By Beth Cassidy
Enterprise Record

The Davie Board of Education voted to hire Little Diversified Architectural Consulting to do a long-range facilities study and assessment for all schools.
Board Chair Terry Renegar said the firm would visit the schools, but because William Ellis is a newer school, they likely would not spend much time there. The contract price will not exceed $168,000.
The vote was 5-1, with Rick Ellis giving the no vote. Renegar said Ellis supports the concept, but “he just had a problem spending that kind of money. I think we all felt that way, but we do feel like the study is something that needs to be done. This has never been done in Davie County on this level, and it will be a plan that will be in place as we go forward and that boards to come can use.”
Little is working in the schools during the Christmas break, giving them uninterrupted time and space to work, and Renegar said the study should be completed by about March 15.
The board voted unanimously to hire Little to design and provide construction administration for renovations at the high school. The fee is seven and one-half percent or about $390,000, based on hard costs, but the total of the project will not exceed $6 million. Hard costs include anything related to actual construction. Soft costs, including permits, testing of soil, traffic studies, if needed, are expected to be about $410,000.
Razing “D” building to make way for a two-story building had been discussed, but Renegar said Little will examine the campus and determine if that is the best place. The goal of the renovations is to first get rid of the mobiles, and second, improve the cafeteria situation and administration offices.
“That’s in a particular order. Once they come back with a plan [for a new building], then we can see about the rest,” Renegar said …