Due to favorable state aid and a busy building season, hundreds of school districts in the state have been submitting capital construction projects to the state Education Department for approval, creating a backlog of submissions and potentially pushing start dates of some projects back.
The department's facilities planning Web site says that, "Compared with last year, our submissions are up over 80 percent," due to Expanding our Children's Education and Learning, or EXCEL aid. "Our best guess at the moment is that for projects received as of 3/1/08, the average review time for final review of plans may reach 25 weeks. There are currently over 1,000 projects in line for review."
Pamela S. Beyor, from Bernier, Carr & Associates, Watertown, is involved in about 40 active construction projects around Northern New York.
"First and foremost, this is going to affect the start dates of projects," she said. "We were hoping for some projects to have a spring start, but those projects that are stuck at SED aren't going to start until the fall. A significant amount of work is going to be affected because a lot of it isn't able to be done while school is still in session."
In Watertown, plans were submitted months ago and Superintendent Terry N. Fralick says he hopes to get approval by early April.
"We talked to Bernier, Carr and have a sense that given our number on the list, we have a decent chance of getting approval in April," he said. "We knew construction wouldn't get started until the end of school because there's so much that needs to be done inside of Starbuck."
Ms. Beyor, however, said the work at Starbuck Elementary school could be delayed.
"We're just waiting, and depending on when it comes back, it could get pushed back," she said.
School officials are also concerned that the delays will translate into higher costs.
"This is going to impact the cost of the project if it moves from one construction season to the next and inflation rates continue to increase," Ms. Beyor said.
She said that even though districts program inflation into their projects, there is still a chance the costs will exceed what was originally expected.
"It's a concern," Ms. Beyor said. "It's a pretty stable market right now. But, with Fort Drum and what happens there, it can dramatically affect the availability of contractors and if things get really busy, the cost can go up significantly. We haven't seen any significant increases as of late, but it's something we're concerned about as these things get pushed back."
Indian River Central School officials hope to get their plans into the Education Department by the end of April.
"That's means we'll be looking at an October or November time frame for getting approval," said James R. Koch, district business manager. "That will have us taking bids in early 2009. I expect that we will get a good response as people bid for the work. We're still looking for the buildings to be ready in September of 2010. It isn't pushing back the completion date, because we'll still have two summers to complete the work. But, we're following it closely."
In LaFargeville, Superintendent Susan L. Whitney said the district is in the preliminary planning stages and she hopes to submit plans to the Education Department "sometime in early summer."
"We always try to be hopeful, but we've never sent something into the state ed department and it's come right back," she said. "It's kind of out of your hands. It's unpredictable at this point."
Mrs. Whitney said she still hopes to break ground in April of 2009.
The South Jefferson Central School District is also in the planning stages for its construction project.
"We built in six months to the process when we did our timelines with our architects," said Jamie A. Moesel, superintendent. "But, the sooner they approve it, the sooner we can get it out to bid. If that time is dramatically increased, it could have some impact, but we still hope to get it back between January and February and still hit the construction season."
Mrs. Moesel also said she and the Board of Education are concerned about rising costs of materials and transportation but they have started putting together a plan if costs get out of hand.
With every new construction project, Ms. Beyor said she and her associates are now putting several more months into district construction timelines.
"For the new projects that are coming online, we're projecting construction starts anywhere from 12 to 15 months from the time of voter approval," she said. "It's a disappointment for the school because once they achieve voter approval, they'd like to get the work done as early as possible, but that's just not happening."
