By Charlotte Smith
Over a year ago, Bladen County Schools announced plans of building a replacement school at the Tar Heel Middle school site. According to the officials, the new school will replace Tar Heel Middle School and Plain View Primary School. It will serve grades PreK-8th. The site will be located at 14888 Hwy 87 West, Tar Heel, North Carolina.
According to the Bladen County Schools’ District Office, the anticipated start of construction will be March of 2022 and completion August 2023. There are North Carolina laws and statutes to govern the process of government construction projects. The new construction project is currently at a bidding process stage for the septic field construction. The bidding process for the new school has caused concerns for some Bladen County residents and officials. At their public meetings, Bladen County Commissioners have voiced unease about the new construction project process.
Since General Contractor Rusty Worley, former Bladen County Schools Maintenance Director, left his post in December 2021 to field a position with the Town of Elizabethtown, concerns over the project continue to rise.
The maintenance director for Bladen County Schools’ job duties ensures all construction processes follow state laws and guidelines. The Bladen County Schools website has not been updated to reflect Mr. Worley no longer holds the Maintenance Director position. No announcement has been made about the Maintenance Director position being filled since Mr. Worley’s departure in 2021.
In November 2021, Mr. Worley requested the school board to consider putting the septic system for the Tar Heel School construction out for bids. The first bid process went out in December 2021. The Tara Group of Lumberton, Inc., submitted the first bid for $425,000. Only one bid was submitted during the first bidding process; therefore, the school board requested a rebid process. The second request for the septic system construction bids began on January 14, 2022, and ended on January 25, 2022.
Two bids were submitted during the second bidding process—one from Quality Septic Systems and one from Callahan & Wells. At a special called meeting on February 1, 2022, the Board approved accepting the bid from Quality Septic Systems.
During the February 1 meeting, the Board also approved the Project Management Services for the Tar Heel construction project.
There were three contracts up for consideration, according to Dr. Atkinson. After reviewing, Dr. Atkinson recommended a 20-month contract with MBP out of Raleigh with Michael Burriss to act as the Project Management Services provider for the Tar Heel Construction Project for a total cost of $172,000.
The other two bids were submitted by Cunning Group of Raleigh and SfL+a, which holds the architectural contract for the Tar Heel construction project.
BladenOnline reached out to Dr. Jason Atkinson, Superintendent with Bladen County Schools, by email requesting copies of the bids because the documents were not available to the public during the February public meeting in BoardDocs. Dr. Atkinson responded by email on February 3, saying, “The Board’s action on February 1, 2022, effectively authorized the administration and the Board’s attorneys to finalize contracts with the selected vendors. The formal agreements will be presented to the Board for approval at the next meeting on February 15. They will be available for review in BoardDocs with the other meeting materials prior to the meeting.”
However, another Bladen County Board of Education Special Called Meeting was held on Wednesday, February 9, 2022, at 12-noon, to discuss and take action on items related to the septic system installation bids for the Tar Heel School Construction Project. During the meeting, Dr. Atkinson announced Quality Septic Systems had a calculation error in one of the line items in their bid, and Bladen County Schools would need to reject all bids and have another rebidding process for transparency purposes.
Listen to the meeting linked below that was published on Bladen Livestream’s YouTube Channel.
After the February 9 meeting, the Bladen County Schools website posted a request for proposals- a rebid for the new Tar Heel School Project Septic System Installation. The website post states, “The new school site is located on the current campus over the septic field but does not encroach on the current pump station. The new school septic field will have to be constructed before the new school starts so that the old school can use this system. The existing school will be demolished during the summer of 2023 so that the parking lot can be installed. Once the new septic field has been completed and approved, the conversion from the pump station will place the old school’s sewage into the new septic field. Bladen County Schools will be purchasing the tank system designed by Haggett Engineering from Concrete Pipe & Pre-Cast. This will be done to expedite the installation process and is expected to arrive on site by February 18, 2022.”
No reason for the rebidding process was noted in the announcement. The third bidding process for the same project began on February 9, 2022, and ends today, February 11, 2022.
Another cause for concern is, Mr. Charles D. Andrews with The Tara Group of Lumberton, Inc., submitted a letter via email to the Bladen County Board of Education’s attorney, Gary Grady, on February 1, 2022, referencing proper licenses for the Onsite Wastewater System and law violations. Read more about the letter in our article: Updated- Bid Approval by Board of Education Causes Concerns.
Since the February 9 meeting, BladenOnline has received comments about other concerns regarding the project’s process. According to North Carolina General Statute 143-129, the advertisements for bidders require at least seven full days. Also, according to the same statute, North Carolina contractors must provide an upfront deposit in the amount of 5% of the total bid when submitting their bid or provide a bid bond in lieu of making the required deposit.
Bid bonds guarantee a selected contractor will agree to work on a project for the amount proposed in the original bid.
BladenOnline reached out to Dr. Atkinson with Bladen County Schools and Mr. Gary Grady, Bladen County Board of Education attorney, via email after failed attempts to reach Dr. Atkinson by phone. Following are the questions submitted to Dr. Atkinson and Mr. Grady. In bold text below are Dr. Atkinson answers to the questions that the BladenOnline office received at 2 p.m. on February 11, 2022.
1. Has the Maintenance Director position that General Contractor Rusty Worley held been filled?
At the present time, the position is not filled. The Board of Education may consider a recommendation for the position at their February 15, 2022 meeting.
2. Has the bidding process for the new school septic field been compliant with N.C. Gen. Stat. s. 143-129?
The rebidding process was established under the guidance of the board’s counsel on the construction project, using legal reference NC General Statute 143-131.
3. Did all the bidding contractors provide an upfront deposit in the amount of 5% of the total bid, or did they provide a bid bond?
A bid bond is not required for this project per the Board’s counsel on the construction project.
4. Have any of the contractors withdrawn their bids?
All of the bids received in the previous window were rejected by the Board of Education. No bids were withdrawn. The rebidding window is still open at the time these questions are being answered.
Related articles:
https://bladencounty.org/bid-approval-by-board-of-education-causes-concerns/
https://bladencounty.org/request-for-proposals-rebid-new-tar-heel-school-project-septic-system-installation/
https://bladencounty.org/board-of-education-approves-design-upgrades-and-increase-to-project-budget-for-new-tarheel-school/
https://bladencounty.org/bladen-county-schools-is-seeking-a-construction-manager-for-the-new-school-construction-project-in-tar-heel-north-carolina/
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