NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — As Hutchinson USD 308 prepares to put a bond issue before voters in 2025, Superintendent Dr. Dawn Johnson said the Board of Education wants to get a Construction Manager at Risk involved.
"A CMAR is an opportunity for early collaboration between a construction manager that we would hire if a bond would go forward, and then between the owner, 308, and then the design team, which is our architects," Johnson said. "Really this benefit leads to accurate cost estimates, better project planning, reduced risk of cost overruns, because essentially the at-risk piece in the CMAR means that the construction company is assuming the financial risk."
This means after discussion with the architects, the CMAR will set a final price for the project as a whole.
"We all know if you've ever built something, how the prices go up, and we've had supply chain issues and some of those kinds of things," Johnson said. "This will ensure the accountability for delivering the project on time and within budget, and then if it goes over budget, the construction manager is at risk for that cost of going over budget."
Having a CMAR involved will also allow the Board of Education and the public to understand the process a little better.
"Our public really just wants transparency in the process," Johnson said. "This is an opportunity for us to provide one more piece of digging into really what are the costs are and where are we asking for exactly what we need and can we get that price down to exactly what is necessary so that we can have confidence as we go to the polls if we get there."
The Board will need to send out a request for proposal from potential construction managers before bringing one on.