Tracy Richter, Vice President of Planning Services for HPM, describes the services his company can provide for members of the Marysville Board of Education during a recent special meeting. HPM is offering to provide long-term facility planning services for the district.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Chad Williamson)
—
The Marysville School District has funded both enrollment studies and facility audits in the past.
In the coming year, Marysville may be contracting with a company that can weave both functions into one analytical review of the district.
At a recent special meeting, Tracy Richter, Vice President of Planning Services for HPM, presented an outline of the services his company could provide in helping the district meet its space needs in the future. HPM is a national company that works with federal, civil and commercial projects offering guidance in planning, facility assessment, construction advisory services and a variety of other roles.
The company has helped organizations plan facilities for higher education, hospitality, manufacturing, municipalities and school districts as well as airports and recreation spaces. Their clients range from the Dallas Cowboys to Hilliard City Schools.
Richter stressed that his company was born from a construction operation, rather than an architectural firm. He said the HPM will help analyze the existing facilities, look at future enrollment and design a plan that will spell out the district space needs into the future.
District Superintendent Diane Allen said she invited the company to present its services as it looks for long-term facility planning services. She said as the population within the district continues to grow, officials are targeting 2029 as a potential target for a construction levy.
In 2029 all district construction debt will be paid off. This would allow the schools to put a “no new taxes” levy on the ballot, that would keep tax bills the same, but allow the district to collect new dollars for facilities.
Allen said the district eliminated space concerns at the high school when it opened the Early College High School, but Bunsold Middle School and Creekview Intermediate will strain under new students in the future.
“Sometimes you can go with architects, but you don’t get the comprehensive look,” Allen said. “We want a master plan that can be usable for years to come and help inform our PI (permanent improvement fund expenditures).”
Richter detailed how his company could work with the district to meet its current planning needs and prepare the schools to deal with future growth.
Richter said the company would perform an enrollment investigation that would be for fact based than traditional study. Rather than using accepted ratios for students and housing units, the company will look at real student numbers coming from local housing developments to project enrollment.
Richter said communities sometimes fail to appropriately perceive growth because they don’t adjust numbers for housing type and other societal conditions. For example, Richter said, the city of Hilliard grew tremendously from 2010 to 2020, but his company found that the school district only grew by 350 students. Richter said several factors play into this including a declining birth rate and the fact that residents age 50 and above weren’t moving out of their houses.
Richter said engineers will visit the district and document the condition of the facilities and other major assets. Based on age and condition, the company will then create a computer application that will allow the district to map out the future of buildings and equipment, factoring in repair and replacement costs.
The program can be updated as the district constructs new facilities and replaces expensive items like roofs or HVAC units.
Richter said representatives of the company will also be meeting with district staff to find out where space needs aren’t being met. He said teachers will help the company determine what optimal use of space would look like within buildings and determine how the district can best use existing space and prepare for space needs of the future.
HPM would also help the district with community engagement, setting up community groups to have input in the future space needs of the district.
Richter said that if the planning requires a bond issue in the future, the public will need to understand the data and the district will need to be able to defend the expenditure.
“Listen to the community as you are going through the process,” Richter said.
Ideally, HPM would start the process of the study in late May and complete the project in late March.
Allen said the cost for HPM’s services would be $209,000. That money would come from district permanent improvement funds, she said.
An agreement with HPM has not yet been reached and the board will discuss the services in the future.