BUSD awards contract for potential Citro school

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

A pair of Bonsall Unified School District actions Jan. 19 addressed architectural needs for the district’s future schools and other facilities.

A 5-0 vote placed four firms on the pre-qualified list for district facilities projects. The vote which selected HMC Architects to provide architectural services for the evaluation of a potential school site on the Citro property was 3-2 with Larissa Anderson and Roger Merchat opposed due to the wording of the agreement.

The future Citro development was called Meadowood when the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved the subdivision map. That map included 13 acres for an elementary school which will be built by the BUSD. The school district and Tri Pointe Homes are in negotiations for the acquisition of that land, which will be a closed session matter for the school board.

On Oct. 13, a pair of 5-0 BUSD board votes authorized district staff to advertise requests for qualifications and requests for proposals for analysis of soils testing and geotechnical services and for architectural services.

The school district established a committee to review the requests for qualifications and requests for proposals. The committee considered firms with proven performance records for timely and expedient completion of services, and for the architectural firms the consideration also included the capabilities to engage community and key stakeholders meaningfully.

Four firms responded to the request for proposals to provide architectural services. The selection criteria included timeliness and completeness of the Statement of Qualifications, technical qualifications and competence, past performance record, the firm's approach to the work, and cost control measures. Interviews were also held with the firms being considered for the BUSD contract.

“This is so we can do our due diligence on the property," said BUSD superintendent Joseph Clevenger.

The due diligence will ensure that the site is safe, including access to and from the potential school, and that the property is functional for an elementary school “There are different levels to building a school that we have to ensure are in place,” Clevenger said.

The HMC Architects proposal was deemed to be the best value for the district among the four proposals. The total fees, including subconsultant fees and a contingency for architectural fees, are not to exceed $99,804. The HMC Architects proposal utilizes an hourly basis for the scope of work, so if the efficiency exceeds what the San Diego company anticipated the amount will be less.

“It clearly states ‘not to exceed’,” Clevenger said.

A contract with a maximum stipulation could be amended by future board approval; Anderson and Merchat sought a firm maximum price contract.

The HMC Architects scope of work will include architectural, civil engineering, landscape, and cost estimating services for two potential site layouts. “We’re looking forward to their work,” Clevenger said.

A Dec. 15 board action awarded Construction Testing and Engineering the soils and geotechnical testing contract.

BUSD staff interviewed seven pre-qualified firms for future facilities work. AlphaStudio Design Group, Baker Nowicki DLR Group, HMC Architects, and SVA Architects were selected as the four vendors for the architectural services pool.

“We selected a pool of architects for any future work we might be doing, and this would be related to any new potential schools,” Clevenger said. “We are just making sure that if we are in a place where the opportunity presents itself that we are able to move in a timely manner.”