The president of an Andover company that sells and installs artificial turf says it may be able to save the Emporia school district hundreds of thousands of dollars — if it is allowed to bid on a project to install a new football-soccer field and a track at Emporia High School.
Paul Driver of ATG Sports Industries said in an interview last week that his company could do the work for an estimated $200,000 to $400,000 less than the approximately $1.6 million cost presented to the board of education by Custom Energy Solutions of Overland Park.
Custom Energy conducted the district’s recent energy audit, presented an energy-savings plan to the board and took bids to assemble a plan that included costs for the recommended changes. In a report to the school board at the Sept. 23 meeting, McConnell and Associates Corp. was listed as the company chosen to be on the “proposed contract team.”
McConnell is to install Field Turf, one of several brands of artificial turf.
ATG sells and installs Ram Turf brand. ATG was the contractor for the Welch Stadium project at Emporia State University in 2005 and, later, for Glennon Field at the ESU baseball and softball complex.
Special circumstances
Under the Facility Conservation and Improvement Program, the Emporia school district was not required to gather its own bids through an advertising and bid-letting process customarily mandated by statute.
State law allows governmental units to appoint outside agents like Custom Energy to represent them in gathering bids for specific types of energy projects. Under those circumstances, the bids do not have to be advertised, according to Peter Armesto of the Kansas Corporation Commission, which is involved in the Facilities Conservation and Improvement Program.
ATG’s Driver believes the absence of advertising may have affected the bid-gathering.
“They (Custom Energy) were not aware that we were in the business,” Driver said. “It was just an oversight. They said it wasn’t intended, quite honestly, a slip-up. But the way we left it last, they said they were going to rebid that part of it so that we could bid it.
“I haven’t heard from them since so I can’t be 100 percent sure,” he said.
An ATG salesman became aware of the Emporia project through a phone call from an Emporia district patron about a week before the school board meeting on Sept. 23, when board members were to vote on the Custom Energy proposal, which included costs for the project.
An ATG salesman, Matt Smith, tried to find out more about the project.
“Matt had started calling Emporia and had not received a returned phone call,” Driver said. “It was when the second patron called and said ‘you need to call’” that Driver became involved directly.
Driver paraphrased that patron as saying, “I think they’re going to award a turf (bid) at the board meeting tonight. … You need to give this guy a call.”
He said he talked about the project with Superintendent John Heim during the afternoon before the board meeting.
“What I understand, I could see where they may have assumed Custom Energy would get a price from us,” Driver said.
The combination field and track, including drainage work, a small set of bleachers and two separate fences, was listed by Custom Energy as costing $1,665,000.
“Based on the information they’ve given us, our bid would be between $200,000 and $400,000 less,” Driver said. “… I was being conservative when I said $200,000.”
He said that the price difference wasn’t attributable to Ram Turf being a cheaper product.
“It’s a better product,” Driver said of his company’s turf. “This isn’t my opinion. This would be the opinion of anybody who walked on those two fields. ... There’s that dramatic a difference in those products.”
Driver said ATG’s bid would be for the entire athletics project — fencing, running track, concrete work, asphalt paving, drainable stone, artificial turf and bleachers.
“We had asked for specifications and to date we have not gotten them,” he said last week. “What they did in lieu of giving us specifications … they gave us a list that they read over the phone.”
The reading was a deviation from the standard process, Driver said.
“Most specifications we get for projects are hundreds of pages. They say ‘this gauge fence, this thickness of grass.’ …”
Driver said that the $1.2 million bid he estimated ATG would provide would be “to the highest standards that we have.”
More to the story
IN THURSDAY AND FRIDAY EDITIONS
Find out
• How state law in the Facilities Conservation and Improvement Program affects the traditional bid process;
• Where the project stands while Custom Energy conducts checks of proposed contractor McConnell and ATG; and
• Long-term affects if the Emporia school board rejects the accepted package and rebids the field and track portion of the energy project.
To read complete story see the print edition or the online print edition.
Comments
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Posted by Blue_Dog (anonymous) on November 4, 2009 at 11:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This law change is a travesty! To allow "major" projects to be let without advertising and open bids is the biggest and fastest way to get corruption in the process. How may "brother-in-law" companies were "selected to participate" in these projects? Also how many local sub-contractors are going to be used? My guess none were listed. Which then allows the "selected" contractor to contact the locals and dictate pricing and take any profits back to their home base. Which isn't Emporia!.
Posted by Tell (anonymous) on November 4, 2009 at 1:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree Blue Dog but its easy for ATG to tell the district that they could have saved them money at this point. I'm sure every turf company in the world wasn't notified ATG you missed it get over it and better luck next time.
Posted by tossedcat (anonymous) on November 4, 2009 at 7:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
yes we need the turf. what about an HD scoreboard arrowhead got a nice one!! family luxury boxes, I know this town loves paying for studies has anyone ever did a study on injuries incurred while playing on turf? or will some one have to tell SPORT his career is over LIKE SO MANY PRO'S HAVE BEEN TOLD...WE NEED THIS LIKE ANOTHER CLOCK TOWER!!!
Posted by YY4U (anonymous) on November 4, 2009 at 8:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
1.6 million dollars would pay a full time groundskeeper $40K a year for forty years.
Posted by SpartanSupporter (anonymous) on November 4, 2009 at 9:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Maybe the ATG company wasn't picked, or allowed to bid because they did a terrible job on the turf at ESU. ATG was several months late installing the turf, the turf is the worst turf field the high school or the college will play on all year. Emporia High has the opportunity to build a wonderful sports complex behind the school and they can not be faulted for wanting it done right. This turf and track will be a step in the right direction to breaking away from ESU and establishing a stadium at the High School. The waste is what the School pays ESU to host events there even after they paid for half the field and half the lights. This project has plenty of support from teachers and community members, but this needs to be done right. This will benefit plenty of student-athletes in the future.
Posted by FarmRaised (anonymous) on November 4, 2009 at 9:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
SpartanSupporter,
Do you know when the school paid for half the field and half the lights at ESU?
Posted by Steve_Corbin (anonymous) on November 4, 2009 at 9:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Seriously are you out there?
Wouldn't a better energy saving feature be to not spend the 1.6 million dollars on artifical turf and keep the grass field and buying $1,000.00 of the old style push-people powered mowers and having the football team push-mow once a week before practice? Built in PE!
Just a thought:)
Posted by YY4U (anonymous) on November 4, 2009 at 9:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Have you ever worked the same job for forty years? $20.00 per hour, full time to ensure the football field is kept perfect for the next 40 years. That is two lifetime careers! Or, you could give 1.6 million dollars to a company out of Overland Park, KS to come out and install an outdoor carpet on your football field and you still have to mow the grass around the rest of the school grounds.
Posted by tbluma (anonymous) on November 4, 2009 at 10:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
SpartanSupporter
Do you support the whole school or just the athletes?
I would like to take a poll of the teachers that support this vs those that don't.
If it's such a good deal send me your name an address and I'll send you my portion of the next school levy for you to pay.
After all it would only be fair,I don't seem to have a vested interest in this deal that didnt go up for a popular vote or even get bid out to see if it could be done morre reasonably.
Posted by Blue_Dog (anonymous) on November 5, 2009 at 9:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Tell: I agree about somebody will always around afterward that could do something for less. The difference is if everyone is aware of the project ahead then you tell them to shut up and sit down. Can you really say that with this process of spending tax dollars?
Spartansupporter: as to the ESU field if you had read the companion piece on this story ESU admitted they notified the company late and they were not promised to get it done by the needed date.
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