School district could shell out more money for unstable soil around Socastee

Horry County Schools may have to shell out more money for the new Socastee-area middle school to ensure the ground is stable.

The land near the intersection of U.S. 17 Bypass and S.C. 544 that the school will be built on is rich in clay and not stable enough to support the two-story building, according to geotechnical reports.

To remedy the problem, First Floor Energy CEO Robert Ferris proposed $2.5 million worth of work orders to install aggregate piers and soil to reinforce the ground. The columns will “increase bearing capacity, reduce settlement and decrease seismic deformations,” according to the work order.

The proposed work orders would add an additional 48 days to the completion of the school. Because of the delay, the new contractually obligated completion date could be pushed back to Dec. 19, 2017, according to Ferris’ presentation to the board.

Ferris told the board that he remains optimistic that the school could be ready by fall of 2017.

In December 2015, the school unanimously voted to make the initial agreement to buy the land from JACO Property Investors, LLC, and put down a $100,000 deposit before they could begin soil testing.

Geotechnical reports from consulting firm Terracon dated Jan. 28, showed that the soil was rich in sand, silt and clay and would have to be reinforced with a minimum of five to 10 feet of extra soil over three to four months. Other options included supporting the building with aggregate piers, a deep foundation or undercutting the building pad 10 to 15 feet and filling with a different material under the building’s foundation.

The district went through with the purchase anyway, and bought the land on June 1 for $1.9 million.

The soil was never brought up in facilities committee meetings or school board meetings before the final purchase, according to the meeting minutes.

School Board Chairman Joe DeFeo said he wasn’t concerned the soil problems were never brought up for public discussion until the Aug. 22 facility committee meetings.

“You think it’s a big deal to go to the public; I don’t,” he said.

Other options?

Board member Holly Heniford sits on the facilities committee and said the district didn’t have many options regarding land for the site.

“We have to build the schools in the area where the attendance is,” Heniford said. “And because of that, the prices are high because of the density around the property.”

Heniford said it would be hard to avoid paying a lower cost for a piece of land that size.

“That’s just the math, whether you were buying it for a subdivision, or buying it for an industrial area. Because of the location price point, it’s high,” she said.

The $1.9 million the district paid for the 24.2 acres at the Socastee middle school site comes out to $78,500 per acre. The district paid $1.85 million for 20.4 acres at the Socastee elementary school site, or $90,700 per acre.

The district paid $900,000 for 30 acres at the new Carolina Forest middle school site, or $30,000 per acre.

Board Chairman Joe DeFeo agreed that there weren’t many other options.

“The location and the district office and their staff pushed it as being the only good location,” DeFeo said. “In the long run, we could save money in busing over 30 or 40 years.”

He said the problematic land was common for the county.

“It’s not like you get a choice,” he said. “You try and find high and dry sandy land, and you have to go a ways.”

The is the second piece of land the district had chosen for the new school.

The district originally agreed to purchase 30 acres off S.C. 707 and Big Block Road in Socastee, but canceled the purchase in June of 2015 because it was made up of wetlands and was unsuitable for building.

“We couldn’t have built on that land,” DeFeo said. “We had no choice but to cancel it.”

First Floor’s contract

First Floor Energy’s original contract with the school was $42.488 million, but the district had opted to contract some of the work separately, bringing First Floor’s contract down to $40.04 million. The proposed work would bring their contract back up to more than $42.5 million.

The school board still has to approve the work orders and still could contract out the work.

Heniford said she thinks the board will vote on whether or not to seek a third party to verify the cost of the work orders.

This story was originally published September 2, 2016 at 2:38 PM with the headline "School district could shell out more money for unstable soil around Socastee."