Horry County Schools selection committee split on choice of architecture firm for 5 new schools

Horry County Schools finalized contracts to build five new schools in November, but a selection committee was split on who to hire for the multi-million dollar project.

Five selection committee members scored Thompson-Turner Construction highest, while the other five ranked First Floor Energy Positive first. Using a point system, First Floor came out on top and was awarded the $240 million contract -- which, including contingency costs, is $72.9 million over the district’s initial budget for the project.

First Floor’s bid was the most expensive, and a consultant suggested hiring M.B. Kahn Construction, which the committee ranked third but had the lowest bid and had the most adjustable designs.

Committee members who supported First Floor said they recommended that agency because First Floor guaranteed it would meet the August 2017 deadline for the schools to be built and provided the best, high-performance schools.

Holly Heniford, board of education representative, gave M.B. Kahn an average 52 points and Thompson-Turner 62 points. First Floor earned an average 76 points from Heniford, according to documents obtained by The Sun News through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Heniford said First Floor earned the most points because the firm “had the specific items we asked for that we wanted in these specific schools.”

“They wanted this job,” she said. “The amount of work they put forth was apparent in wanting this job so badly.”

Several committee members said their extremely different scores stem from First Floor’s ability to meet the schedule and produce an energy-positive building. A representative of third place company M.B. Kahn Construction said its proposals most closely followed the criteria outlined in the Request for Proposals, even though it was awarded the fewest points.

The Request for Qualifications committee was made up of five district employees – including two principals – and five board of education members. The committee voted on qualification criteria, evaluated nine firms’ qualifications and selected four final firms to bid for the schools.

The committee also evaluated three firms’ proposals, and First Floor Energy Positive – based out of Raleigh, N.C. – was awarded all five contracts for the new schools in November. The new schools: Carolina Forest, Myrtle Beach and Socastee middle schools; St. James Intermediate/Middle School and Socastee Elementary School.

The committee evaluated each firm’s proposal for every school, and each design was judged on five categories: evaluated schedule score; conceptual design implementation; education specifications implementation; energy positive implementation; and high performance design implementation. Each evaluator could award 20 points in each category, so firms had the possibility of earning 100 points total for each school.

The average scores for each firm range between 46 and 78.

According to the total average scores, First Floor was ranked highest. But, if each committee member’s scores were counted as votes, First Floor would have tied with Thompson-Turner Construction.

Three district staffers, one board member and one principal scored Thompson-Turner highest. But, because other committee members gave First Floor more points, the more-expensive firm won out.

Six committee members ranked the firms within 12 points of each other, and the other four members ranked the bottom firm more than 30 points below First Floor.

For example, Mark Wolfe, executive director of facilities for HCS, gave both M.B. Kahn and First Floor an average of 63.8 points. Thompson-Turner earned 69.2 points.

Heniford said M.B. Kahn and Thompson-Turner ranked poorly because they did not meet all the specifications wanted by the board, and some designs did not allow for windows in every classroom. First Floor, however, changed its designs to fit specifications from the board of education, Heniford said.

First Floor also “demonstrated how they could meet the schedule for all five projects” and guaranteed performance through bonds, she said.

Board members David Cox, Ray Winters and Sherrie Todd all awarded a 40-point average to M.B. Kahn and ranked First Floor in the mid-to-high 70s.

Cox, who represents district nine, said he tried to grade consistently so everyone would be “somewhat equal.”

One of the biggest flaws of the conceptual design was the lack of assistant principal offices and collaboration spaces, which were cut years ago for budget reasons, Cox said. If the design specifications were flawed, the educational specifications for each building would be flawed, Cox said.

Therefore design adjustments were necessary, and First Floor’s modifications allowed for better education specifications, Cox said.

“Thompson-Turner stayed true to the design specs, and by doing so compromised the [educational] specs,” he said.

Experience in energy-positive construction projects was also important to Cox, because the school board asked for high performance buildings unlike any other in the district.

“I assigned a greater importance on this component than some of the other components, although it was worth fewer points,” Cox said.

Joe DeFeo, board chairman who was not on the committee, said the board of education went with the selection committee’s choice because “that’s what we’ve always done.” The guarantee to meet an August 2017 deadline and ability to deliver high-performance buildings were other key factors that made First Floor “the best choice,” he added.

“There was a whole host of reasons the lowest builder was not chosen,” he said.

The extreme difference between the lowest and highest points – even just from four committee members – lowered the overall average scores of M.B. Kahn and Thompson-Turner.

Rick Ott, senior executive vice president of M.B. Kahn Construction, said his firm originally submitted project bids totaling $163 million, which was about $2 million over the district’s original budget. Those initial designs did not include high-performance, energy-positive details, Ott said, because he did not get confirmation that local power companies would buy back the energy created by solar panels.

“Until you evaluate what the reimbursement would be from solar panels, it makes little sense to invest in them,” Ott said.

M.B. Kahn’s next designs did include optional solar panels and the company “point blank said we would meet the schedule,” Ott said. The evaluation committee ranked M.B. Kahn in third place with an average 60 points.

A consultant hired by the district to answer questions and review proposals ranked M.B. Kahn first, stating it was the only firm “within striking distance” of the original budget. The consultant – Louis P. Batson – also said Ott’s company most closely stuck to the conceptual design criteria and was “capable of adjustments” to improve design and price.

Ott said his designs most closely followed the criteria outlined in the Request for Proposals, even though he was awarded the fewest points.

“As a consultant stated, our proposal most closely aligned with all of the factors the district identified was important to them, which includes meeting conceptual designs, meeting the schedule, meeting a budget,” he said.

M.B. Kahn has built 12 net-zero, energy-positive schools, Ott said, and recently worked with the district to construct River Oaks Middle School.

First Floor’s contract is $50 million over the district’s initial budget, and contingency costs bring the total to $72.9 million over budget. The total cost for five new schools is $240.3 million.

“I scored mine based on what is best for the children,” Cox said. “At the end of the day, the kids come first – always.”

This story was originally published January 10, 2016 at 12:56 AM with the headline "Horry County Schools selection committee split on choice of architecture firm for 5 new schools."