Crosby bond phases begun

CROSBY – The construction on Crosby ISD schools began on August 26, now all phases of the Crosby School Bond are set to begin.

On Sept. 23 the Crosby IDS Board of Trustees unanimously awarded the funding of the new Crosby High School Guaranteed Maximum Price.

The bond for a new Crosby High School was configured in two phases dependant upon growth of the tax basis (assessments times tax rate) and growth of the student population to begin from the initial phase into the second phase. Both the growth of tax base and student population have exceeded the requirements to proceed with phase two immediately. The revenue growth for the projects is estimated by the school administration at 8%. There are 340 new students this year when between 80 and 90 per year is normative and one year we had 110 new students.

The At-Risk-Construction-Manager (Durotech) is then authorized to proceed to complete all of the high school and related projects. So not only is the high school under construction ( the earth work has begun) and now all the athletic facilities and renovations are also to begin at about the same time. The actual selling of the phase 2 bonds will start this Summer.

Originally projected to start Spring of 2017, Phase 2 projects like Cougar Stadium will begin in the Spring of 2015 with tearing down the visitor section sometime after the football season is over.

“Therefore, we will have to have a new stadium by next Fall,” said Dr. Keith Moore, Superintendent of Crosby ISD.

“Because we are able to access the second phase earlier than expected it is a positive not only because everyone wants to get into them earlier but for us on the economic side of it, because we are in a very vibrant economy the construction costs are progressively moving upward. My point is the longer this project takes the more it is going to cost. Because we are able to access the money quicker it will also push the projects to be completed earlier. That keeps us at the lower end of the construction market. It is exciting because the tax payers are going to get more for their dollar.”

“Sometime during the Summer of 2016, we will be getting the rooms ready putting the finishing touches on it getting ready for doors to open in August of 2016.” said Moore.

“It is exciting to see actual progress on construction because for three years I’ve been dealing with first the bond campaign then the planning, platting, documenting and permitting.” Moore commented, “We are now full speed ahead, there is a lot of big machinery out there, it is a pretty massive project.”