LINN —Linn R-2 board members heard good news at Thursday’s meeting: the HVAC bids for the field house came in well below expectations — almost $200,000 less — and they awarded the contract to United Mechanical Services of Jefferson City for $550,507. Harold G. Butzer, also of Jefferson City, submitted a bid of $657,265. Both bids included the base project (with unknown condition allowances) for $531,125 and $628,975, and performance payment bonds of $16,937 and $6,290, respectively. The main difference was in the second alternate: United Mechanical bid a Trane HVAC unit with tracer controls for $2,445, while Butzer’s bid for the same unit was $22,000.

“About three weeks ago, we launched engineering and put together a set of plans for the field house HVAC, and we received very good results on the bids, as they were under budget,” said Navigate Building Solutions Senior Project Manager Matt Nigh, noting the initial budget was $750,000. “We’ll utilize Trane as the manufacturer, which would be consistent with the equipment that we’re using on this addition project, just to keep that compatibility there.”

Though Nigh has not worked with United Mechanical Services, Superintendent Bob James noted the firm had worked with the district in the past and is owned by a district patron. “I don’t know if you’re familiar with Brian Voss,” said James of the owner, whose company also completed projects for Jefferson City High School. “He actually lives right across the road from me, so I’m glad to see one of our local folks putting their hat in the ring and winning the bid.”

Board President Dr. Shawn Strong praised Navigate Building Solutions. “I really thought this would come out a lot higher, but they kept the design simple, and mechanical engineers don’t like to do that, but they definitely gave us something simple that we can afford,” he said. “Good job conveying that we wanted a fairly basic HVAC system instead of what engineers like to do.”

Board members approved the project with a ceiling of $750,000 to account for any unknown difficulties.

The plan is to have the HVAC system installed ahead of graduation in 2026 so the temperature can be dropped the night before and create a more pleasant atmosphere.

Dr. Strong called it a big step forward for the district.

In other project news, James told the board that progress had been made on the foundation preparation of the additional classroom space; however, the substrate failed the roll/bounce test. Essentially, the subsoil was not compact enough to support a foundation. The contractor removed approximately 900 yards of the existing soil and replaced it with one-inch rock minus the base aggregate at a cost of $75 per yard.

James noted the district plans to use the removed soil in other areas on campus. The additional base will cost approximately $65,000 and will be deducted from the $100,000 holdback embedded in the base.

Other potential add-ons may come due to unknown site conditions.

“When we tie into our existing buildings, we have some great plans there, but inevitably, there’s almost always a surprise or two there,” said James. “We hope not, but we’re planning for that.”

Nigh told the board that utility and soil work should be completed in a couple of weeks, and overall, the construction project is on pace to be done about a month and a half early. “They’re starting to get their momentum going now, with a lot of utility work in the building path built up,” said Nigh. “We should start to see more progress on the foundations. The plumber is going to start putting in underground plumbing, and the electrician should start next week. We’ll really start to see it start to come out of the ground.”

Newly elected board member Andy Warren inquired about the number of inches of rock being installed.

“Over-excavation for the bad stuff is 18 inches,” Nigh replied.

“Are they doing lifts?” Warren asked.

Nigh confirmed that the soil is being brought up on lifts, and ESMS, the material-testing engineer, is on-site to ensure the contractor is doing it correctly. The lift is every foot or two, in addition to three feet of screening material, which Nigh said is a fine aggregate that gets compacted and becomes the base.

Progress has been made on the northwest parking lot. “Parking is tight and will continue to be for the rest of the year,” said James, noting that the lot would be completed by this fall. “To accommodate the completion of the main parking lot next summer, we are planning to replace the existing parking lot from the entrance to the northwest lot this summer. We will finish the remaining main lot in the summer of 2026.”

The board also approved the certified April 8 election results, which showed that Warren received 277 votes, followed by incumbent board member Jamie Bish (227), Larry Hunt (224), and Pamela Stephens (220). Scott Stiefermann, Tye DeCramer, David Spurgeon, Justin Franken, and Jeff Laughlin each received one write-in vote. No votes were cast in Gasconade County.

Warren was sworn in and replaced board member Brett Phillips, who chose not to seek re-election after one term. James presented Phillips with a plaque in recognition of his service to the district.

Remaining business will be presented next week.