BLINN TAKES NEXT STEPS FOR RELLIS CAMPUS PROJECTS

  

Blinn trustees moved forward with several RELLIS Campus projects at their meeting Tuesday.

The board awarded a contract to Marek Brothers Construction of College Station, for improvements to Building 8004 on the RELLIS Campus.

Blinn began leasing the building, located next to the Walter C. Schwartz Building, from Texas A&M in 2017.  Five proposals were received for renovation of the building, which will be revamped into office spaces for Blinn’s health science programs.

The contract with Marek Brothers Construction is for $792,000. The budget for the project is $573,000, with funding available in the 2016 series bond funds.  Construction is projected to start in March, and complete in June.

Vice Chancellor Richard Cervantes addressed comments made at the board’s last meeting, regarding the administration’s ability to forecast and budget for capital projects. He said the College is “painfully aware” that the actual costs of some of these projects have exceeded the approved budgets, certainly more often than the College prefers.

Cervantes said there are a variety of reasons why this happens, but this has generated “a great deal of internal discussion”. He stated the College has begun developing a process in which it will more fully develop a project before estimates are provided.  In addition, he said school officials are making efforts to review internal and external benchmarks, so they can “introduce some science to the process”.

Trustees also approved seeking bids for services related to the parking, grading, and drainage project on the RELLIS Campus. The civil engineering firm Kimley-Horn has begun designing a project to add new parking spaces and parking controls, as well as adjust the grading and drainage next to the current parking lot at the Walter C. Schwartz Building.

Assistant Vice Chancellor Richard O’Malley said that Texas A&M is letting Blinn monitor parking, so a gate will be needed. Preliminary construction estimates run around $680,000, but the budget and construction schedule is still under development.  There are funds available for the project, from the remaining balance of 2016 bond funds.

The board then adjourned into executive session to discuss a cooperative use agreement with the Texas A&M University System for building space on the RELLIS Campus. Blinn will look to use the shared use space in a 24,000 square foot complex to expand its workforce education programs.