Finalists chosen for bus garage design job
By MICHAEL ANICH, The Leader-HeraldJOHNSTOWN - The Greater Johnstown School District's Facilities Committee has selected three finalists among 11 proposals received for architectural and engineering services for the district's future bus garage.
Action by the committee followed a regular meeting of the district Board of Education at Johnstown High School.
The bus garage would be built on district land near the high school at a cost of about $1.5 million. The three finalists for the architecture contract are very reputable, according to district Interim Business Manager Ralph Acquaro.
"It doesn't appear you're going to go wrong with any of them," Acquaro told the committee.
The board narrowed the field to Ashley McGraw Architects of Syracuse, Bearsch Corp. of Binghamton and Greenman-Pedersen of Albany.
Board President Robert Curtis said the fact that 11 firms were interested in bidding on a fairly small project is telling.
"This is just an indication of the economy," Curtis said.
The board voted Oct. 1 to build the new bus garage. Hard construction costs for the new facility are expected to be about $576,000, and with design and other costs, the total cost may rise to $1.5 million. The garage would be built on property behind the student parking lot on Wright Drive, more than 100 yards from the nearest residential area, Abel Drive, which has about 20 homes.
Acquaro has said the "lion's share" of the project would be funded by state aid. He said the rest of the cost will be covered by a capital reserve set up by the district last year. There will be "little or no impact" on local taxpayers, he said.
School board Facilities Committee Chairman Scott Miller said he liked that the architectural outfits - "all big firms" - took the time to submit viable proposals. He said going through the proposals was "a task," and one of the board's main concerns is to find an architect with significant experience dealing with the state Education Department.
Miller said Ashley McGraw is "a good firm," and Acquaro said former Interim Business Manager Robert Munn has a long history dealing with the company.
The committee decided to interview representatives of the three architectural contractors at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 19 at JHS. The Facilities Committee will meet at 6 p.m. that night, followed by a full board meeting at 7 p.m.
Acquaro said the district might want to keep an eye on the finalist to use as a possible "district architect" for future projects.
"Hopefully, we'll have someone we'll be happy with for the long term," he said.
Michael Anich covers Johnstown and Fulton County news. He can be reached at johnstown@leaderherald.com.
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MadDog
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11-06-09 5:37 PM
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Al, come on help me out tell the sheeple to yell or keep paying, two bus garages, two school districts, two police, two fire, two DPW's, two water,and two administrations !!!!! =========$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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MadDog
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11-06-09 5:34 PM
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Two bus garages, two school districts, come on folks please please get the state leaders involved to have just one bus fleet, someone and I mean someone have the guts to stand up on a board and fight to save the state and taxpayer some money. Sit down with G'ville and talk the talk to walk the walk. If I remember right GESD bus facility was 7 million so i cannot think that the architect fees were 3.9 million since these fees are roughly 900,000 and the construction would be 600,000 !!!!!!
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jackson
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11-06-09 4:50 PM
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It's still tax dollars one way or another. (state budget)
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IKnooow
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11-06-09 3:49 PM
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If you have a bus fleet, you need a place to keep it and mantain buses. As far as the state aid goes, the money to build the garage is partly reimbursed through building aid. If Johnstown doesn't build the garage, Johnstown doesn't get the money. The state just gives the money to other districts that do projects eligible for aid. It doesn't effect what we pay in taxes at all.
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Preacher
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11-06-09 2:18 PM
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Aidable is not a word. Where did you go to school?
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jackson
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11-06-09 1:10 PM
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It's too bad the money isn't being spent on retaining staff and programs for students. This administration and Board of Education, with a couple of exceptions, is not focused on kids. They all have their own agendas. And, sadly, they still think that Johnstown is an exemplary school system. It is not. I'm sure the argument will follow that the garage will be state aidable. But where do you think state aid comes from?
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Discobulous
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11-06-09 12:02 PM
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I'll bet the BOCES Voc-Tech students could build it just as well.
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