School board approves new track and asphalt contract

The Farmington R-7 School District Board of Education approved two asphalting contracts on Sept. 4, with one including the creation of a new four-lane track at Farmington Middle School.

“This will not only be a great place for our students at Roosevelt, Lincoln and Middle School to use during PE (classes), but for the community as well,” Superintendent Matt Ruble said. “This is a densely populated area, so to have a walking track they can use after school will be great.”

During the early morning meeting, the board listen to Mark Krause, director of operations for the district, explain the bidding process for the new asphalt playgrounds areas at Lincoln Intermediate and Truman Elementary.

“The (Request for Proposals) was originally posted for July 31, but we did not receive any bids,” Krause said. “So we re-issued the RFP until Sept. 2, and we received one bid from Maxson Construction for $17,580.”

In addition, the second contract bid sent to the district was for $119,833 by Maxson Construction for parking lot repair and to seal the asphalt at Washington-Franklin and Jefferson Elementary, Lincoln Intermediate and for new asphalt for a walking track at the Middle School.

Since the bid was within the district’s $500,000 budget, Krause recommended the board accept both bids.

“Another company did approach us about the bid,” Krause said. “I walked them around, but never received any word back from them.

Board member Kelly Barnes did question whether there was a conflict of interest with accepting the two bids since Maxson Construction was owned by Board President Howard Hoehn, and wanted to know what procedure the board had to take.

“I can’t vote on this,” Hoehn said. “Mark first came to me when he put out the first bid for Lincoln and Truman, I told him I wasn’t going to do it. But when he got no bids for that job, he asked me to reconsider.”

According to Ruble, one of the reasons the district put the bid out the second time and ran it in the newspaper four times was to see if any other companies wanted to bid on the job.

“We have had board members, especially with very reputable companies like Maxson Construction who perform asphalt and concrete work all over the Mineral Area, do work for us in the past,” Ruble said. “It’s a very competitive bid. That is one of the reasons why we put it out the second time is to see if we can get anyone else interested.”

According to Ruble it is important for the district to get asphalt parking lots repaired before the area has another hard winter.

The board did vote to accept the bids and award the two contracts to Maxson Construction for work to begin as soon as possible. 

The next school board meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Sept. 16 at the Administration Building on 1022 Ste. Genevieve Ave.

School board member Jeff Lawson, at left, Superintendent Matt Ruble and board President Howard Hoehn listen to a question about an asphalting bid during a special meeting on Sept. 4 at the board office. 

Craig Vaughn is a reporter with the Farmington Press and can be reached at 573-756-8927 or at cvaughn@farmingtonpressonline.cim