Project now expected to be more than $6.6 million
By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
Staff Writer
OXFORD TWP. — During the regular Oxford Community Schools Board of Education meeting on July 23, Budget Director Courtney Makowski gave an updated on the Oxford Education and Innovation Campus project on Drahner Road.
The property, formerly the Dominican Sisters Motherhouse, was purchased in 2021 for $2.5 million, and will house Oxford Bridges High School, LOFT, Oxford Virtual Academy, and the technical department. The budget was raised to a total of $4.385 million in February, but has gone up. Adding to the cost was an electrical fire a few months prior that requires roof repair.
“We were able to secure a contractor to be able to do that,” said Makowski. “The company is BMS CAT, formerly Jarvis. They are the same contracting company that came in an renovated the high school, so we do have a great relationship with them.”
The budget has increased, as construction costs have gone up. Between architectural fees, cabling, card readers, security, water and sewer tap fees, parking lot renovation and furniture; the project cost went up to $5,634,837. That total was as of February.
Following that, the parking lot renovation went up, as well as a few other things that were over budget, adding $21,736 to the project.
“That was mainly from the redesign of the parking lot,” said Makowski.
There was also an additional $112,076 of additional expenses since then, including moving furniture, storage, hardware replacement and instructional technology. There are also post-fire expenses of $868,947.
“We were weeks away from being done, so a lot of the work had to be redone,” said Makowski.
That brings the current total of additional expenses since February to $1,002,759, including post-fire expenses. There is still a potential for reimbursement for the post-fire expenses.
Still pending are estimates for finishing the community room, signage, and returning the currently-rented OVA space back to the original layout per the lease agreement.
“We’re at about $1 million dollars from what Sam (Barna) brought originally in February,” she said.
The project is still on track to finish before school begins, though some furniture won’t arrive until after school starts. In total, the project will put the projected fund balance at $599,252 prior to reimbursement for fire-related expenses.
During the presentation, board President Dr. Erin Reis brought up the potential for a sinking fund or millage to help grow the capital projects fund.
“Millages are used for capital replacements,” she said. “So boilers, facility upgrades, stuff like that.”
The district previously had a sinking fund, but it sunset in 2022 and was not put back on the ballot for a renewal. Currently, the yearly budget for capital projects is $500,000.
“I think it’s important, that draining this capital project fund, it’s going to put a big strain on whether we are able to do those facility projects,” said Makowski.