Funding gap closed! Cash-flush state budget allows Dept. of Public Instruction to cough up extra $12 million.
BAYBORO – The State of North Carolina is spending money like a drunken sailor, thanks to the largess of Uncle Sam who has allowed states throughout the USA to re-direct the dwindling the remnants of its massive pandemic appropriations for more mundane projects like infrastructure and education.
In fact, the ink has barely dried on our state’s new budget, which contains a provision that seems to have been written specifically for Pamlico County High School. For the record, it is SECTION 4.3(c) and contains terms like:
• Seeking additional funding
• Funds for new construction
• County has not yet begun construction
• Based upon the original project scope
• May amend any existing grant agreements
The bearer of this good news arrived Monday night for a meeting of the Pamlico County Board of Commissioners. Mr. Robbie Ferris is a veteran architect and his experience showed. His Raleigh-based firm, sfL+a Architects, is plugged in, you might say, for design work on multi-million dollar K-12 buildings. In fact, the company website opens up with a stellar photo of nearby Jones County School – likely a success story that led to his hire here in Pamlico County.
For security purposes, the Bayboro-located school will have a single entrance, with multiple exits. Student populations will be separate – middle school on one side of the two story structure // high school on the other. One or more key-controlled elevators will be available. Ferris also stressed the new school intends to use ‘Construction Manager at Risk’ method, which entails a commitment by the project’s selected Construction Manager to fully complete school buildings and grounds within a Guaranteed Maximum Price – based on construction documents and specifications.
Ferris is due to return soon – probably on Oct. 16, when he will flesh out a proposal for a geothermal heating/cooling system AND electricity-generating solar panels for the roof of the new school. The ears of each Commissioner perked-up Monday night when Ferris mentioned that solar panels for Jones County School supply ALL of its electricity needs. Ferris said the school usually has a surplus of solar power – estimated to be a whopping 70 percent – now being SOLD to the area’s traditional electricity provider.
The Commission meetings are always open to the public. Elected officials convene again Monday night, Oct. 16 at 7pm in a conference room on the Second Floor of the Bayboro Courthouse.
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