Cheboygan Area Schools tables SiteLogIQ contract agreement, set to meet next week
CHEBOYGAN — After nearly six months of partnership with SiteLogIQ, Cheboygan Area Schools is making progress on planning for what site upgrades need to be made throughout the district.
SiteLogIQ was hired on to help address construction needs within the district. This fall, the group did a walkthrough of the district's facilities and highlighted the different areas within the district that may need upgrades and improvements.
SiteLogIQ — a consulting and engineering firm — has visited the district and met with the board for special meetings three times in the month of February trying to come together on a contract. In the most recent meeting, held Feb. 22, the board once again tabled the approval of the contract with SiteLogIQ, Cheboygan Superintendent Spencer Byrd said.
Still in debate is the scope of work and the SiteLogIQ fee for management.
SiteLogIQ would require a 18.75% management fee. During one of the special meetings, board members said they struggled with the contract because they wouldn't want to pay SiteLogIQ an additional 18.75% for things they wouldn't necessarily need management on. For example, the district could just purchase buses on their own, they wouldn't need project managers to do so.
The goal is to get the contract signed soon, maybe as soon as next week. During the next few meetings, progress may be made towards filing for the August election, in which the district will ask voters to vote on an extension of the current debt levy, a non-tax increase, Byrd said in an email.
Subscribe: Get unlimited access to our local coverage
During the Oct. 23 school board meeting, SiteLogIQ presented their findings from a condition assessment for the district, where they went from building to building and looked at the state of infrastructure.
They addressed the asset conditions within the buildings, and ranked things based on how well they work, when they were installed and their typical lifespans.
The high school, middle school, Inverness Academy and East Elementary each had at least half of the checked items marked as "alarm," "alert" or "caution" meaning it's either time to consider a replacement, or planning to consider replacements may be necessary, a SiteLogIQ representative said. He said some items in East Elementary School still being used have tripled their life expectancy.
Byrd said in an email the scope of the work will require the district to extend its debt to have enough revenue to complete the work. Right now, the expected costs fall between 12 and 15 million dollars.
The Cheboygan Area Schools Board of Education meets Monday, Feb. 26.
— Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Cheboygan Area Schools tables SiteLogIQ contract agreement
