Horry County must keep close eye on school decisions

I find it very difficult to understand why the Horry County School Board decided to award a contract to build five schools to the highest bidder, First Floor Energy Positive, based in N.C.

The company was not recommended by the architecture consultant, Louis Batson, who the board hired for $40,000, who also has 15 years architectural experience.

Mr. Batson stated that First Floor's designs eliminated exterior courtyards, exceeded the planned square footage and changed security features. Mr. Batson stated that M.B. Kahn Construction Inc., out of Myrtle Beach, was in range of the budget at $184.l million and Thompson & Turner's bid was $198.8 million.

Mr. Batson suggested awarding two companies the contracts, stating the scope of work for the entire build will tax the resources of the contractors and would lessen the risk to the district. Yes indeed, this is common sense.

Furthermore, now the school district wants to spend another $3 million on hiring a project manager for each school.

What are the construction qualifications of the board members who make such costly decisions? Awarding contracts to an ill-advised contractor that are $56 million and $42 million above the other two contractors, seems to be very, very fishy to me. I think further investigation into these costs are necessary to the taxpayers of Horry County.

This story was originally published January 2, 2016 at 9:38 PM with the headline "Horry County must keep close eye on school decisions."