PNGISD tables project manager hire, for now
Published 3:37 pm Monday, May 20, 2019
PORT NECHES — Trustees with Port Neches-Groves Independent School District will have to wait a little longer before hiring a project manager for a possible bond proposition.
At a recent meeting trustees heard from two project managers; CBRE-Heery out of Houston and Sledge Engineering out of Taylor, Texas, who each gave a 30-minute presentation and were also given 15 minutes to answer questions from the board, PNGISD Superintendent Mike Gonzales said. Afterward the board went into closed session to consult with their school district attorney Blake Powell and decided to take no action.
“They (the board) will meet at a later date to determine what direction they would like the school district to go in,” Gonzales said.
During the previous week the board heard from representatives of four engineering companies — and two were presented to the board — but after the presentations no action was taken. The reason, he said, was that one of the board members had to leave the meeting early and the rest of the board did not want to make the decision without him.
Gonzales believes the board will meet soon to cover these topics.
“We felt it was important to get the board’s input on this because this is going to be quite an undertaking and the board is going to be held as accountable as the school administration,” he said. “We want to make sure they are involved in this process and will be as transparent as possible.”
A project manager, in this instance, typically comes in and helps determine what needs to be done and answer questions such as “Do we have the property to build the schools on?” “What kind of schools need to be built?” and “How much money will it cost?”
This information is then given to the board that will decide in August if PNGISD will move forward with a bond proposition to be held in November.
The background
Earlier this year trustees unanimously approved exploring a bond election on the November 2019 ballot.
Matt Marchak, who headed up the facilities committee tasked with the issue back in 2015, told board members in March this year that based on all of the work the committee did previously the group recommends going forward with the bond, according to a archived story.
The recommendation made back in 2015 was to go from six to four elementary schools — two in Port Neches, two in Groves — combining the Port Neches administration building, West Groves administration building and the alternative campus into one facility.
A final decision has not been made on the configuration.
See also: PNGISD to look at possible November bond