Most of the earth moving has been completed at the practice football and elementary building sites which has allowed for installation of storm pipes and drains.  In addition, concrete work has been done pouring footings and foundation walls for the gymnasium area.

Construction will continue as long as the winter weather permits which will give us a good start headed into the spring.  Photos of the construction can be viewed on the North-Linn website.

On November 28th Rathje Constuction Co. arrived on site with dirt working equipment.  Since that date trees have been cut, brush cleared, sand hauled, and large amounts of dirt moved preparing the ground for the construction of the elementary building.  Above is a picture of the site before the dirt work started.

In anticipation of the dirt work starting on November 14^th the Board of Directors would like to hold a groundbreaking ceremony at the Central Campus in Troy Mills on Sunday, November 13, 2011 at 2:00 p.m., if inclement weather occurs the ceremony will be held in the middle school gymnasium.

The public is invited to attend and celebrate the start of construction and the investment in the future education of the students in the North-Linn Community School District.

Close to 1300 high school students in the Grant Wood Education Agency Area 10 will be out taking part in job shadows this fall and winter, including 24 from North Linn High School.    Workplace Learning Connection coordinates these career experiences with local businesses to provide a quality learning experience for North Linn students to better prepare them for the world of work.  Here’s a breakdown of the top ten career fields requested by this year’s students:

 #10 is a tie between Athletic Trainer and Radiology Technician with 21 requests each;

#9 Pharmacist request are at 24;

 #8 Psychologist requests are at 34;

 #7 Physical Therapist requests are at 38;

 #6 Careers in Veterinary Sciences are close behind with 55 requests;

 #5 The U of I Mini Medical day, geared toward becoming a doctor, garnered 39 requests, but add another 19 requests for specific physician fields and Doctors round out at 58 total;

 #4 Nursing is the 4^th on the list with 62 requests;

 #3 Teachers came in 3^rd with 86 total requests, the majority of them for Elementary teaching (47);

 #2 The Law Enforcement field includes 79 total requests for the Mini Police Academy and 36 requests for the FBI for a total of 115;

 And, the #1 choice in the region: Engineers top the list with 131 total requests, the majority of them for Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at 23 requests each.  Other engineering job shadow requests include Aerospace, Chemical, Civil, Computer, Electrical, Environmental, Industrial, Manufacturing, Materials, Nuclear and a smattering of misc. engineering careers.

Engineering, Human & Family Services, Health Science, and Agriscience are the top four career pathways. 

Students are encouraged to explore their future through work-based learning activities such as job shadows and internships.   There will be a second opportunity for students to apply for WLC job shadows.  The deadline for 2^nd round Job Shadow applications is December 16, 2011.   Area schools’ Guidance departments will receive information about that opportunity shortly after Thanksgiving break.   Area High School juniors and seniors can apply for WLC Winter/Spring 2012 Internships, as well.  Applications are due 11/18/11 to WLC.  WLC is connecting today’s students to tomorrow’s careers!  Students can speak with Ms. Raak at the high school Guidance office or log on to www.workplace-learning.org.

 Options that were considered were:

1. Delaying the project and rebidding in the spring of 2012
2. Modify the building design by reducing square footage
3. Identify construction materials and processes that could be changed or altered without compromising the quality of the building

On October 13, 2011 at a special board meeting the board of directors met with OPN to evaluate recommendations to reduce the elementary building project by $478,000.  After much discussion and deliberation the board of directors selected items from options #2 and #3 to reduce the total construction cost which allows the project to proceed and will enable the Board of directors to consider awarding a contract to Cardinal Construction at our next scheduled board meeting on October 20, 2011. 

The Board of Directors will be voting on issuing a contract to Cardinal Construction approving a base bid of $7,617,000 plus the selection of alternate # 6 (site Work) only at a cost of $53,000 for a total of $7,670,000.   After selecting specific cost saving items (option #3) totaling approximately $270,000 this allows the overall cost of construction to be reduced to $7,400,000 meeting our projected construction budget.

By selecting only alternate #6 (site work) this does eliminate four classrooms (alternate 1 & 2) from the current project design but by restructuring our lower elementary classrooms it will allow us to have space available for 1 preschool classroom and in the upper elementary wing we will still have 1 additional classroom available if needed.  Also, this design does leave space available for future classrooms construction if more space is needed in the future.

Construction is anticipated to begin this fall with a completion date by mid-year 2013.

     Company               Location            Base Bid           Alternate 1-8 Total          Total Project

Cardinal Const.      Waterloo            $7,617,000                 $691,000                      $8,308,000

Garling Const.        Cedar Rapids     $8,063,000                 $657,000                      $8,720,000

Larson Const.         Independence    $7,865,000                 $757,000                      $8,622,000

Portzen Const.       Dubuque             $7,998,000                 $648,600                      $8,647,100

 The eight alternate items that were outside the base bid and bid separately were:

Alternate #1       -        Add two preschool classrooms as per design drawings

Alternate #2       -       Add two upper elementary classrooms as per design drawings

Alternate #3       -       Add additional casework to classrooms

Alternate #4       -       Add access control and monitoring of existing building

Alternate #5       -       Add video surveillance of existing building

Alternate #6       -       Additional site work

Alternate #7       -       Receive a deduction if vinyl flooring is used instead of terrazzo in corridors

Alternate #8       -       Add solar control using shading devices for window system

 We selected alternates #1, #6, and #7 which was a total of an additional $270,000 bringing the total cost of construction for the elementary project to $7,877,000.  Our construction budget for the project after deducting the cost of planning, design, and the construction process is approximately $7,400,000 leaving the project over budget by approximately $487,000.

With the project coming in over budget no contract was issued at this time.  It was recommended that the bids and elementary project be reviewed by OPN and the district to determine what options are available to proceed with the project.

To designate an area as wetlands three characteristics had to be present, types of vegetation, type of soil, and the water source maintaining the wetlands.  Once these characteristics were identified the Army Corps of Engineers and the Iowa Department of Natural Resource became involved with our project.

Permits needed to be issued by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Iowa Department of Natural Resource for the project to move forward.  To receive these permits Federal and State policies had to be followed stating if wetlands were to be filled in or destroyed for development it requires that new wetlands must be created or restored though a process called “wetland Mitigation.”

In meeting the permit requirements the district will be purchasing 1.035 acres from the Brophey Creek Wetland Mitigation Bank located in Clinton County, Iowa.  If you would like to learn more about Iowa wetlands visit http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/IAN204.pdf

The following timeline provides dates for bidding and construction:

• September 2, 2011          -              Plans available to contractors
• September 13, 2011        -              Pre-bid meeting
• September 27, 2011        -              Bid opening begins at 2:00 P.M.
• October 3, 2011                -              Board approval of winning bid/notice to proceed
• October 10, 2011              -              Projected ground breaking/start of construction
• November, 2012              -              Projected substantial completion of building

Another feature that will be available on our website during the construction is our live streaming video of the construction work that is happening on the site and can be viewed at any time of the day.

The Board of Directors, Administration, and staff are very excited and anxious for the project to begin and to see our future elementary building become a reality.

As if the North Linn FFA Greenhouse wasn’t green enough with its aeroponic vegetables and annual flower, tilapia, and prawn production this powerhouse FFA chapter now powers its continuous flow water pumps and aerators with clean renewable energy whenever the wind is blowing. 

The North Linn Community School District (CSD) has installed a Skystream 3.7 wind turbine on campus and expects to offset around 3,500 kilowatt hours of predominantly fossil fuel based electricity with wind energy.  The turbine connects directly to the circuit breaker box in the FFA Greenhouse.  The 2.4 kilowatt turbine was installed at no cost to North Linn CSD thanks to the efforts of local community businesses donations of time and resources to the project.  HR Green, Inc., FreeWind LLC, and Premier Grain all contributed to the project. 

The wind turbine, tower components, and monitoring software were donated by Southwest Windpower as part of the Company’s “Wind Powering America Wind for Schools” program that solicited competitive applications from schools across the United States for a select few Skystream 3.7 wind turbines.  Following inquiry by the local Skystream dealer, Roger Zearley of FreeWind LLC, HR Green Energy prepared the grant application with the support of the North Linn CSD School Board.  The successful award of the turbine and tower was one of two successful applications in Iowa.  HR Green Energy also provided engineering and permitting support.   Freewind, LLC handled shipping the components from the Skystream factory to North Linn while Premier Grain donated labor and equipment for foundation excavation. 

The turbine is expected to not only provide clean renewable energy for the next 20 plus years to the school but will also serve as a hands-on learning tool in the areas of meteorology, natural resources, and science.  Contractors that assisted with the project included Wulfkuhle Electric out of Delhi and Wind-Rich Energy Solutions LLC of Northeast Iowa.  As the winds picked up on Monday August 22^nd the turbine began to churn out electricity.