Bond performance provides good bang for the buck

Hometownlife.com

Work has begun on the last big project to be paid for with funds from Plymouth-Canton Community Schools' 2004 bond.

And while crews are renovating the front of Salem High School, using what is now the courtyard to ultimately create needed classroom space, a thought occurs to us.

The district got a pretty good bang for its $109 million buck.

The Salem courtyard renovation project was the 25th bid package put out under the bond. With each package came 3-5 projects, which puts the total number of projects around 100, give or take a few.

Work was done on 26 of the district's buildings, and every building except one built before 2000 had renovation work of some sort done on it. The lone exception is Central Middle School, which district officials agree has outlived its usefulness as a school. The district has reconvened its Strategic Planning Committee, and the Central Middle School issue will be near the top of its priority list.

The performance under the auspices of the 2004 bond represents a confluence of efforts from administrators - primarily assistant superintendent Ken Jacobs - and construction managers at both TMP and McCarthy Smith. According to district officials, every project came in on time and under budget, an amazing accomplishment considering the economy, the nature of the work, Michigan weather and human nature.

Don't think it's impressive? Ask Ann Arbor school officials, who had a host of problems getting its new Skyline High School up and running some two years later than originally projected.

That's not to say everything went smoothly. There were problems at West Middle School with issues relating to concrete. There were issues at the administration building with the quality of materials being used. There were weather issues, particularly a rainy August that left, for instance, a problem not-so-lovingly dubbed “Lake Gallimore” in front of Gallimore Elementary, where a new bus entrance/exit was being installed.

Despite those issues, district officials also hang their hat on the bond creating something woefully missing these days, especially in Michigan: Jobs. According to McCarthy Smith officials, the 2004 bond created some 760,000 manhours of labor, employing some 50 people a day.

Plymouth-Canton board members and administrators have had plenty of financial issues with which to deal lately. They've made some $20 million worth of cuts the last eight years or so, and it still won't be good enough because the state can't get its financial act together.

The district has its critics, who think the estimated $8 million the district saved by being on time and under budget so much should have gone back into the budget, rather than into more projects.

But officials knew there was work needed around the district they might not ever have the money to accomplish. Having seen bond proposals rejected in 2006 and 2007, they understand voters aren't necessarily in an approving mood.

They also look at the economy, understand the financial situation and don't wish to burden their residents with another bond.

But they also understood their buildings had infrastructure needs, and by taking care of those needs with savings realized in the 2004 bond, administrators have put the vast majority of their buildings in good shape for the next 15-20 years.