENOUGH TECHNOLOGY OUT THERE RIGHT NOW TO PUT A BAND ON TOP OF THAT AS CAT SIX CABLE.
[00:30:01]
YEAH, WE'RE, WE'RE PRETTY GOOD.WELL, IN OUR GOAL, I HOPE YOU SEE WHAT ANY FUNCTION.
I MEAN, W WE, UH, WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR COST SAVINGS THAT DID NOT TAKE AWAY FROM THE PROJECT.
AND JUST TO CLARIFY ON THAT SWITCHES AND THE ACCESS CONTROLS AND STUFF LIKE THAT, WHAT, WHAT THAT REALLY IS DOING IS THAT'S TAKING AN ANALOG SYSTEM AND UPGRADING IT TO A DIGITAL SYSTEM OR AN HD SYSTEM.
THE SYSTEM IS REUTILIZING THE PATHWAY AND THE DEVICE THAT'S THERE AND UPGRADING THE CABLE BETWEEN IT, A MODULE THAT KIND OF WHERE WE WANT TO EXPLAIN THAT OF, OF IF YOU GO A LOT HIGHER.
I MEAN, THE WAY I THINK OF IT, AS YOU THINK OF THE OLD PA THAT SOMEBODY WOULD SQUAWK AND THE WHOLE BUILDING WOULD HEAR IT.
NOW WE'VE GOT, INSTEAD OF ADDRESSING A WHOLE AREA, WE'VE GOT THE ABILITY WITH A SERVER AT EACH SCHOOL TO ADDRESS INDIVIDUAL CLASSES, MAYBE GRADE LEVELS.
WE ALL KNOW HOW MUCH CLASSES MOVE AROUND AND GRADES SWITCH AROUND.
SO YOU MIGHT HAVE THAT ONE FOURTH GRADE CLASS ON A THIRD GRADE HALL THAT CAN'T GET THE MESSAGE FOR A FOURTH GRADE ANNOUNCEMENT.
SO A LOT OF THAT IS GOING TO BE ABLE TO FUTURE-PROOF THIS DISTRICT.
MS. BOATWRIGHT, ANY MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT? OR DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? I WAS JUST KIND OF CURIOUS AS TO HOW MUCH THAT REALLY, BECAUSE AS A HOMEOWNER, I'M LOOKING AT THAT IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE BIG TICKET ITEMS, BUT YOU'RE RIGHT OVER, YOU KNOW, THE SIZE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
SOUNDS LIKE THERE WAS SUBSTANTIAL COST SAVINGS AHEAD IT TOTAL MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
THANK YOU FOR THAT EXPLANATION.
I THINK I PUT A LITTLE MORE MEAT ON THE BONES OF THIS SLIDE, SO I APPRECIATE IT.
UH, WE WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT SOME OF THE LESSONS LEARNED.
I THINK THAT IT'S VERY IMPORTANT WITH A BOND REFERENDUM PROGRAM THAT SPANS MULTIPLE YEARS, THAT WE ALWAYS LOOK FOR LESSONS LEARNED AND THEN APPLY THEM, UH, FOR FUTURE PROJECTS AND THEN STUDY AGAIN, THAT INFORMATION.
AND, UH, EACH YEAR WE'LL LOOK TO APPLY ADDITIONAL LESSONS LEARNED SO THAT AS THE DISTRICT MAKES HEADWAY THROUGH THIS INFORMATION, UH, WE'LL BE IN THE BEST POSITION.
UH, NOT ONLY AS WE FINISH UP THIS REFERENDUM WORK, IT'LL PUT YOU ALSO INTO A BETTER POSITION FOR ANY FUTURE BOND REFERENDUMS THAT WILL BE FORTHCOMING.
BUT YEAH, ONE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES I THINK WE RECOGNIZED WAS THAT THESE, UH, TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE STANDARDS NEEDED TO BE DEFINED EARLIER.
YOU HEARD ROBERT TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT IT AND MARK AS WELL.
UH, WE ARE SETTING THE NEW BAR IF YOU WILL, FOR K-12 FACILITIES, ESPECIALLY HERE IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
BUT, UH, WHEN WE CAME OUT AT THE GATE IN, UH, EARLY 20, 20, AFTER THE REFERENDUM WAS APPROVED, WE DIDN'T HAVE ALL OF THE STANDARDS WELL-DEFINED AND IT TOOK US A PERIOD OF TIME TO GET TO THAT POINT.
UH, WITH THAT SAID, YOU GOT TO ALSO RECOGNIZE THAT THE BUDGETS THAT WERE ESTABLISHED GOING INTO THE BOND REFERENDUM VOTE IS WE HAD TO HAVE A BUDGET ESTABLISHED, BUT RECOGNIZE THAT THOSE WERE SET PRIOR TO FULLY DEFINING THESE REQUIREMENTS AND STANDARDS.
UH, SO THAT HAS COME INTO PLAY TO A CERTAIN DEGREE ON THESE PROJECTS AND, UH, IS WHY WE'RE GOING TO NEED SOME, UH, USE OF THE PROGRAM CONTINGENCY.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I MENTIONED EARLIER WAS OUR YEAR TWO PROJECTS.
WE'VE ALREADY IMPLEMENTED THE LESSONS LEARNED THAT WE NEED TO START THESE PROJECTS SOONER SO THAT WE HAVE AMPLE TIME TO GET ALL OF THE INFORMATION, NOT ONLY ON THE DRAWINGS, BUT TO REVIEW THIS AND PUT US INTO A POSITION SO THAT THE WORK CAN BE BID IN A TIMELY MANNER TO EXECUTE THAT WORK FOR THE FORTHCOMING SUMMER.
WE DID DO THAT FOR YEAR TWO PROJECTS, AND WE FULLY PLANNED TO DO THAT FOR YEAR THREE AND YEAR FOUR.
AND ONCE AGAIN, WE WOULD BE STARTING THOSE IN THE THIRD QUARTER OF THE, THE, THE SUBSEQUENT YEAR THAT THE WORK WOULD BE A COMMAND STAN, UH, ALL OF THE ITEMS THAT WE HAVE JUST RECAPPED ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDE, SIX, THOSE ARE ALL EXCELLENT, UH, MEANS FOR US TO CONTROL THIS COSTS WITHOUT CHANGING ANY OF THE SCOPE.
SO WE ARE APPLYING ALL OF THOSE, UH, UH, ITEMS TO THE PROJECTS THAT HAVE JUST COMMENCED DESIGN.
AND WE WILL DO THAT FOR THE, UH, FEW THAT REMAIN.
UM, THE OTHER THING THAT'S COME INTO PLAY THAT NO ONE COULD FORECAST WAS COVID-19
[00:35:01]
NO ONE HAD A CRYSTAL BALL, AND THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT WE'VE EVER EXPERIENCED A PANDEMIC, LET ALONE ONE, UH, TO THIS MAGNITUDE.AND AS WE REFLECT BACK, MANY DISTRICTS ARE TRYING TO ADDRESS THEIR REMOTE TEACHING REQUIREMENTS, WHICH REQUIRE TECHNOLOGY AND ITS SUPPORT, BUT BUSINESSES, LIKEWISE ARE ALSO ADDRESSING TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS.
AND THAT HAS CREATED A SUPPLY DEMAND CHALLENGE, UH, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, COME INTO PLAY IN THIS, IN THE FORM OF SOME OF THESE COSTS INCREASES THAT I'LL GET TO IN THIS PRESENTATION.
UH, THE KEY THOUGH THAT WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE TO DO IS CONTINUE TO MONITOR THESE TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE COSTS AS DESIGNS, PROGRESS.
UM, YOU KNOW, EACH TIME WE GET A PROGRESS AT A DRAWINGS, THE CM IS GOING TO PROVIDE US WITH A COST ESTIMATE.
UH, WE'LL LOOK AT THE DRAWINGS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY HAVE, UH, ADDRESSED ALL OF THE STANDARD NEEDS IN THE, IN THE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.
BUT WE'RE ALSO GOING TO LOOK AT WHERE WE STAND WITH THE BUDGET.
AND, UH, IT'S GOING TO BE KEY THAT, YOU KNOW, IF WE HAVE ANY THAT EXPERIENCED SOME ADDITIONAL BUDGET PRESSURE, WHICH THAT IS A POSSIBILITY THAT WE'LL HAVE A FEW MORE, UH, THAT MAY COME UP TO, TO GET TO THAT POINT, TO ANALYZE IT, THOUGH, WE REALLY NEED TO GET MORE ONTO THE DRAWINGS SO THAT WE CAN DO ACTUAL TAKEOFFS.
YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE ORIGINAL BUDGETING WAS MORE, UH, TRADITIONAL SQUARE FOOT TYPE OF FIGURES THAT WERE APPLIED ON THESE CAMPUSES.
AND, UH, ON A COUPLE OF THE CAMPUSES, UH, IT TURNED OUT TO BE, UH, JUST, JUST AMPLE FUNDS ON OTHERS.
AND ONCE AGAIN, YOU KNOW, THAT COMES BACK TO THE UNIQUENESS OF EACH CAMPUS AND THE DESIGN REQUIREMENTS TO BRING THOSE FACILITIES UP TO AN EQUAL STANDARD OF ALL FACILITIES BEING THE SAME.
SO, UM, BUT THAT, THAT IS A, THE, THE LESSONS LEARNED THAT I WANTED TO SHARE THIS AFTERNOON.
AND LIKE I SAID, WE HAVE CONTINUED TO DEVELOP THIS LIST, UH, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO AS TIME CLICKS FORWARD.
BUT ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS RELATED TO THE LESSONS LEARNED OR ACTIONS MOVING FORWARD? YEAH.
THIS IS THE PART THAT I HAVE THE MOST QUESTIONS ABOUT.
IS IT OKAY IF I GO AHEAD? OKAY, ABSOLUTELY.
UM, SO JUST I'M NEW TO THE BOARD, STILL TRYING TO UNDERSTAND HOW ALL THE PARTS WORK TOGETHER.
YOU TALK ABOUT A SAFETY AND SECURITY SCOPE, AND YOU TALK ABOUT A TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE SCOPE ARE THOSE SEPARATE ITEMS IS ONE, A SUBSIDIARY OF THE OTHERS, ARE THAT DO THOSE OVERLAP? WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT WHEN YOU REFER, REFER TO THOSE SPECIFIC SCOPES? THAT'S ACTUALLY A COMFORT QUESTION TO ANSWER THAT IT MIGHT THEME.
IT IS A VERY TOUGH QUESTION, BUT TO ME, IT'S PART OF THE PROBLEM.
AND I'LL JUST GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF WHY I'M ASKING THAT THE CONSTRUCTION AND TECHNOLOGY ARE FORCED TO BE TOGETHER ALL THE TIME, BUT THEY ARE, THEY'RE NOT GREAT PARTNERS BECAUSE THEY'RE TOTALLY DIFFERENT METHODOLOGIES.
AND ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO PLANNING AND GATHERING REQUIREMENTS, BECAUSE TECHNOLOGY'S CHANGING AND IT'S REALLY DIFFICULT.
SO WHEN I WAS LOOKING AT YOUR CONTINGENCY LOG, I SAW REFERENCES TO BOTH SCOPES.
AND I WAS JUST WONDERING HOW THOSE TWO WORK TOGETHER WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT THESE LESSONS.
WELL, I'M GOING TO JUST TALK ABOUT HOW IT'S HARD TO SEPARATE THESE TWO.
ROB, I'LL LET YOU THINK ABOUT HOW THE FATE AFFECTS THE LESSONS LEARNED.
I MEAN, W UM, A LOT OF THESE PROJECTS HAVE SAY SECURE VESTIBULES, WHICH ARE HARDENING THE ENTRANCE, BUT AS PART OF THAT ARE THE CAMERAS AND THE ACCESS CONTROL AND THE, AND THE BUS THROUGH AND ALL THOSE KINDS OF STUFF.
AND THOSE LINES OF WHERE ONE STARTS AND STOPS IS VERY DIFFICULT AT TIMES.
SO A LOT OF TIMES WHEN WE TALK ABOUT A NOTE FOR US ON A BUDGETING SIDE, IS WE TALK ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY AND SAFETY AND SECURITY BUDGETS, BECAUSE IN SOME INSTANCES WE HAVE TO LOOK AT THEM AS, AS BEING TOGETHER BECAUSE IT'S TOO HARD SOMETIMES TO BREAK THEM APART.
IT, IT DOES, UH, HAVE THE, UH, THE, THE, THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE TWO IS OFTEN THERE AT EACH AND EVERY PROJECT.
AND IT'S, IT'S LIKE ROBERT SAID, IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO DELINEATE THAT THIS IS THE PIECE THAT GOES SOLELY WITH SAFETY SECURITY.
AND THIS IS THE PIECE THAT GOES SOLELY WITH TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE.
THERE'S MANY SYSTEMS THAT WILL TOUCH UPON BOTH AND AS SUCH, THAT'S HOW WE WENT BACK AND LOOKED AT THE VARIOUS
[00:40:01]
TECHNOLOGY PACKAGES AND THEN LOOKED AT THE AVAILABLE FUNDING.AND IF THE AVAILABLE FUNDING BETWEEN THE TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE PLUS SAFETY AND SECURITY COULD ACCOMPLISH THE FUNDING NEEDS, THAT WAS GREAT.
BUT IF IT WASN'T ABLE TO, WE THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO COMBINE THOSE FIGURES AS WE ANALYZED WHAT THE NEED WAS.
SO THAT WE WERE ONLY ASKING FOR THE EXACT AMOUNT OF ADDITIONAL DOLLARS THAT WE ANTICIPATE, BECAUSE IF ONE HAD SOME ADDITIONAL DOLLARS IN IT THAT COULD HELP OUT THE OTHER SIDE, THAT'S WHAT WE WANTED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF.
AND IT MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO ASSESS SORT OF WHERE THE BUDGET ISSUES HAVE COME IN.
BECAUSE YOU DON'T KNOW IF IT'S ON THE TECHNOLOGY SIDE OR THE SAFETY AND SECURITY SIDE.
UM, AND THEN THE OTHER THING IS THAT THE, UH, THE, THE BUDGETS WERE SET PRIOR TO FULLY DEFINING REQUIREMENTS.
SO WHAT'S THE PROCESS THAT WE'RE CURRENT, WHAT WAS THE PROCESS THAT WAS USED AND HOW ARE WE FIXING IT? BECAUSE TO ME GATHERING REQUIREMENTS IS LIKE THE KEYSTONE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT.
SO IT CONCERNS ME THAT WE DON'T HAVE, UH, A SPECIFIC PROCESS FOR THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT YOU COULD PRESENT TO THE BOARD OR TO THE CLOCK, OR TO WHOMEVER AND SAY, HERE'S OUR RETIREMENT MAR REQUIREMENT GATHERING PROCESS.
AND HERE'S THE REQUIREMENTS WE GATHER.
SO I'M GOING TO GIVE ONE EXAMPLE OF KIND OF, UM, HOW THE BUDGETS WERE DEVELOPED AND HOW IT IMPACTS KIND OF THE LIFE.
AS YOU KNOW, AS PART OF THE REFERENDUM, WE IN A SAFETY AND SECURITY CONSULTANT, AND THEY CAME IN AND ANALYZED OUR CAMPUSES OR SEVERAL OF OUR CAMPUSES AND GAVE US RECOMMENDATIONS.
ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS WOULD BE THE UPGRADE OF CAMERAS.
SO THEY SAID, OKAY, WE HAVE ANALOG CAMERAS.
WE NEED TO MOVE FROM ANALOG TO, UM, UM, IP CAMERAS, WHICH GIVES US MORE FLEXIBILITY IN FUNCTION, CLEAR PICTURES, THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
AND THEY GAVE US A SQUARE FOOT COST.
UH, JUST BASED ON, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A HUNDRED THOUSAND SQUARE FOOT BUILDING, MAYBE IT COSTS THREE, $3 A SQUARE FOOT TO CONVERT THAT BUILDING TO IP CAMERAS.
WHERE WHEN IT, WHEN WE START GETTING INTO DESIGN, YOU START HEARING ABOUT THE THINGS THAT ROB TALKED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, DO WE NEED FIVE MEGAPIXEL CAMERAS? DO WE NEED TO MIX A BIG PIXEL CAMERA? WHAT TYPE OF CAMERA? YEAH, I STUMBLED ON THAT.
SORRY, WHAT TYPE OF CAMERAS DO WE NEED? YOU KNOW, UM, DO WE NEED INFRARED CAMERAS? DO WE NEED, UH, CAMERAS? UM, THE, THE 180 OR THE 360.
SO WE DID NOT GET THE, THE, UH, THE EARLY BUDGETS DID NOT GET TO THAT LEVEL OF DETAIL.
AND UNFORTUNATELY, TO GET TO THAT LEVEL OF DETAIL, YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE DESIGN PROCESS.
AND A LOT OF TIMES IT'S NOT FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE TO SPEND THAT UP FRONT, TO GO AHEAD AND DESIGN, TO GET THOSE HARD NUMBERS WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW IF YOU'RE GOING TO GO THROUGH WITH THOSE PROJECTS.
SO THAT'S SOME OF THE DIFFICULTIES, UM, I THINK WE GOING FORWARD IF THE BOARD WANTS US TO, AND IT'S ONE OF THE THINGS I WANT TO TALK ABOUT WITH 80% PROJECTS IS THAT WE DO MORE UPFRONT WORK, BUT YOU HAVE TO RECOGNIZE THAT COMES WITH THE COST.
AND SO THAT MEANS YOU'RE GOING TO SPEND MORE UP FRONT TO MORE FINALLY, UM, UH, DEFINE THE SCOPE.
SO YOU GET A TIGHTER BUDGET, BUT YOU ALSO HAVE TO SPEND MONEY TO DO THAT.
WELL, AND I GUESS WHAT I WAS WONDERING TOO, WHAT WORRIES ME WITH TECHNOLOGY? LIKE YOU SAID, THERE'S, THERE'S NOT A BLUEPRINT.
SO ONE THING I'M STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IS WHEN WE TALK ABOUT STANDARDS AND PACKAGES AND SCOPES, TO ME, THOSE ARE THINGS THAT YOU COULD PULL UP ON A SCREEN.
AND ACTUALLY JUST OUT OF CURIOSITY, I DID PULL UP YOU FOR COUNTY'S, UM, TECHNOLOGY PLAN, WHICH WAS LAST UPDATED IN 2016 AND SIGNED OFF ON BY JEFF MOSS.
SO, BUT YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE ARE THESE THINGS THAT YOU COULD PULL UP AND SHOW SOMEONE LIKE HERE'S WHAT WE WERE GOING FOR.
AND THEN YOU CAN KIND OF SEE THE PROCESS.
AND I FEEL LIKE I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHERE THE STANDARDS ARE.
WE TALK ABOUT DISTRICT STANDARDS, STATE STANDARDS.
ARE THERE ANY LIKE HARD, AND WELL-DEFINED THINGS THAT WE CAN USE TO LOOK AT THE STARTING POINT FOR THESE PROGRAMS, THE STANDARD, IS THERE A TECHNOLOGY PLAN THAT WE CAN REFER TO, OR IS IT JUST SORT OF, WE'RE MAKING IT UP AND THIS SOUNDS BAD.
WE'RE NOT MAKING IT UP AS WE GO, BUT IS IT SOMETHING THAT EVOLVES AS THE PROJECT EVOLVES? YES, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT'S HAPPENED.
I MEAN, OUR STANDARD WAS THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE CONSULTANTS WHEN WE STARTED, UM, THAT THESE ARE THE THINGS WE NEEDED TO IMPLEMENT ACROSS THE CAMPUSES AND AS WE'VE MOVED FORWARD, WE, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING THROUGH ON THIS TECHNOLOGY PACKAGES IS DEFINING
[00:45:01]
THAT THE SPECIFICS, I WOULD SAY AT THIS POINT, WE ARE READY AND WE, WE CAN, AND FOR ALL OUR PROJECTS TO KEEP THEM THE SAME, WE HAVE THE SAME STANDARDS.UM, AND WE CAN DEFINE THAT IN A WAY THAT IS, UH, NOT QUITE SO TECHNICAL TECHNOLOGY ORIENTED.
I MEAN, WE NEED TO BE GET, COME OFF.
UM, AND IN A WAY THAT'S PRESENTED NOW DO NEED TO BE CAREFUL THERE BECAUSE IT IS, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT SECURITY.
SO WE DON'T NECESSARILY WANT TO PUBLICIZE THAT OUTSIDE OF BOARD MEMBERS, WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, BECAUSE WHAT WE ARE DOING, WHICH IS DEFINING THE LEVEL OF SECURITY THAT WE HAVE IN EVERY BUILDING.
CAUSE THAT'S REALLY, EVEN WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TECHNOLOGY IN THESE PACKAGES, YOU'RE REALLY TALKING ABOUT THE SECURITY OF THE BUILDING.
AND THEN I JUST HAVE ONE MORE COMMENT AND THEN I'LL LET SOMEONE ELSE TALK, BUT SEE, AND THAT'S WHY WHEN YOU, IF YOU'RE, IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT UP FRONT, IF YOU DON'T HAVE STANDARDS THAT YOU'RE WORKING OFF OF WHAT I WORRY ABOUT, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, UM, YOU KNOW, IP VERSUS OTHER FORMS, OTHER WAYS OF DOING THINGS, A UNIVERSAL COMMUNICATIONS PRODUCT, YOU KNOW, THESE TYPES OF THINGS THAT ARE EVOLVING NOW THAT ARE MORE 20, 20, 20, 21 SOLUTIONS, SOME OF THESE PRO UH, PROJECTS, PROJECTS, UM, IT'S HARD TO CONCEIVE OF WHAT MIGHT BE THE FUTURE.
IF YOU CAN'T REALLY DEFINE WHERE YOU'RE STARTING FROM, BECAUSE THEN WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS YOU'RE REACTING TO THE PROBLEM AS OPPOSED TO PLANNING FOR ALL EVENTUALITIES.
SO THAT IS MY THOUGHT ON TERMS OF LESSON LEARNED, AS I LIKE TO KNOW, DO WITH THE EIGHT THAT WE ARE STARTING, ARE WE IMPLEMENTING SOME OF THESE LESSONS LEARNED? AND FOR SURE YOU SAID THE 10 THAT ARE COMING UP, BECAUSE IT SEEMS LIKE THINGS ARE GOING VERY, VERY WELL FROM WHAT I CAN TELL AS A NEW BOARD MEMBER ON THE MANAGING OF THE REFERENDUM PROJECT, THAT THE CLOCK AND EVERYTHING.
SO WE'RE AT WHERE WE'RE AT WITH THE 10 THAT HAVE ALREADY STARTED.
BUT ARE WE ABLE TO LOOK AT THE EIGHT THAT WE'RE STARTING AND THE 10 THAT WE HAVEN'T YET STARTED AND APPLY SOME DIFFERENT IDEAS? YOU KNOW, SOME OF THESE REQUIREMENT, UM, PROCESSES TO THEM? NO, THAT I, I THINK THAT'S NOT INTERPRETED CORRECTLY.
UM, WHAT WE ARE DEFINING IS GONNA IS OCCURRING IN ALL PROJECTS, EVEN THE ONES WE ALREADY STARTED, BECAUSE THE ONES WE ALREADY STARTED, WHAT WE DID BUILD, THERE WAS THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND WE KNEW THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WAS NEEDED, WHICH IS BASICALLY POSIT LOCATIONS ON THE PIPELINES THAT ALL THE DATA'S GOING THROUGH.
SO WE, WE KNEW THAT BASICS AND THAT'S WHAT WE BUILT EARLY ON.
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SPECIFICS AND, UM, I GUESS, YOU KNOW, TO GET, LET YOU KNOW, AND, AND MARK, I MAY, OR ROB OR KEVIN JUMP IN, BUT YOU KNOW, WHERE WE'VE KIND OF GONE AHEAD AND I DON'T WANT YOU TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT US FALLING BEHIND.
I SEE MARK WAVING AND SAYING, I'LL HAND OFF HERE AND HOW WE'RE AHEAD OF EVERYBODY ELSE IS AN INTEGRATION.
BUT, UM, SO THIS EXAMPLE THAT MAY HELP YOU UNDERSTAND BETTER OF WHY TECHNOLOGY PLANS ARE DRAGGING BEHIND.
SO TAKE A SIMPLE, UH, DATA CLOSET OR DATA ROOMS, EXCUSE ME, DATA ROOM, UM, WHICH THAT WE HAD IN THAT CLOSET SIX YEARS AGO WOULD PRODUCE ABOUT A THOUSAND WATTS PER SWITCH.
AND THAT IS BECAUSE WE ONLY DID A LITTLE BIT OF POE, UM, WHICH HAS POWER OVER ETHERNET.
WELL, WITH TODAY'S STANDARD STANDARDS, EXCUSE ME, WE'RE POWERING ACCESS POINTS, UM, ALL KINDS OF IOT PRODUCTS, UM, UH, SO MANY DIFFERENT ITEMS WITH THAT.
SO NOW WE'RE PUTTING 2000 WATTS PER SWITCH.
UM, SO WHEN YOU DO THAT, YOU HAVE TO INCREASE THE CONDUIT SIZE IN THE CLOSET, THE WIRING SIDES ON THE, THIS IS JUST THE ELECTRICAL SIDE, THE SIZE OF THE UPS, THE BATTERY SIZE CONNECTED TO THE UPS AND THE SIZE OF THE GENERATOR THAT FEEDS THE BUILDING.
SO AIR CONDITIONING, AND DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE AIR CONDITIONING TO KEEP THAT ROOM CLOSED.
SO FOR EVERY TIME WE MAKE, EVEN WHAT SEEMS LIKE A SMALL CHANGE IN A CLOSET, IT'S A RIPPLE EFFECT THAT FILTERS BACK ONTO FOUR OTHER PIECES OF THIS PROJECT.
UM, AND ALSO WITH OUR TECHNOLOGY PLAN, UM, WE WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE THAT UPDATED IN 2019 AND THE STATE PUT IT OFF UNTIL APRIL OF 2020.
UNFORTUNATELY COVID HIT, UM, THEY PUT IT OFF TO NOVEMBER OF 2020, THEN THEY PUT IT OFF AGAIN TO MARCH OF 2021.
UM, SO WE ARE ACTUALLY STARTING TO HAVE OUR INITIAL MEETINGS TO START WORKING ON THE UPDATED TECHNOLOGY PLAN AGAIN.
UM, AND WE WILL BE BRINGING SOME OF THAT TO THE BOARD.
[00:50:01]
IN THE, AND MARK, I DON'T KNOW, CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT OR KEVIN AND ROB JUMP IN, YOU KNOW, ONE ON WHERE WE ARE WITH THE INTEGRATION AND HOW THIS, WHAT WE ARE DOING ON THE SECURITY LEVEL IS SO MUCH DIFFERENT THAN WE'VE DONE IN THE PAST.WHO WANTS TO TAKE THAT? GO AHEAD, KEVIN, PLEASE.
THIS SPEAKING, AND JUST NOTICE THAT I WAS ON MUTE, I'LL LEARN IT, THIS ZOOM THING TOO.
UH, ANYWAYS, UH, AS FAR AS ANSWERING WHAT ROB WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT THE, THE SECURITY SYSTEMS THAT YOU HAVE OUT THERE RIGHT NOW, THE INTEGRATIONS THAT'S GOING ON, WHERE YOU'RE UPGRADING YOUR MODULES AND YOUR ACCESS POINTS AND YOUR KEY POINTS AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
A LOT OF, AND I'M NOT SURE IF YOU'RE WANTING TO KNOW WHAT OTHER DISTRICTS ARE DOING OR WHERE YOU'RE ADVANCING ABOVE WHAT OTHER DISTRICTS ARE DOING, BUT YOUR SYSTEMS ARE, UH, TAKE IT AS LIKE BUYING A CHEVROLET VERSUS A CADILLAC.
THE SYSTEMS THAT ARE IN BUPA COUNTY SCHOOLS IS MORE LIKE THE CADILLAC PREMIUM LUXURY EDITION.
YOU CAN EXPAND OFF OF THESE INFINITELY THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF THE LIFESPAN OF THE BUILDING ITSELF, THE CARD READERS, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT YOU'RE ONLY USING A PARTIAL COMPONENT OF THAT.
ALL YOU'RE USING RIGHT NOW IS THE ACCESS CONTROL AS FAR AS ENTRY AND EXIT OF THE FACILITIES.
AND IT GIVES YOU KIND OF AN IDEA OF WHOM ACCESSES AND THINGS.
BUT I MEAN, THAT SYSTEM CAN BE EXPANDED IN TIME TO DO FACIAL RECOGNITION.
THAT'S HOW ADVANCED THE SYSTEM IS OUT THERE.
AND LIKE MARK WAS TALKING ABOUT EARLIER, HE WAS TALKING ABOUT THE CAT SIX CABLE AT SIX, EIGHT, AND CABLE RIGHT NOW IS, UH, THREE STEPS ABOVE WHAT THE, THE MAJORITY OF THE CONTINENTAL US IT DEPARTMENTS ARE USING TO ALMOST ALL OF THEM ARE RIGHT NOW USING
SO CAT SIX, A AND THE CAPABILITIES OF THAT CABLE ARE WAY ABOVE WHATEVER OUR STANDARDS ARE RIGHT NOW.
AND HOPEFULLY STAY THAT WAY FOR THE NEXT FIVE TO SIX YEARS.
THE OTHER COMPONENT ABOUT THAT IS JUST LIKE MARK WAS TALKING ABOUT THE SWITCHES, THE, UH, GOING POWER OVER, UH, INTERNET OR POWERING UP THE SYSTEMS AND STUFF LIKE THAT, THAT GOING FROM, UH, I THINK IT WAS CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, MARK.
I THINK WE'RE GOING FROM THE 32 TO A 48 SWITCH, WHICH MEANS WE'RE EXPANDING THE CAPABILITY OF THE DATA INSIDE OF ONE SWITCH THE, UH, AND THOUGH IT'S A TUESDAY, UH, UH, 2002 SWITCH, THE SWITCH ITSELF IS COMING OFF OF A, IT MAY HAVE BEEN A 1500 KW AND IT'S COMING OFF OF THE WADING INTO A TWO KW, BUT IT'S HEAT LOAD IS LOWER BECAUSE OF THE SWITCH ITSELF.
DOESN'T GENERATE AS MUCH EACH TRANSFER INSIDE OF IT, BUT WE STILL HAVE TO UPGRADE OUR IT ROOMS SO THAT WE HAVE SUFFICIENT AMOUNT OF COOLING SO THAT THE DATA SYSTEM DOESN'T SLOW DOWN DUE TO A LOW, I DON'T KNOW IF I'M ANSWERING YOUR QUESTION OR IF I'M DRIVING WELL, AND I'LL JUST ADD ANOTHER ITEM ON THE GENERATORS THAT MARK MENTIONED.
SO NOW THAT SO MUCH, INCLUDING PHONES AND PAS AND EVERYTHING THAT'S INTEGRAL INTO THE SECURITY OF THE BUILDING IS RUN OFF, ARE OFF THE BACKBONE OF, UH, THE INTERNET, OUR NETWORK, UM, WE'VE DONE GENERATOR SERVICE TO ALL OUR CLOSETS FOR THE MOST PART.
SO THAT MEANS WHEN THE POWER GOES DOWN, ALL THOSE SYSTEMS CAN CONTINUE TO FUNCTION.
UM, SO THAT THAT'S, UH, THAT'S A KEY COMPONENT AS WELL, THAT BRINGS, YOU KNOW, ADDED SECURITY TO THE BUILDING ADDED COMPLEXITY.
TO KIND OF COME OFF OF WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ON THAT.
AND THE UPS HAS THAT MARCUS TOP BOTTOM INDIGO, THE UPS IS THAT, OR GOING INTO THE SYSTEM, THOSE ARE MOMENTARY CATCHES FOREVER, WHERE WE HAVE A GENERATOR.
AND WHAT THEY'LL DO IS THEY'LL GIVE THE SYSTEM THE TIME TO CONTINUE OPERATING WHILE THE GENERATOR COMES UP AND POWERS UP THE SYSTEM ITSELF IN THE BACKSIDE, THE, UH, THE, THE COMPONENT THAT WAS DONE THAT MARK, I MEAN, MARK AND ROB WERE TALKING ABOUT A MINUTE AGO ABOUT WHERE YOU TALKED ABOUT 2018 AND 19, THAT YOU DID A BASIS FOR SQUARE FOOTAGE AS WHAT YOUR BUDGETS WERE PUT TOGETHER FOR.
AND WERE ROB WAS TRYING TO EXPLAIN WITH, ONCE YOU GO INTO THAT FACILITY OR EXCUSE ME, ROBERT WAS EXPLAINING, ONCE YOU GO INTO THE FACILITY, THEN YOU SEE THE HERBALISTS THAT EACH UNI PROJECT, AS SOME OF THEM, WE HAVE OPEN CORRIDORS THAT WE CAN JUST ZIP RIGHT DOWN.
AND WE CAN CREATE A, A CLOSET INTO A ROOM, WHICH IS ADDING A LITTLE MORE SQUARE FOOTAGE.
SOME OF THEM WERE GOING THROUGH, UH, LIKE OVER YOUR HEAD MS. BOAT, RIGHT? YOU'VE GOT ACT.
SOME OF THEM ARE ART SEALANTS, YOU KNOW, AND WHEREAS ACT, WE CAN POP CEILING
[00:55:01]
TILE OUT AND WE COULD GO RIGHT ALONG THROUGH THERE WITH THE CABLING AND STUFF, BUT WE'RE, IT'S THE HARD CEILING.THEN WE'VE GOT EXTRA LABOR AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO THE UNIQUENESS OF EACH PROJECT THAT ROB WAS TALKING ABOUT ROBERT WAS GETTING, UH, DETAILING THE, UH, THE BUDGETS WERE BASED OFF OF THE SQUARE FOOTAGE.
AND WHEN YOU GET INTO THAT DESIGN SIDE, YOU REALLY CAN CRAWL INTO WHAT THE PROBLEMS ARE OR WHERE THE UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES ARE.
THEN YOU START FINE TUNING YOUR BUD.
AND I GUESS ONE OTHER PIECE, UH, AND I DON'T WANT TO BELABOR THIS, BUT I THINK IT'S REAL IMPORTANT.
YOU'VE HEARD US TALK ABOUT HOW MUCH THIS TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE INTERFACING WITH THE WEB, ET CETERA.
UH, WE HAVE ALSO ADDRESS THESE SYSTEMS DESIGN SO THAT IN THE EVENT THAT YOU LOST THE INTERNET OR A CABLE WAS CUT THAT SERVES YOUR INTERNET, THIS THE SYSTEMS, ESPECIALLY THE SAFETY, SECURITY FEATURES WILL STILL FUNCTION.
I THINK THAT'S AN IMPORTANT POINT TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION.
SO, UH, I HOPE THIS ADDITIONAL DIALOGUE HAS ANSWERED THOSE QUESTIONS.
UH, IF THERE'S ANY OTHERS, WE'LL TRY OUR BEST TO ANSWER THEM ANY OTHER QUESTIONS.
MOVING ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE, I'M GOING TO SORT OF SWITCH GEARS FOR MOMENT.
YOU'VE HEARD A LOT OF THE DISCUSSIONS SO FAR IN THIS PRESENTATION HONING IN ON THE SPECIFICS ASSOCIATED WITH THE TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE, AS WELL AS THE SAFETY SECURITY PIECES THAT WE SPOKE OF, UH, IN THE MATERIAL TODAY, WE ALSO FELT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO BRING FORWARD INFORMATION RELATED TO ONE OF THE SPECIFIC PROJECTS AND THAT'S BUFORD HIGH SCHOOL, UH, BUFORD HIGH SCHOOL, THE ORIGINAL TOTAL FUNDING FROM THE REFERENDUM WAS JUST OVER 9 MILLION.
WE DID HAVE SOME, UH, PREVIOUS USE OF CONTINGENCY THAT'S WHAT'S.
THOSE ADJUSTMENTS ARE SHOWN AS ITEM ONE B THAT TOTAL $297,067.
THOSE ADJUSTMENTS WERE FUNDED ON A, UH, PRO THE CONTINGENCY, AND THEY WERE TO ADDRESS SAFETY SECURITY.
IT'S THE INTERCOM ACCESS CONTROL SECURITY INTRUSION DETECTION THAT HAD BROUGHT BEEN BROUGHT FORWARD BACK LAST YEAR.
AND THEN AS WE WERE GETTING, UH, THE, UH, WORK INSPECTED BY OFFICE OF SCHOOL FACILITIES, THE INSPECTOR DISCOVERED THAT THE MAIN ELECTRICAL BREAKER NEEDED TO BE REPLACED.
AND WHEN THE, UH, OFS OSF INSPECTOR REQUIRES SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
YEAH, WE, WE TRY OUR BEST TO DIALOGUE WITH IT.
AND IN ADDITION TO THE DESIGNER AND ENGINEER RECORD, BUT LONG STORY SHORT, IT WAS SOMETHING THAT HAD TO BE DONE ON THIS CAMPUS.
AND ONCE AGAIN, WE DO HAVE THAT PROJECT, UH, CONTINGENCY LOGS.
SO IF YOU WANT MORE DETAILS THAT IS IN YOUR MATERIALS TODAY, SO YOU CAN LOOK UP AND FIND OUT MORE SPECIFICS ON THE DATES AND THE DOLLAR AMOUNTS.
THERE WAS TWO, TWO USES THAT TOTAL 297,000, BUT FOR OUR FINANCIAL FIGURES TO DATE AT THE HIGH SCHOOL, WE'VE PAID OUT $4.3 MILLION AND WE'VE ENCUMBERED AND PAID TO DATE, UH, AN AMOUNT THAT'S JUST UNDER, UH, 7.9 MILLION THAT LEAVES US WITH THE REMAINING AVAILABLE FUNDS ASSOCIATED WITH WHAT WE'RE, WE'LL BE CALLING ATHLETICS PHASE TWO OF 1,337,891 THAT THE WORK ON THAT CAMPUS AT BUFORD HIGH HAS BEEN, UH, ACCOMPLISHED, UH, THROUGH THE USE OF TWO PHASES.
THE FIRST PHASE IS THE SCOPE THAT YOU SEE THERE WAS A, THE STADIUM, THE PRESS BOX WAS DUG OUTS, FENCING FOR THE BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL SITE, LIGHTING SECURED ENTRY VEST, YOU BILL THE, THE NINE TECHNOLOGY.
THESE ARE REALLY ROOMS, UH, THE, THE LITTLE TINY SPACES THAT WERE OUT THERE BEFORE JUST DID NOT MEET THE NEEDS.
SO WE HAD TO BUILD NINE NEW TECHNOLOGY ROOMS TO DO THAT, BUT WE ALSO, UH, ARE IMPLEMENTING, UH, AUDIO AND LIGHTING FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER AT THE PAC AND, UH, THE VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS CENTER SEATING AND CARPET REPLACEMENT, AS WELL AS THE REMAINING IT SCOPE PACKAGES.
ALL OF THAT WORK THAT I JUST RECAPPED HAS BEEN COMPLETED WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE LAST TWO ITEMS TO G AND TWO H.
AND, UH, UM, THAT THAT WORK WILL BE MOVING FORWARD.
ONCE WE GET, UH, ADDITIONAL APPROVALS TO, UH, UTILIZE CONTINGENCY AND EXECUTED AN AMENDMENT, UH, FOR THE, UH, IT PACKAGES AND, UH, THE ATHLETIC PHASE TWO SCOPE.
BUT WHEN WE LOOK AT WHAT IS IN THE SECOND PHASE, THIS IS WHERE THE ADDITION OF
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THE WRESTLING AND WEIGHT ROOM WALKER ROOMS, AND AN OFFICE WILL TAKE PLACE.WE'LL BE GOING INTO THE EXISTING WEIGHT ROOM AND RENOVATING IT TO CREATE A NEW ATHLETIC DIRECTOR OFFICE, A CONFERENCE ROOM AND STORAGE.
UH, WE HAVE A NEED FOR A PRACTICE FIELD RESTROOMS, BOTH BOYS AND GIRLS, UH, TO BE PLACED OUT BY THE PRACTICE FIELD, INCLUDING SOME STORAGE SPACE AND THE REPLACEMENT OF THE MAIN GYM BLEACHERS, WHERE WE ARE WITH THAT PHASE TWO WORK IS WE'RE ROUGHLY 95% WITH THE CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS.
AND WE HAVE NOW HAD A NEED TO, UH, IDENTIFY A YELLOW FLAG FOR THE BUDGET, UH, BASED ON THE LATEST COST INFORMATION SHARED BY THE CONSTRUCTION MANAGER AND THE DESIGNER OF RECORD.
WHAT, WHAT, WHAT HAS CAUSED THAT YELLOW LIGHT, UH, IS A COMBINATION OF, UH, DIFFERENT FACTORS.
AND SOME OF THOSE FACTORS I'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH, UH, THE COMMITTEE TO NOT THIS AFTERNOON, UH, THE, THE WEIGHT ROOM THAT YOU HEARD ME TALK ABOUT FOR THE NEW EDITION, UH, THAT ROOM SIZE HAS INCREASED BY ROUGHLY 500 SQUARE FEET FROM WHERE IT WAS ORIGINALLY PROGRAMMED.
AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS THE, UM, UH, SCHOOL WILL BE UTILIZING AND USING THAT SPACE FOR PLYOMETRICS.
I WAS NOT FAMILIAR WITH PLYOMETRICS UNTIL I, UH, WENT OUT AND MET WITH MS. SUMMERS THE LAST YEAR, LOOKING AT THIS, UH, ADDITION, BUT IT'S AN EXERCISE INVOLVING REPEATED RAPID STRETCHING AND, UH, CONTRACTING OF THE MUSCLES THROUGH DIFFERENT EXERCISES, SUCH AS LIKE JUMPING, ET CETERA.
WELL, THAT REQUIRES SPACE AND CIRCULATION THAT IS NOT TYPICALLY PRESENT IN WHAT WE HAVE COME TO KNOWN TO BE KNOWN AS THE TRADITIONAL WEIGHT ROOM.
AND BECAUSE IT'S A SAFETY CONCERN, WE FELT THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO ADDRESS THAT BECAUSE OF THE PROGRAM USE THAT I JUST MENTIONED.
UH, WE'RE ALSO LOOKING TO LOOK AT REVI, INCLUDING THESE REVISIONS TO THE DISTRICT STANDARDS FOR THE OTHER PROJECTS THAT WOULD HAVE WEIGHT ROOMS ASSOCIATED WITH THEIR REFERENDUMS, BUT THAT, THAT, THAT INCREASE IN COSTS AND SQUARE FOOT HAS CAUSED COSTS TO GO UP.
OTHER ITEMS THAT TOOK THAT OCCURRED WAS, UH, IN LOOKING AT THE BUDGETS THAT WERE INITIALLY SET UP THERE WAS THOUGHT THAT BECAUSE THERE'S A HPAC CENTRAL PLANT ON THAT CAMPUS, THAT THERE WOULD BE AMPLE CAPACITY TO ADD THIS ADDITION ONTO IT.
SO THAT WOULD MEAN THAT WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO PURCHASE ADDITIONAL NEW COOLING EQUIPMENT.
WELL, THE ENGINEER UPON STARTING THE PROJECT, DID HIS EVALUATION, DID HIS LOAD CALC, AND UNFORTUNATELY HAD TO REPORT BACK THAT THERE WAS NO EXISTING CAPACITY IN THAT PLANT.
UM, THE, THE OTHER ITEM THAT'S THERE UNDER C THE, THE LOCATION OF THIS NEW ADDITION, IT'S PROPERLY SPOTTED ON THE CAMPUS, WHERE IT WILL SERVE THE NEEDS OF THE SCHOOL IN, UH, TO THE BEST DEGREE POSSIBLE.
BUT UNFORTUNATELY IT COULD NOT BE FURTHER AWAY FROM THE MAIN ELECTRICAL ROOM.
SO TO BRING POWER FROM THAT MAIN ELECTRICAL ROOM TO THAT ADDITION AS CAUSED US TO HAVE A PREMIUM COST ASSOCIATED WITH THE ELECTRICAL SCOPE.
UH, YOU HEARD ME MENTION ALSO ABOUT THE, UH, GROUP RESTROOMS THAT WE NEED TO PUT IN OUT BY THE PRACTICE FIELD WITH THE ONES DESIGNED BEGAN IN THE, IN THE, THE, THE, THE TEAM WAS ABLE TO ASCERTAIN WHETHER OR NOT A GRAVITY SEWER SYSTEM COULD BE INSTALLED.
IT WAS DETERMINED THAT IT COULDN'T BE.
SO NOW THAT MEANS WE HAVE TO PUT IN A LIFT STATION AND A FORCE MAIN FOR THAT SCOPE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH, UH, LAST BUT NOT LEAST, YOU KNOW, ONCE AGAIN, WE DO HAVE THE COVID-19 FACTOR, THAT'S COME IN AS WELL AS THE LOCAL AND REGIONAL ECONOMY, UH, MANY, UH, DIFFERENT, UH, MATERIALS HAVE, UH, SEEN, UH, COST ESCALATIONS FOR NOT ONLY MATERIAL, BUT FOR LABOR AS WELL.
UH, THE, THERE THERE'S A LOT OF, UH, DISTRICTS AND BUSINESSES TAKING ADVANTAGE OF IMPLEMENTING SCOPE RIGHT NOW FOR A SECOND.
I TEXTED THE CONNIE CHALLENGES CUT OFF, LET THEM SHARE.
HOW DO YOU, HOW DO YOU WANT TO PROCEED WITH THAT? UM, WELL, THIS IS I'M
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BEING RECORDED, RIGHT, ROBIN, SO IT CAN BE UPLOADED AT, UM, WE CAN CONTINUE WITH THE MEETING BECAUSE IT'S BEING RECORDED AND THEN IT WILL BE UPLOADED.UM, MR. SMITH, I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU, YOU KNOW, THANK YOU GETTING THAT MESSAGE AND RELAYING THAT TO US.
UM, WAS THERE ANY INDICATION IS GOING TO BE SWITCHED TO THE YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
IF NOT, I FEEL COMFORTABLE THAT THAT SINCE WE'RE RECORDING IT, LIKE WE HAVE IN THE PAST, IT WILL BE UPLOADED FOR PUBLIC TO VIEW AND COUNTY CHANNEL.
THEY ARE STREAMING, THEY SAID THERE'S THERE'S SCHEDULED ISSUES, BUT THEY ARE STRICT, UH, STREAMING.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MR. CORBYN APOLOGIZE.
DID YOU, UM, YOU READY TO ENTERTAIN QUESTIONS ON THIS? I'LL BE GLAD TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE BUFORD HIGH SCHOOL PROJECT BEFORE WE MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS, UM, WHERE ARE THE BATHROOMS GOING THAT THE BATHROOMS ARE GOING TO BE AT THAT, UH, UH, PRACTICE FIELD, UH, ON THAT CAMPUS THERE, ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE PRACTICE FIELDS MR. SMITH? YES, SIR.
UM, I THOUGHT THERE WERE ALREADY, UH, BATHROOMS OUT THERE ALREADY.
NO, THEY'RE NOT, NOT OUT OF TALKING ABOUT THE PRACTICE FIELD DOWN, UM, UH, RIGHT NEXT TO THE POND WHERE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT NOT, NOT THE ACTUAL FOOTBALL FIELD ITSELF, THERE ARE RESTROOMS AT THE FOOTBALL FIELD.
THE PRACTICE FIELD IS DIRECTLY BEHIND THE BUILDING TO THE RIGHT OF THE POND, THE CAFETERIA, YES.
DIRECTLY BEHIND THE CAFETERIA.
SO, UH, WE, UH, WE, WE, THEY CAN USE THE RESTROOMS IN THE, UH, WAS IT A REAL NEED FOR OUT THAT WAS ONE OF THE REQUESTS FROM THE SCHOOL.
I MEAN, YOU CANNOT, I GUESS, YOU KNOW, IMAGINE IF THEY'RE OUT THERE PRACTICING AND SOMEONE NEEDS TO REUSE THE RESTROOM AND YOU HAVE TO SUPERVISE THEM.
IF THEY HAVE TO RUN BACK THE BUILDING, SOMEONE'S GOT TO GO OPEN THE BUILDINGS.
SOMEONE MAY, THEY MAY GO OUT OF SIGHT.
SO OBVIOUSLY FOR SECURITY REASONS AND CONVENIENCE, AND TO KEEP THINGS MOVING, UH, RESTROOMS WILL, YOU KNOW, HELP THAT AREA.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF WE'D FALL INTO THAT, BUT RESTROOMS HAVE TO BE WITHIN 300 FEET OF ALL FACILITIES.
WE'VE PROBABLY, I'M NOT, I'M NOT SURE FOR 300 FEET AWAY FROM THAT BUILDING.
WE PROBABLY ARE WITHIN 300 FEET.
I MEAN, ONCE YOU HAVE THOSE CLASSROOMS ARE RIGHT THERE WHERE THEY CAN GET IN WHERE BATHROOMS, BATHROOMS, WOULDN'T BE WITHIN 200 FEET AND THEY WOULD GO BY, THEY USUALLY, THEY UTILIZE THE, THAT SIDE DOOR IN THE BUILDING CAN BE USED RIGHT THERE UTILIZED IF IT'S THE BOARD'S DESIRE TO TAKE THE RESTROOM PROJECT AWAY FROM BUFORD HIGH, UM, WE CAN GIVE YOU THAT PRICING AND YOU CAN GIVE US THE INSTRUCTION AND WE'LL BE COLLIDE.
WE WILL THAT PROJECT FROM THEIR SCOPE OF WORK.
MY SECOND QUESTION IS HOW THEY STARTED BACK USING THAT FIELD BECAUSE I WAS, I BELIEVE OUT THAT THEY WERE NOT USING THE PRACTICE FIELD IN WESTERN DAY AT THE ASTROTURF THAT THEY WERE, THEY WERE PRACTICING ON HIS OWN, THE TURF ONLY TURF EVERY DAY THAT THEY WERE USING THE TURFY EVERYDAY.
NOW THAT THEY WERE NOT EVEN USING THE PRACTICE ANYMORE.
IS THAT CORRECT? NO, THAT IS INCORRECT.
I'M AWARE THEY ARE STILL USING THAT AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, THEY HAVE MULTIPLE TEAMS, ESPECIALLY GOING INTO THE SPRING.
SO THEY HAVE MULTIPLE SPORTS, MULTIPLE TEAMS. SO THEY DO, I DON'T THINK WE COULD PROBABLY GIVE THEM ANOTHER FIELD AND THEY WOULD STILL USE IT OUT AT BUFORD HIGH IN FOOTBALL SEASON.
YOU'RE PROBABLY CORRECT, BUT NOT ONCE YOU GET SOCCER LACROSSE AND THE OTHER SPORTS, CORRECT.
WAS THAT GOING TO BE A PATTERN OF ALL THE TEAMS THAT THEY WERE NOT GOING TO USE THE PRACTICE FOR ANYMORE AS WELL? WHETHER THEY WERE ALL GOING TO USE THE ACRONYM.
YOU CAN IMAGINE WHEN YOU HAVE A CROSS, YOU HAVE BOYS AND GIRLS SOCCER.
JV SOCCER, AND THEY'RE ALL PRACTICING AT THE SAME TIME.
DO THE OTHER HIGH SCHOOLS HAVE, UM, PRACTICE FIELDS? YES.
EVERY HIGH SCHOOL HAS A STADIUM AND AT LEAST ONE PRACTICE FIELD.
SOME HIGH SCHOOLS HAVE TO ENTER THOSE PRACTICE FIELDS HAVE RESTROOMS. YES.
LET ME, UM, WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE YES.
LIKE BATTERY CREEK, YOU KNOW, IT'S A CENTRAL RESTAURANT.
[01:10:01]
ALL THEIR FIELDS.UM, UH, WHO AM I MISSING? HILLMAN HIGH SCHOOL, ACTUALLY THE HIDDEN FIELD THAT HILTON HAD HIGH SCHOOL.
THE ANSWER TO THAT WOULD BE NO.
AND WHAT I CALL THE HIDDEN FIELD, THEIR CLOSEST RESTROOMS WOULD BE THE SOFTBALL, BASEBALL FIELD.
NO MISS BOAT RIDES, PROBABLY FAMILIAR WITH THAT.
SO THERE ARE NO RESTROOMS ACTUALLY BACK WITH THE HIDDEN FIELD AT HILTON HEAD HIGH SCHOOL WE'RE DOING, WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON THE ATHLETIC PACKAGE FOR HILTON AND HIGH SCHOOL.
I HAVE TO SAY, I DO NOT KNOW IF, AS PART OF THAT DISCUSSION OR NOT BECAUSE I'VE NOT BEEN INVOLVED IN IT, BUT I CAN FIND THAT OUT.
BUT MY TAKE ON IT IS THE MORE RESTROOMS, THE BETTER WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A BUNCH OF KIDS RUNNING AROUND, GIVE THEM RESTROOMS. RIGHT.
UM, SO NONE, NONE OF THE PRACTICE FIELDS THOUGH, HAVE TO GO INTO THE SCHOOL BUILDING TO, UM, ACCESS A RESTROOM.
NO, BECAUSE EVEN HILTON HEAD THAT PRACTICE FIELD DOESN'T HAVE ITS OWN RESTROOMS, BUT THEY'D WALK BACK TO THE SOFTBALL OR THE FIELD HOUSE IS MUCH CLOSER THAN THE ACTUAL BUILDING ITSELF.
UM, THE OTHER QUESTION I HAD MR. AUDITING IS, UM, YOU KNOW, BUFORD HIGH SCHOOL WAS OPEN IN 2000, CORRECT? THAT SOUNDS ABOUT RIGHT.
I THINK IT WAS, UM, AND THE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER WAS OPENED WHEN I BELIEVE AROUND 2010.
CAUSE I WAS JUST, UM, LOOKING AT THE PREVIOUS SLIDE, UH, ROBIN, COULD YOU GO BACK TO THE PREVIOUS SLIDE? I BELIEVE YOU'RE REPLACED IN THE CARPET.
AND WHAT ELSE AT THE PAC NOW THAT'S THE ACTUAL OLD, UM, PACK.
THE SOUND SYSTEM IS IN THE NEW PACK IS BEING, BUT THE ACTUAL AND CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, ROB, BUT THE CARPET AND THE SEATS ARE IN THE OLD, SMALLER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER.
THEY HAVE SEATS IN THERE THAT ARE HAZARDOUS AT THIS TIME.
I MEAN THEY WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, 21 YEARS OLD.
UM, AND, AND THEN JUST MY NEXT QUESTION ABOUT THIS WAS, UM, THE, UH, ROBIN, COULD YOU GO BACK UP TO SLIDE 11 PLEASE? OKAY.
UH, HERE WE HAVE THE WEIGHT ROOM INCREASE BECAUSE OF REVISED DISTRICT STANDARDS.
SO WERE THE STANDARDS CHANGED AFTER THE SCOPE FOR THE BUFORD HIGH WAS ALREADY IN PROGRESS OR, UH, OR ASCERTAINED? I WOULD SAY THEY WERE CHANGED AFTER THE BUDGET.
UM, IF YOU WERE, WAS SET WAS KIND OF PUT TOGETHER, UM, CAUSE THAT WAS PROBABLY STARTED A YEAR BEFORE THE REFERENDUM MEAN THERE EVEN STARTED.
AND IF YOU REMEMBER BACK AT THAT TIME, UH, DR.
BERG, UH, WAS VERY, UH, VOCAL ABOUT HIS, UM, CONCERN FOR THE WEIGHT ROOM AND BUFORD HIGH AND HOW INADEQUATE IT WAS.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS HE DID WAS TAKE US ON A TOUR OF MANY SPORTS FACILITIES THROUGHOUT THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
UM, I WOULD SAY WHERE WE WERE COMPARED TO, UH, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THE MID STATE AND UPPER STATE WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER, UH, THAN WHERE THEY ARE.
I'D SAY EVEN WHERE WE'RE GOING NOW WITH B FRONT HIGH IS NOT GOING TO THE LEVEL OF MANY OF THOSE, BUT WE'RE MOVING CLOSER TO THEM, OUR, WHERE WE'RE HEADING IN THAT DIRECTION.
UM, WE, WE WOULD NOT CONSIDER EVEN WHAT WE'RE RAISING TO IS BEING, SAY THE PREMIER IN THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, I'D SAY WE'RE MOVING TO AN AVERAGE, MORE OF AN AVERAGE SIZE FOR A NEW FACILITIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, ANYBODY? YES, SIR.
I DO HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE, THE, UH, THE BRAND NEW CAT BUILDING.
I KNOW THE LIGHT SYSTEM AS WELL AS THE PA SYSTEM WAS IN THERE ACTING UP AT ONE TIME.
HOW HAVE WE GOTTEN THAT FIXED YET? OR, OR, OR WHY WAS THAT? NOT IN THE REFERENDUM THAT IS IN THE REFERENDUM.
AND THAT'S ONE OF THE ITEMS THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON IN THE BACK.
THEY'RE GOING TO BE UPGRADED TO LED LIGHTS AND UM, I MEAN, THAT'S ONE OF THOSE THINGS WHERE EVEN THOUGH, AS YOU COMMENTED, MS FENDRA IS ONLY 10 YEARS OLD, THAT LIGHTING SYSTEM WAS PRETTY, IS VERY OUTDATED AND NEEDS TO BE UPGRADED ALREADY THE SOUND SYSTEM AND THE OTHER TWO AS WELL.
I DO BELIEVE WE ARE DOING SOME IMPROVEMENTS TO THE SOUND SYSTEM AS WELL.
BOTH OF THOSE SYSTEMS ARE CORRECT ROBERT, THAT THAT WAS RECAPPED ON SLIDE NINE.
HEARING NO OTHER QUESTIONS, MR. PORTMAN, WOULD YOU CONTINUE? OKAY.
WE'RE GOING TO COME TO THE SLIDE.
THIS WILL PROBABLY GREATEST INTEREST SLIDE NUMBER 12.
UH, I APPRECIATE THE PATIENCE,
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UH, TO GO THROUGH THE MATERIAL TO REACH THIS SLIDE.AND I ALSO APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT, UH, THE COMMITTEE RECOGNIZES THAT WE WANTED TO TAKE A LITTLE EXTRA TIME IN REVIEWING THESE FIGURES AND NOT JUST DOUBLE CHECKING, BUT TRIPLE CHECKING TO MAKE SURE THAT THE INFORMATION THAT I'M GOING TO SHARE TODAY IS AN ACCURATE SNAPSHOT BECAUSE, UH, IT IS IMPORTANT TO REALIZE THAT WE DO NEED TO UTILIZE SOME, UH, PROGRAM CONTINGENCY FUNDS TO KEEP THINGS MOVING FORWARD.
BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO BRING FORWARD A FIGURE THAT I WOULD THEN BE REMISS OVER AT A LATER DATE AND HAVE TO COME BACK IN AND HAVE ANOTHER CONVERSATION THAT, UH, A FIGURE NEEDED TO BE HIGHER.
I BELIEVE THESE FIGURES THAT YOU'RE SEEING HERE WILL GET US, UH, TO THE POINT WHERE WE CAN AWARD THE AMENDMENTS AND EXECUTE THE SCOPE.
UH, AND WHAT YOU'LL SEE, I'VE DIVIDED THIS SORTA LIKE I DID THE PRESENTATION MATERIAL WHERE UP AT THE TOP TO ADDRESS THE TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE AND SAFETY SECURITY, THE PROJECTS THAT ARE LISTED, UH, EACH ONE SHOWS WHAT WE ANTICIPATE THE UPPER END, UH, PROJECT CONTINGENCY USAGE TO BE.
AND FOR THOSE PROJECTS THAT ARE LISTED, THE TOTAL ADDITIONAL FUNDS THAT WE'RE PREPARED TO DISCUSS TODAY IS 7 MILLION, $290,000.
WHEN WE LOOK AT THE ADDITIONAL FUNDING, THAT'S GOING TO BE NECESSARY FOR THE BUFORD HIGH SCHOOL PHASE TWO ATHLETICS, THAT FIGURE IS AN ADDITIONAL $2,300,000.
SO WHEN WE COMBINE THOSE TWO FIGURES, THE GRAND TOTAL, UH, IS $9,590,000.
I WOULD LIKE TO CARRY ON WITH NEXT SLIDE BEFORE WE PAUSE, UH, WITH, UH, THE, UH, CONVERSATIONS, WHICH I ANTICIPATE WILL BE FORTHCOMING, BUT ON SLIDE 13, THAT THE, THE SUMMARY THERE, THIS IS A FORECAST THAT IS BASED ON WHERE WE WILL BE AT THE END OF THE FOURTH QUARTER OF THIS CALENDAR YEAR OF 2021.
UM, WE BELIEVE THAT, UH, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT WHERE WE ARE CURRENTLY WITH OUR AVAILABLE CONTINGENCY, JUST OVER 15 MILLION, WHAT I JUST RECAPPED ON THE SLIDE PREVIOUSLY THAT WE ARE DISCUSSING USING $9,590,000 OF IT.
BUT WHEN WE ACCOUNT FOR THE SAVINGS ASSOCIATED WITH PROJECT CLOSE OUTS, THAT I BEGAN BACK AT SLIDE FOUR, THAT WAS JUST UNDER 5.9 MILLION DOING THE MATH WILL SHOW US THAT WE SHOULD HAVE AT THE END OF THIS FOURTH QUARTER IN 2021, A CONTINGENCY BALANCE THAT IS STILL IN EXCESS OF $11 MILLION.
THE NEXT SLIDE SORTA IS BEEN PREPARED TO PUT THAT INTO PERSPECTIVE THAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT THAT FORECAST AT THE END, WE WOULD BE SHOWING THAT THE AMOUNT OF CONTINGENCY USED TO DATE THROUGH THE END OF 2021 WOULD BE ROUGHLY 36 AND A HALF PERCENT OF THAT OVERALL ORIGINAL STARTING FIGURE OF 17,000,780 1001 87, TO BE REAL CLEAR ON THAT.
I PROVIDED IN THE CALCULATION WHERE WE'RE TAKING THE CURRENT USE TODAY, PLUS THE RECOMMENDED CONTINGENCY USE AND ADJUSTING IT FOR WHAT'S COMING BACK FROM SAVINGS AND DIVIDING IT BY THE ORIGINAL CONTINGENCY AMOUNT.
THE REASON WHY I WANT YOU TO SEE THAT FIGURE IS, IS BY THE TIME THE FOURTH QUARTER ENDS THIS YEAR, WE ARE GOING TO BE AT A POINT THAT WHERE OUR PAID TO DATE IN OUR ENCUMBERED FUNDS ON THE OVERALL PROGRAM WE'LL HAVE PROGRESSED THE BOND REFERENDUM PASSED THE 50% COMPLETION MARK.
SO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT TO KNOW THAT WE'VE ANALYZED THIS, THAT, YOU KNOW, IF THIS WAS, UH, GOING TO BE USING CONTINGENCY AT THE PACE THAT WE'RE MOVING THE PROGRAM FORWARD, THAT CONTINGENCY FIGURE COULD BEEN UP AS HIGH AS 50%, BUT WHERE WE THINK IT WILL BE IS CLOSER TO THE 36 AND A HALF PERCENT.
[01:20:01]
I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO REALIZE THAT WE BELIEVE WE HAVE THE FUNDS, UH, TO EXECUTE THE SCOPE THAT WAS APPROVED BY THE VOTERS WITHOUT CHANGING ANY OF THAT SCOPE.AND THE OTHER THING THAT I WANTED TO REFLECT ON, BECAUSE WE HAVE HAD SOME PREVIOUS CONVERSATIONS WITH THE CLOCK, AS WELL AS THE, UM, OPERATION COMMITTEE AND THE WHOLE BOARD THAT, YOU KNOW, AS WE WERE WORKING THROUGH THESE SCENARIOS, WE HAD CATEGORIZED ITEMS INTO THE, THE GOOD, THE BETTER AND BEST YOU DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING IN THIS PRESENTATION OUTLINING ANY, UH, ADD ALTERNATIVES OR ADJUSTMENTS TO GO BETWEEN THOSE THREE CATEGORIES.
UM, AS WE'VE ANALYZED ALL OF THIS, WE BELIEVE THAT, UH, THE FIGURES THAT WE SHARED REPRESENT THE, THE BATTER CATEGORIES, WHEN YOU REFLECT BACK ON WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE GOOD CATEGORIES, THEY REALLY FELL SHORT IN OUR OPINION OF MEETING THE DISTRICT'S INTENT AND THEIR STANDARDS.
AND THE BEST SCENARIO IS REALLY WHERE WE SAW A LOT OF THOSE INITIAL TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURES THAT RESULTED IN THOSE EXERCISES OF PERFORMING COST REDUCTIONS TO SORTA PULL IT BACK, CAPITALIZE ON SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS THAT WE HAD GONE INTO MORE DETAIL ON IN THIS PRESENTATION.
BUT WITH THIS ALL SAID, YEAH, I THINK THAT WE WILL CONTINUE TO CLOSE OUT ADDITIONAL PROJECTS.
EACH OF THOSE PROJECTS WILL BE CAPABLE, UH, OF RETURNING ADDITIONAL FUNDS BACK TO PROGRAM CONTINGENCY.
WE TALKED EARLIER ABOUT THE FACT THAT, YOU KNOW, WE DO HAVE CONSTRUCTION CONTINGENCIES INSIDE EACH OF THE GMPS MONITORING THOSE USES TODAY.
YES, WE'VE USED A LITTLE BIT OF IT, BUT WE HAVE NOT USED A LION'S SHARE OF THAT.
AND AS WE CLOSE OUT THESE PROJECTS, OUR INTENT IS TO RETURN THOSE SAVINGS BACK INTO THE, UH, UH, PROJECT CONTINGENCY.
AND, UH, UH, I THINK WE ARE WELL POSITIONED TO CARRY FORWARD AND CONTINUE, CONTINUE TO EXECUTE, EXECUTE THE BOND REFERENDUM, UH, SCOPE AS, UH, ORIGINALLY, UH, INTENDED AND VOTED ON BY THE, UH, UH, THE VOTERS IN THIS COUNTY.
SO WITH THAT, I'LL BE GLAD TO, UH, ENTERTAIN ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS.
DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS? NO, BUT I'D LIKE, IF YOU DON'T MIND, MATT, I'M SURE I'D LIKE TO JUST MAKE A COMMENT SLASH CLARIFICATION FROM MY EARLIER QUESTIONS.
CAUSE I DON'T WANT TO GET DOWN INTO, YOU KNOW, WHAT SWITCHES WE'RE USING AND WHATNOT.
YOU KNOW, TECHNOLOGY IS A VERY COMPLEX THING.
FIRST OF ALL, I LIKE TO SAY FROM, YOU KNOW, THE LIMITED TIME I'VE BEEN ON THE BOARD, IT SEEMS LIKE THIS PROJECT IS GOING VERY WELL AND KUDOS TO THE TEAM FOR FINDING WAYS TO REDUCE COSTS ON TECHNOLOGY.
AND FOR THE FACT THAT YOU WERE UNDER BUDGET, I HAVEN'T BEEN IN GOVERNMENT VERY LONG, BUT FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, THAT'S PRETTY UNUSUAL.
SO I THINK THAT THAT SPEAKS WELL TO THE WHOLE PROJECT MANAGEMENT.
WHAT I WAS TRYING TO GET AT WITH THE TECHNOLOGY PIECE IS WHAT CONCERNS ME.
AND THIS IS JUST SORT OF SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT GOING FORWARD.
I DON'T FEEL LIKE WE HAVE AS MUCH PLANNING AS WE COULD HAVE FOR TECHNOLOGY AS WE'VE IDENTIFIED AND LESSONS LEARNED.
AND I THINK THAT SHOWING UP IN THE FACT THAT THAT'S THE MAJORITY OF OUR BUDGET OVERRUN, AND I THINK WE CAN DO MORE TECHNOLOGY PLANNING IN THE FUTURE.
IF WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT PROJECTS WITHIN THIS REFERENDUM.
AND ALSO IF WE NEED TO DO ANOTHER REFERENDUM, I THINK TECHNOLOGY PLANNING NEEDS TO BE A BIGGER PORTION OF THIS.
UM, AND IT JUST IN TERMS OF LOOKING LIKE, UH, MR SHOVAN SAID, UH, SHOHAN, UH, SAID, YOU KNOW, THIS TECHNOLOGY PLAN THAT WE'RE GOING TO DO, THAT'S BEEN PUT OFF AND NOW IT'S MARCH OF 2021.
IT STARTS WITH A DISTRICT NEEDS ASSESSMENT.
UM, AND WE NEED TO BE TALKING TO STAKEHOLDERS, WHETHER IT'S TEACHERS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS OR WHATEVER, AND FINDING OUT WHAT THE DISTRICT NEEDS FOR THE FUTURE.
SO LIKE AS MR ADINA POINTED OUT, WE'RE DOING A GOOD JOB OF POSITIONING BUFORD COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT FOR, UM, A STRONG FUTURE IN THE TECHNOLOGY FIELD, BECAUSE COVID OBVIOUSLY BROUGHT THIS TO THE FOREFRONT, BUT BEFORE COVID TECHNOLOGY IS AN INCREASINGLY LARGE PART OF THE EDUCATION EXPERIENCE AND IT'S AN INCREASINGLY LARGE PART OF OUR SCHOOL'S BUDGET.
SO I THINK THERE ARE WAYS THAT WE CAN HAVE A MORE CONCRETE PLAN GOING FORWARD.
SO THAT'S REALLY MY POINT, NOT SO MUCH WHY WE DID WHAT WE DID AND IT ALL SOUNDS GOOD, BUT GOING FORWARD, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A FIRM PLAN ON TECHNOLOGY.
[01:25:01]
CHAIR.UM, DO WE REALLY HAVE AN OPTION HERE OF, OF NOT APPROVING THIS? WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IS THE BOARD SAID NO.
SO I'M GOING TO ANSWER THAT THIS WAY.
AND ACTUALLY WE DID, INITIALLY MY THOUGHT INITIALLY WAS TO BRING OPTIONS AND SAY, ALL RIGHT, YOU CAN TAKE THESE THINGS AWAY AND REDUCES SCOPE.
ONCE WE WENT THROUGH THIS ENTIRE EXERCISE, WE REALIZED THAT THE FUNDING WAS THERE AND THERE REALLY WASN'T.
WE DIDN'T FEEL LIKE THERE WAS A NEED TO CUT, YOU KNOW, ANYTHING FROM THE ACTUAL SCOPE.
IF THE BOARD FEELS LIKE THAT, WE NEED TO GO BACK AND TAKE THINGS AWAY.
I MEAN, LET'S LOOK AT THE BEEF AND HIGH, UH, UH, WRESTLING ROOM.
WE ARE, WE'RE ACKNOWLEDGING THAT WE HAVE EXPANDED THE SIZE OF THIS SPACE.
AND THAT'S REALLY WHAT WE WOULD LIKE TO DO GOING FORWARD.
IF YOU'RE, IF YOU COME BACK AND SAY, NO, WE'RE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THE COST SAVINGS AND WANT TO GO, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T WANT TO EXPAND IT THAT MUCH.
UM, JUST THEN WE CAN GO BACK AND FIGURE OUT THAT COST AND COME BACK TO YOU.
AND JUST WHERE WE ARE, YOU KNOW, WHERE WE SHOWING THAT WE'LL BE 50% THROUGH THE REFERENDUM.
AND WE'VE ONLY USED 36% OF THE CONTINGENCY IN MY MIND, WE'RE IN REALLY GOOD SHAPE FINANCIALLY.
SO I DIDN'T SEE THE NEED TO DO THAT.
SO I DIDN'T BRING THAT FORWARD.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO BRING THAT PLAN FORWARD, WE WILL DO THAT.
I JUST ASK, BECAUSE I'M ALWAYS SENSITIVE TO US THINKING OF CONTINGENCY AS, UM, SOMETHING WE COULD USE.
YOU KNOW, WE ARE ALWAYS THINKING OF CONTINGENCY AS SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE TO USE WHEN IT'S, WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS THAT YOU DIDN'T ANTICIPATE, UM, NOT, OH, LIKE A SLUSH FUND.
UM, YOU KNOW, I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S NOT VIEWED AS DISCRETIONARY MONEY FOR THE FOLKS IN THE PROJECT, BECAUSE YOU KNOW, THAT WE WE'VE GONE THROUGH WHERE THAT IMAGE HAS BEEN PROJECTED IN THE PAST.
AND I DON'T WANT THAT TO COME BACK, COME BACK AT US AGAIN, BECAUSE THOSE FOLKS ARE STILL OUT THERE IN THE BUSHES WAITING FOR US TO SCREW UP.
SO, UM, THAT'S WHY I'M KIND OF FOCUSED ON THIS AND I, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT AND I HEAR THAT AND, UM, YES, WE CAN COME BACK WITH A PLAN, BUT I REALLY, IF WE ARE, IF WE HAVE TO GO BACK DOWN THE TECHNOLOGY SIDE, THERE WILL BE LOSSES IN, UH, FUNCTION.
AND I THINK, UH, SOME OF THE THINGS MISS BOATWRIGHT WAS SAYING ABOUT THE CONCERN WITH TECHNOLOGY MOVING FORWARD, WE FEEL LIKE WE'VE COVERED THAT.
AND REALLY IN MY MIND, WHERE USING THE CONTINUANCY AS IT WAS DESIGNED TO BE USED, WHERE WE'RE BALANCING OUT SOME UNKNOWNS THAT WE HAD, UM, AND STILL ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH OUR REGIONAL GOALS FOR THOSE PROJECTS.
UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN, WHEN PEOPLE ARE WATCHING, THAT'S THE KIND OF PRESENTATION WE PROBABLY SHOULD MAKE, UM, THAT WE'RE USING IT AS CONTINGENCY SHOULD BE USED AND WE'RE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE TECHNOLOGY.
I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE WE PRESENT IT SO THAT WE DON'T GET SNIPED THAT, UM, I'VE BEEN THROUGH THAT AND IT'S UNCOMFORTABLE AND IT'S A WASTE OF EVERYBODY'S TIME.
SO BETTER THAT WE SPEND THE TIME GETTING OUR PRESENTATION RIGHT NOW THAN, UH, HAVING TO RESPOND TO ALL THOSE EMAILS AND ROBERT, YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.
I KNEW I GOT THE SCARS TO SHOW IT.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? UM, MR. ROTTING, I HAVE ONE, GO AHEAD, PLEASE.
I JUST WANT TO POINT OUT THE TECHNOLOGY FORECASTING AND TECHNOLOGY COST FORECASTING IS A VERY, VERY DIFFICULT.
AND ESPECIALLY WITH THE COVID AND HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ARE BEING GIVEN TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS ALL ACROSS THIS COUNTRY TO DO ALMOST EXACTLY WHAT WE'RE DOING AND UPGRADING INFRASTRUCTURE, TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE.
AND SO IT'S PURE SUPPLY AND DEMAND WE'RE GOING THROUGH.
WE STILL HAVE A TRADE WAR GOING ON WITH CHINA WHO PRODUCES A LOT OF THIS STUFF.
AND IT'S VERY, VERY DIFFICULT TO TRY TO ANTICIPATE NOT THE NEED AND MISS BOAT RIGHTS.
WE CAN, WE CAN SAY WHAT THAT IS.
IT'S THE COST OF THE ITEMS THAT YOU'RE PURCHASING TO ACCOMPLISH THAT NEED THAT IS SO SOFT.
[01:30:01]
I HAD VERY SIMILAR PROBLEMS BEFORE A Y2K IN A YEAR TO 2000, UH, VERY SIMILAR.AND WE WERE ON A DESIGN BUILD TYPE OF CONTRACT WHERE WE HAD TO GET AN APPROPRIATION TO DESIGN IT.
SO WE DESIGNED IT THE YEAR BEFORE, AND THEN WE GOT AN APPROPRIATION TO BUILD IT.
AND IN THAT YEAR, OUR TECHNOLOGY COSTS IN 1999, WE'RE ABOUT 20% HIGHER THAN WHAT WE ANTICIPATED IN JUST A YEAR PRIOR.
SO WE ARE IN A SIMILAR SITUATION RIGHT NOW.
AND THE WORST THING WE CAN DO IS BE PENNY WISE AND POUND FOOLISH ON TECHNOLOGY.
BECAUSE IF YOU LOOK AT LIFE CYCLE COSTS AND WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO TO CATCH UP LATER, YOU WILL FIND THAT LIFE LIFECYCLE COSTS BY MAKING A CUT NOW, AND WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PAY FOR TO OVERCOME THAT IN THREE TO FOUR YEARS, YOUR LIFE CYCLE COSTS ARE MUCH HIGHER.
THIS IS REALLY HARD WORK, BUT, UM, I THINK YOUR METHODOLOGY AND WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT TO FIND COST SAVINGS, APPROPRIATE COST SAVINGS IS RIGHT.
THE OTHER THING I, I WOULD, LIKE YOU SAID WAS IF WE ARE GOING TO COST CUT REQUIREMENTS, THAT WE ANTICIPATE HOW WE WILL MEET THOSE REQUIREMENTS DOWN THE LINE.
IN OTHER WORDS, IF YOU SAY, LISTEN, WE HAVE TO CUT THIS.
WE HAVE TO CUT THE SIZE OF THE WEIGHT ROOM, BUT WE ARE NOT GOING TO BUILD SOMETHING THAT WILL NOT ALLOW US TO AFFORDABLY PAY FOR THAT MAYBE A COUPLE YEARS FROM NOW USING 80% MONEY.
SO THAT'S WHAT HAVE TO ALSO THINK ABOUT ON MAKING CUTS IS IT'S STILL A REQUIREMENT.
HOW ARE WE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT REQUIREMENT DOWN THE LINE? UH, BUT I THINK, UH, THIS IS, AND, AND DAVID IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN TO OUR CONSTITUENTS THAT, HEY, YOU KNOW, IF YOU BOUGHT A COMPUTER RATE LATELY, OKAY, THIS IS WE'RE HAVING THE SAME ISSUES.
AND WE HAVE TO BE ABLE, WE HAVE TO KNOW TO SAY THAT, THANK YOU.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? OKAY.
HEARING NOBODY ELSE, MR. ROTTING.
I DO JUST HAVE, UH, A COMMENT.
I, I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH THE COMMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE THUS FAR.
UM, I THINK THE EXPLANATION THAT IS ACCOMPANIED YOUR PRESENTATION HERE IS CRUCIAL.
IT'S, IT'S, UH, VERY IMPORTANT TO HEAR WHAT YOU WERE SAYING ABOUT THE CONTINGENCY FUNDS AND ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY AND SO ON.
THIS IS MY QUESTION TO YOU THUS FAR, WE HAVE JUST BEEN WORKING ON ADDITIONS AND UPGRADES.
WE'RE BUILDING A BRAND NEW SCHOOL.
UM, I AM CONCERNED ABOUT THE CONTINGENCY NEED WHEN YOU'RE BUILDING AN ENTIRE NEW SCHOOL.
UM, YOU FEEL PRETTY ASSURED THAT WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW IS STILL GOING TO ALLOW US TO MOVE FORWARD AND BE IN A, A SOLID FINANCIAL SHAPE.
I CAN SAY THAT WHERE WE ARE WITH, UH, BOTH THE BATTERY CREEK AND, UH, ROBERT SMALLS NOW, UM, I'M NOT GONNA SAY THAT WE WON'T, WELL, WE'RE STILL WORKING ON THOSE BUDGETS, BUT THEY ARE NOT OF THE SCALE OF BEING A CONCERN AND WORKING ON THOSE BUD JETS ARE, IS GOING TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT ALL THE LESSONS LEARNED AND ALL THE CONVERSATION THAT WE HAD TODAY.
AND ALL THE TECHNOLOGY THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
I MEAN, IF WE MOVE FORWARD WITH ALL OF THIS, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING IN.
ROBERT SMALLS, THE WEIGHT ROOM THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT AT, UH, BUFORD HIGH, IF THAT GOES FORWARD, THAT'S THE EXACT SAME WEIGHT ROOM THAT'S GOING INTO BATTERY CREEK AND THEN HILTON HEAD HIGH SCHOOL.
WHEN WE GO TO RENOVATE IT, WE'LL HAVE THAT SAME WEIGHT ROOM THERE.
SO THAT, BECAUSE THOSE TWO PROJECTS ARE STILL TO FOLLOW.
SO, UM, YES, WE WILL CONTINUE THOSE ON THROUGH.
CAN I ASK A QUESTION PLEASE? I, I KNOW ONE OF THE THINGS YOU WANT AS A GROUP IS, UH, EMOTIONAL, YOU KNOW, EMOTION PRIOR, OR SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT EMOTION.
IF WE'RE ASKING FOR ONE AND I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS ON WHETHER OR NOT, OR WHAT YOUR THOUGHT, I TO KNOW WHAT YOUR THOUGHTS ARE, IF EMOTION WOULD BE NEEDED IN THE WARD,
[01:35:01]
UM, AFTER THIS PRESENTATION, DO WE NEED TO ASK FOR SAY, APPROVAL OF THIS USE OF CONTINGENCY IS WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT? I WAS JUST GOING TO ASK YOU, ARE YOU REQUESTING A MOTION TO COME OUT OF COMMITTEE? UM, SO WE'RE THINKING ALONG THE SAME LINES.UM, I'D LIKE TO HEAR FROM SOME OF THE OTHER BOARD MEMBERS TOO, DID THEY HAVE AN ANSWER TO MR. AUDIENCE QUESTION DAVID? IT'S NEVER A BAD THING TO HAVE THE BOARD VOTE ON UNEXPENDED FUNDS CENTER.
I THINK IT'S A GOOD THING TO DO.
UM, AND I THINK THE, THE FEELING IS THAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO APPROVE USE CONTINGENCY FUNDS, BUT I DON'T KNOW THAT FOR SURE.
UM, SO WE ARE GOING TO BE BRINGING JUSTIFIED IMPRESSION THAT I HAVE, BUT IT, YOU NEVER GO WRONG BY HAVING THE BOARD APPROVE SOMETHING.
WE WILL BE BRINGING TO THE BOARD MEANING AMENDMENTS AND YOU ARE REQUIRED TO APPROVE ANY AMENDMENT.
OBVIOUSLY THAT'S OVER 1% OF THE BUDGET, 400 AND SOME THOUSAND DOLLARS.
AND MANY OF THESE CONTINGENCY ITEMS WILL BE INCLUDED IN THOSE AMENDMENTS.
SO IN THAT FASHION, YOU ARE REQUIRED.
AND I DON'T THINK THERE'S A REQUIREMENT FOR THE BOARD TO APPROVE PROJECT CONTINGENCY BECAUSE IT'S ALREADY AN APPROVED ITEM.
THE BOARD HAS ALREADY APPROVED ALL THESE BUDGETS ARE ALREADY APPROVED THE SPINNING OF THIS MONEY IN THIS FASHION.
I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA OR IT'S IN OUR BEST INTEREST IN Y'ALL'S BEST INTEREST THAT WE ALL AGREE THAT, UH, UH, THAT THAT'S THE WAY THIS MONEY SHOULD BE SPENT AND WE'RE ALL ON BOARD WITH IT.
SO I THINK ASKING FOR BOARD APPROVAL FOR THIS IS, IS A SMART IDEA.
ANY OTHER THOUGHTS ON THAT? ANYBODY ELSE? I WAS JUST GOING TO SAY, I THINK, UM, MONEY HAS BEEN SPENT ON CONTINGENCIES PREVIOUSLY.
SO I, IF I RECOLLECT CORRECTLY, I THINK THAT WHEN WE VOTED ON THAT THOSE WE WERE VOTING ON AMENDMENTS AND THE AMENDMENTS SPECIFIED THAT THE MONEY WAS COMING FROM CONTINGENCY USES, I COULD BE WRONG, BUT I THINK THAT'S HOW WE DID IT BEFORE.
I DON'T EVER RECALL A, A MOTION THAT SAID, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA JUST SPECIFY TO CONTINGENCY SPENDING.
I THINK IT WAS AN AMENDMENT THAT SAYS WE'RE GOING TO DO EXPAND THIS PROJECT OR DO THIS TO THE PROJECT AND IT REQUIRES CONTINGENCY FUNDING.
SO THAT'S ANOTHER WAY TO LOOK AT IT, I GUESS.
AND THAT'S MY RECOLLECTION AS WELL THAT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE HAVE, UH, BROUGHT PREVIOUS ITEMS AND 2022, THE BOARD ASSOCIATED WITH GMP AMENDMENTS AND FOR THOSE AMENDMENTS THAT NEEDED TO UTILIZE CONTINGENCY, THAT THAT WAS CLEARLY CONVEYED IN BOARD DOCUMENTS.
THE PIECE I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE DISCUSSING RIGHT NOW IS WE, WE FELT IT IMPORTANT TO GIVE A BIG PICTURE OVERVIEW OF WHERE WE THOUGHT THESE FIGURES WOULD, UH, NEED TO COME INTO PLAY.
THE QUESTION I THINK IS, IS THAT BY TAKING THE WHOLE THING TO THE BOARD AND SHARING THIS LEVEL OF INFORMATION GIVES THEM THE BIG PICTURE, BUT I STILL BELIEVE THAT THERE'S OPPORTUNITY LIKE WE SAW IN 2020, THAT IF WE HAD A PROJECT THAT DIDN'T GO FORWARD WITH AN AMENDMENT OUTSIDE OF THE SIGNATURE AUTHORITY OF THE SUPERINTENDENT, THE, THAT INFORMATION MAY NOT HAVE BEEN SPECIFICALLY BROUGHT TO THE BOARD AT THAT SAME TIME.
IT IS BEEN BRIEF TO THE CLOCK.
IT HAS ALSO BEEN BROUGHT TO THE, UM, OPERATION COMMITTEE AND THEN SUBSEQUENTLY TO THE, THE FULL BOARD AND THAT PROJECT CONTINGENCY LOG HAS BEEN PROVIDED AS SUPPORTIVE INFORMATION.
SO THAT DETAIL IS ALWAYS THERE.
THE QUESTION, I THINK THAT AT THE, AT THIS JUNCTURE IS, IS THAT BY GETTING A VOTE BY THE BOARD TO SAY, YES, WE RECOGNIZE WHERE THESE BUDGET PRESSURE POINTS ARE, WHERE WE'RE COMFORTABLE WITH PROCEEDING WITH THE USE OF THE CONTINGENCY BY GETTING THAT KIND OF APPROVAL.
THEN WHEN WE HAVE A NEED THAT'S WITHIN THE SIGNATURE AUTHORITY OF THE SUPERINTENDENT, WE GO THAT DIRECTION
[01:40:01]
WITH IT.WHEN WE BRING IN A LARGER ONE, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, AT BUFORD HIGH SCHOOLS, A PHASE TWO ATHLETICS THAT WOULD COME IN AS A GMP AMENDMENT BECAUSE OF THE OVERALL VALUE OF IT REQUIRES BOARD APPROVAL.
AND JUST LIKE WE DID IN 2020, WE WOULD CLEARLY SHOW IN BOARD DOCUMENTS EXACTLY HOW MUCH CONTINGENCY WE'RE USING.
AND ONCE AGAIN, YOU KNOW, OUR GOAL WHEN WE SHARED THIS INFORMATION TODAY IS WE, WE PROVIDED A FIGURE FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES TODAY THAT, UH, WE BELIEVE WOULD BE ADEQUATE SO THAT WE WOULD BRING IN AN AMENDMENT THAT WOULD BE LESS THAN THE FIGURE THAT YOU SEE IN THE DOC PREPARED TODAY.
SO WITH THAT SAID, I THINK THAT'S SORTA HOW TO MAYBE FRAME THIS DISCUSSION A LITTLE BIT BETTER.
PERHAPS I HAVE LIKE, UH, UH, FOR VERY UNINFORMED, FRESH EYES TAKE, I DON'T REALLY KNOW IF WE NEED TO APPROVE IT OR NOT, BECAUSE WE DID APPROVE THE CONTINGENCY.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT WENT ON BEFOREHAND FOR MY PERSONAL POINT OF VIEW, WHAT I SAW THE BENEFIT OF THIS AS, AS, AS YOU KNOW, A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC, UM, COMING IN AND GETTING INFORMATION AND JUST HAVING THAT CONVERSATION.
AND THEN NOW THAT YOU'VE INFORMED ME, I CAN GO OUT AND ADVOCATE AND ANSWER QUESTIONS AND RESPOND TO THE PUBLIC.
LIKE IF THAT'S WHAT THE BOARD WANTS TO DO, I DON'T FEEL LIKE I NEED TO, BECAUSE WE'VE GOT THE CLOCK AND WE'VE GOT, YOU KNOW, ALL THESE OTHER APPROVALS.
SO THAT'S JUST KINDA MY TAKE ON IT.
I DON'T SEE THIS AS YOU COMING TO, TO THE BOARD.
SO THE OPERATIONS CAN BE LOOKING FOR APPROVAL.
I FELT LIKE IT WAS MORE JUST AN IN-DEPTH INFORMATION SESSION TO KIND OF FLUSH OUT WHAT'S GOING ON SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND I THINK IT'S ALL SPEAKS TO THE FACT OF THE NEED FOR TRANSPARENCY AS WELL.
AND I THINK THIS ACCOMPLISHES THAT BY HAVING THOSE TYPE OF A WORKSHOP OR SPECIAL CALLED A MEETING TODAY, WE ARE PLANNING TO TAKE THIS SAME PRESENTATION TO THE FULL BOARD NEXT WEEK.
AND AS ROBERT SAID, WHEN WE HAVE THOSE AMENDMENTS READY TO BRING IN, WE'LL BE BRINGING THOSE IN SO THAT, UH, THE, THE ACTION AND APPROVALS THAT ARE NECESSARY BY POLICY TAKE PLACE.
BUT, UH, AT THE SAME TIME, IF WE'RE GOING TO BE USING ANY OF THE CONTINGENCY, IT JUST GOTTA BE VERY, VERY CLEAR IN THOSE BOARD DOCS.
THAT THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT'S HAPPENING.
Y'ALL NOTICED I PUT A POSSIBLE MOTION IN THE CHAT, IF Y'ALL WERE THAT I WAS THINKING ABOUT, UM, ROBERT, I SAW THAT AND THAT MOTION IS FOR THE FULL BOARD, NOT FOR THE COMMITTEE.
SEE, I MEAN, YOUR MOTION TONIGHT WOULD BE EITHER TAKE TO THE FULL BOARD OR ANY KIND OF, WE'RE NOT EVEN ASKING FOR A RECOMMENDATION REALLY.
THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT THAT, THAT YOU REALLY WERE NOT ASKING US FOR ANYTHING MORE THAN TO BRING IT TO THE FULL BOARD.
UM, MY 2 CENTS WORTH ABOUT HAVING A MOTION IS THAT, UM, THE REASON WE'RE EVEN HAVING THIS DISCUSSION IS BECAUSE OF THE YELLOW LIGHTS.
UH, AS I RECALL, THE CLOCK, UM, ASKED FOR AN IN-DEPTH DISCUSSION ON WHAT, UH, WHAT ABOUT THOSE YELLOW LIGHTS AND WHY WERE THEY RECURRING? SO I AM IN FAVOR OF, OF HAVING THIS MOTION AT THE FULL BOARD MEETING SO THAT IT REALLY JUST PUTS A STAMP ON IT.
AND, UM, A WAY TO SAY THAT WE'VE PAID REALLY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THOSE YELLOW LIGHTS.
SO IS THAT A MOTION? NO, IT'S JUST A CONVERSATION.
SO WHAT I WOULD, I'M NOT MAKING A MOTION MR. SMITH RIGHT NOW, BUT I'M GOING TO ASK THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS TO, UH, IF THEY ARE INTERESTED IN MAKING A MOTION TO MOVE THIS PRESENTATION TO THE FULL BOARD, DO WE NEED TO, OR DOES IT GO TO IT, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE IT'S GOING TO GO TO THEM BY DEFAULT, RIGHT? I'D LIKE TO, I'D LIKE TO, UM, MAKE IT FORMALIZED.
WE TAKE THIS PRESENTATION TO THE FULL BOARD, SUBMIT THIS PRESENTATION REGARDING CONTINGENCY FUNDS TO THE FULL BOARD.
ANY MORE DISCUSSION? ALL IN FAVOR.
AND I ALSO AM, I THAT'S, THAT'S UNANIMOUS TO BRING THIS PRESENTATION TO THE FULL BOARD.
UM, ANY OTHER, ANYTHING ELSE, MR.
I KNOW, KIND OF GAVE US SOME ON THE USE OF CONTINGENCY FUNDS, WHICH I'VE DEFINITELY TAKEN TO HEART.
ANYTHING ELSE THAT ANY OF Y'ALL WOULD LIKE TO ADD OR LIKE TO SEE
[01:45:01]
PRESENTED? NOT THAT I CAN THINK OF RIGHT NOW.I THINK THE NARRATIVE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS WAS CRUCIAL.
UM, AND YOU CAN'T PUT ALL THAT ON A POWERPOINT.
SO, UM, I DON'T HAVE ANY OTHER FEEDBACK OTHER THAN, UM, SOME OF THE POINTS THAT YOU ALL BROUGHT OUT ARE JUST REALLY IMPORTANT TO BRING FORWARD.
I WOULD LIKE TO ADD JUST ONE THING BY, BY BRINGING THIS TO THE FULL BOARD.
I THINK IT ALSO FULFILLS OUR COMMITMENT FROM OUR DISCUSSIONS THAT THE LAST BOARD MEETING THAT THIS WAS GOING TO BE OCCURRING AND THAT THAT WOULD COME FORWARD.
BUT THE OTHER PIECE THAT I WANT TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE'S AWARE OF IS THE TIMING COULDN'T BE BETTER.
YOU KNOW, WE ACCOMPLISHED THIS TODAY.
I APPRECIATE EVERYONE TAKING TIME OUT OF THEIR BUSY SCHEDULES TO CONDUCT A SPECIAL CALLED MEETING.
BUT BY TAKING IT TO THE BOARD ON TUESDAY, IT THEN ALLOWS ROBERT AND MYSELF TO GO TO THE CLOCK THE FOLLOWING EVENING ON WEDNESDAY.
AND WHAT YOU SEE DETAIL WISE IN THE PRESENTATION MATERIALS THAT I'VE SHARED TODAY WITH YOU IS EXACTLY WHAT THE CLOCK WAS INTERESTED IN SEEING.
SO IT'S LINING UP THE DOMINOES JUST RIGHT, SO THAT THE FLOW OF THE INFORMATION IS OCCURRING FIRST THROUGH THE OPERATION COMMITTEE, THEN TO THE BOARD AND THEN TO THE CLOCK, WHICH I COMMEND THAT THIS WAS THE ORDER THAT IT'S GOING IN.
I THINK THAT THAT, THAT, UH, IS GOING TO WORK WELL.
SO, UH, TO THAT END, DO I HAVE A MOTION TO ADJOURN THIS MEETING? SO MOVED SECOND ALL IN FAVOR.