School board agrees to sell Southwind
property
By Joe Pritchett
Clarion Editor
The Ball-Chatham Board of Education has agreed to a deal to sell 43 acres of land the district
owns north of Southwind Road in Springfield.
The board authorized the sale at Monday's regular board meeting. The property will be sold to
John D. Warrington of Springfield for a total cost of $569,750, or $13,250 per acre.
The property was originally purchased by the school district back in 1993 for $245,000. The land
was pegged as a site for a new school location, but a referendum failed in the mid 1990s and the site
was rejected by the school board as an option for the new elementary school that was approved by
voters this past spring.
There were issues with the narrow two-lane road in accessing the site, as well as exorbitant costs
associated with bringing utilities to the area.
Supt. Bob Gillum said the buyer has plans for athletic fields at the site.
•Work on the plans for the new elementary school continues. Architects from Ittner, Inc. and Action
Team 24 have been working to scale the building down to 65,000 square feet. But after further review,
it appears the school may be near 74,500 square feet, bringing the total estimated cost (including
furnishings) to around $14 million.
Carolyn Green and Steve Raskin of Ittner were at the meeting Monday night, and Green, along with
Action Team leader Jill Larson, updated the board on the work that has been done.
Two of the major square footage issues with the new elementary school involved the cafeteria and
gym. The design of the building all along involves two phases, with a possible addition down the
road if space needs warrant.
The original building will be built to a 550 student capacity, with expansion bringing capacity to
750.
The Action Team was charged with designing a building that was around 65,000 square feet, but in
the end the lowest they could get to was just under 70,000, at 69,559.
Using maximum class sizes, a medium-sized gym (similar in size to Ball Elementary's) and
building a larger cafeteria in Phase 1, all points recommended by Gillum, the square footage rises to
74,500.
That puts the estimated cost around $14 million (up from the original $12.5 figure). However, with a
competitive marketplace and the $569,750 windfall from the Southwind property sale, Gillum said it
made more sense to build a larger school now. A Phase 2 on the school, if needed, would now only
involve additional classroom space, Green said.
At a special board meeting called for June 30 at 6 p.m., architects from Ittner will be on hand to
present a floor plan of the new elementary school, along with a footprint of where the school will sit.
The school building is expected to be located just west of Glenwood High School on land purchased
earlier this year by the district.
•Gillum presented the final FY 2009 budget, which has been somewhat difficult to predict given the
state budget woes. The state is behind on payments to Ball-Chatham by about $1 million, Gillum
said, but the district is expected to receive most, if not all, of that money by the end of the fiscal year
June 30.
Gillum said the State Comptroller's office is behind in paying bills by $2.9 billion, and the state has
also been using federal money to pay general state aid to schools. In addition, the first five state
payments next fiscal year will be made using federal funds, he added.
Ball-Chatham's budget includes transfers from working cash and the Education fund to the Capital
Projects fund, which will have a balance of $15 million. The new school building will be paid for out of
that fund, of course.
Total fund balances, including Capital Projects, are at $28.6 million. The Education fund balance
has dropped to $10.61 million from $21.9 million back on June 30, 2008.
•The board approved a bid of $61,500 from R. L. Vollintine for work at the high school press box at
the football and soccer fields. The repairs will be done this summer. Due to leakage, much of the
wood has deteriorated and the shell will be rebuilt and weather-proofed.
•The district is looking at ways to save money on skyrocketing energy costs, and the board
approved to change the natural gas supplier for Ball, GIS and GMS to the Illinois Energy Consortium,
from Ameren.
Operations Director Jim Lovelace said the district would have saved $40,000 total last year through
this group. The original agreement is for three years, with annual renewals after that period. The cost
savings will partly offset a 46 percent electrical increase recently handed down by RECC for those
three buildings, Gillum said.
Ameren equipment, meters and service will still be utilized, district officials said. The gas will be
coming from IEC.
•The board held a closed session prior to the regular meeting, and Gillum said the practice may be
continued if the board agrees. From closed session, the board took action on the dismissal of an
employee. Chrystal Bates, a hall monitor at GHS, was dismissed for cause.
•GHS Associate Principal Chris Becker and GHS secretary Susan Nation were recognized by the
board for their development of a student military support group. They received Employee Excellence
Awards.
•Ball-Chatham has once again been recognized as a "Bright Star" Award recipient. The award is
presented to districts whose students' academic performance rank in the top one-third but whose per
pupil expenditures rank in the lower one-fourth of Illinois school districts. Sixty-eight of the 868 Illinois
districts received Bright Star Awards.
•Graduated seniors Matt Hartzler and Zach Wienhoff showed off the promotional DVD they created.
The piece will be available for download at the district website and will be used as a promotional tool
to show all the amenities and qualities the Ball-Chatham schools have to offer. Local realtors will be
given business cards to hand out that will contain a link to the webpage.
•Job descriptions for Lovelace and Dave Murphy have been re-defined. The position of Director of
Operations will be split into two, with Murphy earning the title of Director of Facilities and Grounds and
Lovelace as Director of Operations and Transportation.
Pay rates will not change, Gillum said, but the change brings Murphy up to an administrative level
to where he will now report directly to Gillum and not Lovelace. The division of duties is also made
clearer by this move, he said.
•The date for the regular board meeting for July has been changed to Monday, July 20, at 6:30 p.m.
at the District Office. A special meeting will be held Tuesday, June 30, at 6 p.m. That meeting will
involve the aforementioned architects' report, along with presentations from the two finalists for the
Construction Management firms.
The board has not decided whether or not to use a CM or General Contractor-led approach to
building the new elementary school, and this process does not bind them to using a CM. But the two
finalists, Gilbane and Walton Group, will give presentations before the board on June 30.
Gillum said he has been involved in six construction projects over the years and has never used a
CM-led approach, but is open to the idea. Murphy emphatically stated Monday night that he endorses
using a CM.
After hearing previous CM presentations, board members also seem to be leaning that direction,
and the memories of the mistakes that happened during the building of the new Glenwood High
School remain fresh in all minds.
"It's important to have extensive oversight into what is going on," board member Linda Carter stated.
Board member Jim Neuses added that there would be more control over sub-contractors with the
CM approach.
•The board has approved to use Indiana Insurance again for property, casualty and workers' comp
insurance for the next fiscal year. There is a zero percent increase in premiums, the total amount
coming to $374,777.
property
By Joe Pritchett
Clarion Editor
The Ball-Chatham Board of Education has agreed to a deal to sell 43 acres of land the district
owns north of Southwind Road in Springfield.
The board authorized the sale at Monday's regular board meeting. The property will be sold to
John D. Warrington of Springfield for a total cost of $569,750, or $13,250 per acre.
The property was originally purchased by the school district back in 1993 for $245,000. The land
was pegged as a site for a new school location, but a referendum failed in the mid 1990s and the site
was rejected by the school board as an option for the new elementary school that was approved by
voters this past spring.
There were issues with the narrow two-lane road in accessing the site, as well as exorbitant costs
associated with bringing utilities to the area.
Supt. Bob Gillum said the buyer has plans for athletic fields at the site.
•Work on the plans for the new elementary school continues. Architects from Ittner, Inc. and Action
Team 24 have been working to scale the building down to 65,000 square feet. But after further review,
it appears the school may be near 74,500 square feet, bringing the total estimated cost (including
furnishings) to around $14 million.
Carolyn Green and Steve Raskin of Ittner were at the meeting Monday night, and Green, along with
Action Team leader Jill Larson, updated the board on the work that has been done.
Two of the major square footage issues with the new elementary school involved the cafeteria and
gym. The design of the building all along involves two phases, with a possible addition down the
road if space needs warrant.
The original building will be built to a 550 student capacity, with expansion bringing capacity to
750.
The Action Team was charged with designing a building that was around 65,000 square feet, but in
the end the lowest they could get to was just under 70,000, at 69,559.
Using maximum class sizes, a medium-sized gym (similar in size to Ball Elementary's) and
building a larger cafeteria in Phase 1, all points recommended by Gillum, the square footage rises to
74,500.
That puts the estimated cost around $14 million (up from the original $12.5 figure). However, with a
competitive marketplace and the $569,750 windfall from the Southwind property sale, Gillum said it
made more sense to build a larger school now. A Phase 2 on the school, if needed, would now only
involve additional classroom space, Green said.
At a special board meeting called for June 30 at 6 p.m., architects from Ittner will be on hand to
present a floor plan of the new elementary school, along with a footprint of where the school will sit.
The school building is expected to be located just west of Glenwood High School on land purchased
earlier this year by the district.
•Gillum presented the final FY 2009 budget, which has been somewhat difficult to predict given the
state budget woes. The state is behind on payments to Ball-Chatham by about $1 million, Gillum
said, but the district is expected to receive most, if not all, of that money by the end of the fiscal year
June 30.
Gillum said the State Comptroller's office is behind in paying bills by $2.9 billion, and the state has
also been using federal money to pay general state aid to schools. In addition, the first five state
payments next fiscal year will be made using federal funds, he added.
Ball-Chatham's budget includes transfers from working cash and the Education fund to the Capital
Projects fund, which will have a balance of $15 million. The new school building will be paid for out of
that fund, of course.
Total fund balances, including Capital Projects, are at $28.6 million. The Education fund balance
has dropped to $10.61 million from $21.9 million back on June 30, 2008.
•The board approved a bid of $61,500 from R. L. Vollintine for work at the high school press box at
the football and soccer fields. The repairs will be done this summer. Due to leakage, much of the
wood has deteriorated and the shell will be rebuilt and weather-proofed.
•The district is looking at ways to save money on skyrocketing energy costs, and the board
approved to change the natural gas supplier for Ball, GIS and GMS to the Illinois Energy Consortium,
from Ameren.
Operations Director Jim Lovelace said the district would have saved $40,000 total last year through
this group. The original agreement is for three years, with annual renewals after that period. The cost
savings will partly offset a 46 percent electrical increase recently handed down by RECC for those
three buildings, Gillum said.
Ameren equipment, meters and service will still be utilized, district officials said. The gas will be
coming from IEC.
•The board held a closed session prior to the regular meeting, and Gillum said the practice may be
continued if the board agrees. From closed session, the board took action on the dismissal of an
employee. Chrystal Bates, a hall monitor at GHS, was dismissed for cause.
•GHS Associate Principal Chris Becker and GHS secretary Susan Nation were recognized by the
board for their development of a student military support group. They received Employee Excellence
Awards.
•Ball-Chatham has once again been recognized as a "Bright Star" Award recipient. The award is
presented to districts whose students' academic performance rank in the top one-third but whose per
pupil expenditures rank in the lower one-fourth of Illinois school districts. Sixty-eight of the 868 Illinois
districts received Bright Star Awards.
•Graduated seniors Matt Hartzler and Zach Wienhoff showed off the promotional DVD they created.
The piece will be available for download at the district website and will be used as a promotional tool
to show all the amenities and qualities the Ball-Chatham schools have to offer. Local realtors will be
given business cards to hand out that will contain a link to the webpage.
•Job descriptions for Lovelace and Dave Murphy have been re-defined. The position of Director of
Operations will be split into two, with Murphy earning the title of Director of Facilities and Grounds and
Lovelace as Director of Operations and Transportation.
Pay rates will not change, Gillum said, but the change brings Murphy up to an administrative level
to where he will now report directly to Gillum and not Lovelace. The division of duties is also made
clearer by this move, he said.
•The date for the regular board meeting for July has been changed to Monday, July 20, at 6:30 p.m.
at the District Office. A special meeting will be held Tuesday, June 30, at 6 p.m. That meeting will
involve the aforementioned architects' report, along with presentations from the two finalists for the
Construction Management firms.
The board has not decided whether or not to use a CM or General Contractor-led approach to
building the new elementary school, and this process does not bind them to using a CM. But the two
finalists, Gilbane and Walton Group, will give presentations before the board on June 30.
Gillum said he has been involved in six construction projects over the years and has never used a
CM-led approach, but is open to the idea. Murphy emphatically stated Monday night that he endorses
using a CM.
After hearing previous CM presentations, board members also seem to be leaning that direction,
and the memories of the mistakes that happened during the building of the new Glenwood High
School remain fresh in all minds.
"It's important to have extensive oversight into what is going on," board member Linda Carter stated.
Board member Jim Neuses added that there would be more control over sub-contractors with the
CM approach.
•The board has approved to use Indiana Insurance again for property, casualty and workers' comp
insurance for the next fiscal year. There is a zero percent increase in premiums, the total amount
coming to $374,777.
Chatham Clarion
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Issue Date: June 25, 2009