Our Facilities Committee sent requests for proposals to eight construction management firms, and the three best were interviewed.

After careful scrutiny of the final three proposals, the committee recommended that Westonka retain Kraus Anderson as its construction manager.

Here’s what made Kraus Anderson stand out from the rest:
A Comprehensive Proposal
Other proposals came in at a lower price but omitted necessary staff and expenses that left our project open to surprise costs and other uncertainties.  Kraus Anderson’s proposal includes specialists who will ensure that our needs are being met in the most coordinated and efficient way possible.

A Disruption Avoidance Plan
Only Kraus Anderson provided this.  Our buildings are constantly in use, so a plan that seeks to avoid disruption will greatly benefit our kids and community members.

Proactive Budget Reconciliation
Regularly checking in with budget projections will make the most of our district’s funds.

Glowing References from Other School Districts
Officials from Spring Lake Park, Washington County, and Orono schools all had
very high praise for the performance of Kraus Anderson on their school projects.

The Facilities Committee determined that not only will Kraus Anderson make our project end well; they are also committed to demonstrating how every decision they make is in Westonka’s best interest.

And while Kraus Anderson has been chosen as our construction manager, they won’t have a financial stake in the selection of construction materials, mechanical systems, or other project leadership. These things will be hard bid to the open market after project design and construction documents are completed.

This is significantly lower than interest rates were trending this past summer.

Joel Sutter, Ehlers Executive Vice President, stated: “In terms of total interest cost over the life of the bond issue, we estimated $9,852,000 last summer.  The actual interest cost will be $6,102,000, or more than $3.7 million less than our estimates last summer.” 

Sutter added that the interest rates Westonka received on the bond sale are among the lowest the bond market has seen in 45 years.

Our district’s strong credit rating further helped us secure a low interest rate.

Moody’s Investor Services announced last Friday that it had assigned District 277 an underlying bond rating of Aa2. Only ten districts in the state have a stronger credit rating, and sixteen districts have an equivalent rating.

Sutter explained that this strong rating was achieved due to the characteristics of the community and the financial management of the district.

So what does this mean for taxpayers?  On a $300,000 home, instead of a property tax increase of $13.50 per month, the actual increase in 2013 will be $11.20 a month.  That’s a drop of $27.60 per year, or 17%.

In even MORE money-saving news…Westonka was able to re-fund bonds we currently have in place, saving the district’s taxpayers $75,000 in interest costs.

WOW!!

A few folks are insisting that the district should be seeking bids from other financial advisors for the bond work.

One individual even went so far as to request that the Office of the State Auditor review whether the district was acting improperly in this matter. So staff time and resources had to be diverted away from the many issues at hand in order to comply with this requested audit.

But the Office of the State Auditor determined that our district is in fact acting properly, as shown in this excerpt from the auditor’s report dated January 19, 2012:

“The District’s contract with Ehlers is a professional services contract that does not need to be competitively bid.”

Here’s more from the auditor’s report:
“Minnesota law recognizes that, given the nature of professional services, seeking the lowest priced responsible bidder may not always be the best decision for a public entity.  Instead, qualified interested professionals may be allowed the opportunity to obtain public contracts through a Request for Proposals (“RFP”) process.

“Prior to 2009, the District used Ehlers as its financial advisor.  In 2009, the District used the RFP process to review its contract with Ehlers.  The District obtained proposals dated August 27, 2009, from three public financial advisors:  Northland Securities, Springsted, and Ehlers.  Based upon the proposals received and interviews of the three public financial advisors, the District decided to remain with Ehlers.

“It is our understanding that the District consulted with Ehlers in 2010 in preparation for the referenda submitted to and approved by the voters in 2011.  At its January 9, 2012, meeting the School Board unanimously voted to authorize Ehlers to solicit proposals for the general obligation bond sales and to open, read, and tabulate the proposals received for presentation to the School Board.

“It appears the District complied with Minnesota law when it retained Ehlers as its financial advisor for the referenda submitted to and approved by the voters in 2011.  In addition, the District engaged in a periodic review of its financial services advisor, as recommended by this Office, when it used the RFP process in 2009.  As a result, the Office of the State Auditor will not be taking further action on this matter.”

All three questions passed by healthy margins – WOW!

And the four winning school board candidates are people who REALLY have the best interests of our kids and community at heart!

With this election, the Westonka community has sent a very clear message.We have shown, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we will do whatever it takes to achieve what’s best for our kids and keep our community schools on a path to excellence.

It was up to us, and we GOT IT DONE.

GREAT WORK, EVERYBODY.

See election results for Westonka at the Minnesota Secretary of State site