The Macon Middle School renovation got a lot more expensive during the last meeting of the Macon County Board of Commissioners.
On Sept. 14, SGA NarmourWright Design Associate Chris Coleman updated the commissioners on the status of the renovation. Crews have completed phase one of construction, which includes the center court area, the cafeteria and some locker room work, while phase two, which focuses on the east wing of the school building, is due for completion in a matter of days. The project isn’t supposed to be completely finished until late next year, but Coleman is optimistic about the current pace of work provided by New Atlantic Construction.
“They’re keeping their foot on the gas,” Coleman said. “They’re slated to be ahead of schedule, so that is definitely a plus for the project.”
Unfortunately, crews have also encountered some surprise costs during the renovation process. Coleman detailed $153,838 worth of needed additional expenses for the project, which is already costing the county in excess of $10 million. Many of the additions were relatively small issues like changes in roofing, flooring, sidewalls, ventilation and HVAC equipment, as well as supply and demand issues brought on by the continuing pandemic. However, the major sticking point was an oversight on the school’s fire alarm system. Designers initially thought they could work with the 30+ year old system in place, but because of syncing issues and potential code violations, they decided to replace it for $97,761.
“The intent was, even when they talked with the fire alarm reps, they felt they could modify the existing system without having to fully replace it,” Coleman said. “The problem lies in the east wing. If we’ve added new devices and try to tie back the existing devices, even if it’s a millisecond apart from a code violation, it could trigger a seizure.”
Commissioner Ronnie Beale, a contractor himself, was frustrated by this development. He argued that the county had paid special attention to the age of the fire alarm system in the preliminary stages of the project and that they had been promised it wouldn’t be an issue, so charging nearly $100,000 more to solve the problem now was a bad reflection on the companies involved.
“We knew what the system was going in,” Beale said. “We had extensive conversations about this particular thing and we were assured it’s fine.”
The other commissioners were also upset by such a major addition to the cost of the project, especially when it appears to be the result of simple oversight. However, replacing the system is a necessity and Coleman warned against taking too much time to seek cheaper solutions. Even the $97,761 mark had already been negotiated down with Jackson Electrical Contractors. Besides, the county still had more than enough money left in their contingency budget to cover the cost.
“You’ve got $788,882 in contingency tonight,” County Manager Derek Roland said. “If these all are approved, you’ll have $635,044 in contingency tomorrow.”
The commissioners voted unanimously to approve the additional spending measures. There may be some conflict down the road with the designers about who will ultimately foot the bill, but for now, the safety of the students is the key issue.
“It’s to get the whole school and the whole system up to code,” County Planner Jack Morgan said. “This is for no other purpose than life safety for the kids there.”
Macon Middle School’s renovation is on track to be completed by fall of 2022.