Hamilton County officials justified going $3 million over estimates to build the much-anticipated new Ganns Middle Valley Elementary School because of their self-imposed deadline of opening the facility by the fall of 2016.
"We didn't want to disrupt the children trying to learn," County Mayor Jim Coppinger told county commissioners Wednesday. "We can't open midyear. If there ever was a case to accelerate the bid, I would say this is it."
Despite several commissioners' concerns with the $29 million price tag to demolish Ganns Middle Valley and Falling Water elementaries and build a combined school for nearly 1,000 students, they voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve the contract.
Chattanooga-based J&J Contractors had the lowest bid, at $28 million, but officials said the company indicated that it couldn't have the school built by the July 25, 2016 deadline. Instead, officials chose Rentenbach Constructors, tacking on more than $1 million for overtime.
Hixson parents lobbied the county for years to replace the 77-year-old building Ganns Middle Valley, with its leaking ceilings and mold and dust in classrooms that forced some children to bring inhalers to school. And Falling WaterElementary is more than a century old.
The replacement school was chosen as one of four projects last year that the county would finance with $48 million. The others include additions at Sale Creek Middle-High and Wolftever and Nolan elementaries.
Several commissioners asked whether the extra cost for the Ganns Middle Valley project could hinder completion of the three other approved projects, but Coppinger assured them that wouldn't happen.
Under the 13-month timeline, the contractor will have to build the new school behind the current Ganns Middle Valley by the end of May 2016. Crews then will have roughly two months to demolish the old school and build a new parking lot and route for the buses to park.
Gary Waters, the school system's facilities manager, told the commission last week that he anticipated bids to come in around $25 million, based on the cost of the new East Brainerd Elementary School, which is almost complete. The county actually budgeted $26 million, but all four bids came in higher than that.
Waters said Wednesday that he didn't anticipate rising materials costs and low bid turnout.
Also Wednesday, commissioners unanimously approved a highly debated 14-year property tax break to reconstruct the historic Maclellan Building downtown. Under the agreement, unanimously approved by the City Council on Tuesday, the developer will pay roughly $1.5 million in property taxes over 14 years, but Hamilton County and the city will waive about $1.3 million over the same period.
The building has been mostly vacant for about 10 years.
Contact staff writer Joy Lukachick Smith at jsmith@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.