NTCC board approves guaranteed maximum price on construction project

 Northeast Texas Community College will soon begin phase two of its campus renovation after the Board of Trustees approved the Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) for the project at the regular May meeting Tuesday.

The board unanimously approved the GMP of $8,990,848 as presented to allow work to begin over the summer. Projects included in this amount are the Humanities building, overhauling the main plaza area, phase one of the Charlie and Helen Hampton Learning Resource Center and phase one of the Student Union Building. The GMP is calculated by the construction manager at risk and guarantees that the project will not exceed the amount.

“It is critical that this work begins early this summer in order to allow for minimal disruption to our campus,” Dr. Brad Johnson, NTCC President said. “The goal is to finish as much of this work before fall classes begin as possible.”

The board heard an update from WRL, the firm that was selected as construction manager at risk for the project last year. David Detten reported that the final plans for some of the later projects are not yet complete, so those projects will be presented to the board at a later date. Projects awaiting final pricing include Math/Science, Industrial Technology and Business Technology buildings.

“Now that we have a maximum price, we will work to economize in every way that will not compromise the quality of the job,” Detten said.

Detton said that there were already significant cost savings from being under budget on phase one of the construction project, which involved laying underground pipe around campus. He said those savings will be rolled back into the remaining projects and he is confident that the overall scope of the project will not change.

Titus County Judge, Brian Lee, was present to swear in Jerry Webster and Gov. Bill Ratliff, incumbents who were unopposed for the May election. The Board voted to keep its current slate of officers for the next two years. Dr. Dan McCauley will remain the Chairman of the Board. Chuck Johns continues as Vice-Chairman and Sid Greer, Secretary.

In personnel action, the Board approved granting retiring faculty members Dr. Shirley Clay and Douglass Hoppock with the honorary title of Distinguished Professor Emeritus. They also voted to extend the college president’s contract by one year. Other positions that were approved included: Tom Ramler, Physical Plant Director, Martin Holden, Theatre Faculty Member and James Ward, Biology Faculty Member.

The board also approved renaming the Business Technology Building the Bart Scharlach Business Technology Building. This is the second building renamed as part of a campaign by the NTCC Foundation. This honor comes on the heels of a significant gift by the Bart Scharlach Memorial Foundation.

Those interested in following the construction project at NTCC can visit www.ntcc.edu/construction for photos and frequent updates.