Bids were awarded to three firms Monday for the first phase of what will eventually be Kingfisher’s new mid-high school.

Board of education members unanimously approved bids for site demolition and earthwork, paving and utilities at their regular May meeting.

The meeting was held in the high school cafeteria for the second straight month to allow for proper social distancing due to COVID-19.

The bids were approved upon the recommendation of Van Storm, a partner with Joe D. Hall General Contractors, the firm that’s serving as the construction manager for the project.

“I’m satisfied with the re sults (of the bid opening),” Storm said. “In terms of budget, this is right where we need to be.”

Storm said the commercial construction market continues to become more competitive.

“Unemployment is high. Oil prices are down,” he said. “There are more people willing to basically work for wages right now.”

The three winning bids were also the lowest bids and total just over $1.2 million.

“I feel comfortable going with the low bidder in each case,” Storm said.

Bids were opened late last week.

There were 15 bids for the site demolition and earthwork, eight for the paving and three for the utilities.

Stewart Excavation earned the bid for site demolition and earthwork. It’s bid of $205,020 was nearly $60,000 less than the next low bidder.

A-Tech Paving won the paving project with a bid of $757,599.

Paving bids allowed for a base bid on asphalt and an alternate bid on concrete.

A-Tech’s was the lone bid whose concrete bid was lower than that for asphalt. Overall, it was the lowest bid by nearly $30,000.

“I thought they made a mistake,” Storm said. “But they’re betting that concrete will be cheaper. Their explanation was simple and a good one.”

Wee Construction earned the utilities project with a bid of $166,775, which was nearly $20,000 less than the next low bid.

Storm said demolition of the APB parking lot, where the new school will be constructed, should begin in May (after graduation ceremonies).

He did warn that the current pandemic could slow the construction process.

He said materials have become tougher to get as production has slowed down worldwide.

“The supply chain has been impacted. Everything is just moving slower as you would expect in this environment,” he said. “But it’s moving, which is good.”

After approving those contracts, the board then moved forward on the next phase of the project by giving the thumbs up to construction documents and specifications for the actual building.

Architect Jason Hukill with LWPB Architecture was on hand to go over the final plans with the board members.

The board will likely hold a special meeting in early July to send that part of the project out for bids.

In other action Monday, the board rehired several certified and non-certified personnel and support staff.

Board members, after a 30-minute executive session, unanimously voted to rehire 100 certified employees, five retired teachers on temporary contracts, 10 administrative assistants, 32 aides, five bus drivers, six cafeteria workers, 11 maintenance and custodial staff and an IT director. (Ed. note: Due to space constraints in this edition, the complete list of hires will be in the Sunday, May 10, edition.)

In its only other personnel move, Kara Mueggenborg was hired as a new teacher at Gilmour Elementary School for the 2020-21 school year.

Temporary appropriations for the 2020-21 school year totaling about $18 million were approved.

Temporary appropriations were prepared by the CPA firm of Britton, Kuykendall & Miller. They’re necessary to, essentially, get the district through the summer months until its estimate of needs is prepared.

“We won’t spend it all, obviously,” Sternberger said. “But this is what’s available to us.”