Wetlands

During the preparation of our site for construction it was discovered that wetlands existed in an area where the elementary building was to be built.  A study of the wetland area was performed and it was determined that we had .0345 of an acre of wetland on the site where construction was going to take place.

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

Ready to go to bid!

After several months of design and development meetings the elementary building plans and specifications are ready to be submitted to the building contractors.  On September 2, 2011 our elementary building plans will be available to the building contractors for review and to begin the bidding process.

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.

Wind Turbine

 

 

North Linn FFA Greenhouse goes “Green”

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.

Building Design Produces Energy Cost Savings

During the building design phase energy efficiencies and cost savings were a key part of making energy related decisions.  Therefore, we decided to participate in the Commercial New Construction Program provided by Alliant Energy.  The program promotes the implementation of cost-saving strategies by offering cash incentives to reduce the cost of including these strategies in the building design.

A company named “The Weidt Group” assisted the district, architects, engineers, cost estimators, and utility representatives by collecting information, collaborating on design, and providing analysis of data concerning the building’s overall energy consumption and forecasted where energy savings could occur.

Some of the strategic areas reviewed were:

• Wall assembly
• Roof assembly
• Window glazing
• Lighting controls and layout
• Heating and cooling equipment

After meeting and selecting several energy efficient strategies to incorporate in the building design the estimated cash incentives provided by the utility company is projected to be in the range of $145,000 to $150,000.  To receive this incentive money a verification process is performed during construction to assure that these strategies are implemented and working correctly.

Construction Preparation and Building Design with OPN Architects

The OPN Architects have been busy preparing plans and schedules for the construction of our elementary building project at the Troy Mills campus site.  The current timeline indicates that complete building plans will be available to bid by General Contractors on August 1, 2011 and the opening of the bids will be held on September 1, 2011 with construction starting by early October 2011. 

Presently a survey of the district property has been completed and soil boring will be done very soon in preparation for the dirt work to begin in the fall.

Also, several district meetings have been held with OPN over the last few weeks with the most recent meetings being held on April 12 & 13, 2011 with the elementary staff to discuss the design layout of each individual classroom, media center, and gymnasium.  Some of the items discussed were flooring, furniture, cabinets, white boards, etc…

Harkin Grant

I was notified by The Iowa Department of Education on March 17, 2011 that the Harkin Construction Grant Application was not funded for the 2011 funding year.  A total of 41 applications were received and 3 grants were funded for each category of large, medium, and small school districts. 

This grant was submitted to potentially offset the cost of a geothermal heating and cooling system for the elementary building project.  Even thought this grant was not funded we will still continue to pursue the inclusion of a geothermal system in our elementary building project through other revenue funding streams.

The Bond Sale

On April 7, 2011 at 1:00 p.m. the sale of the bonds occurred.  Prior to the sale Matt Gillaspie from Piper Jaffray began receiving bids from brokers around the country representing investors who were interested in bidding on the purchase of the bonds.  These bids could be received electronically or by fax prior to 1:00 p.m. and at 1:00 p.m. the bidding was ended and the bids were opened to award the bonds to the institution submitting a bid with the lowest interest rate.  A low bid for the sale of $2,680,000 in General Obligation Bonds was awarded to D.A. Davidson & Co of Denver CO at an average interest rate of 3.878342%. The low bid for the sale of $6,355,000 in Infrastructure Sales, Service & Use Tax Revenue Bonds was awarded to Hutchinson, Shockey, Erley & Co of Chicago, IL at an average interest rate of 4.562534%.

Following the sale each purchaser was required to send 1% good faith money to the district’s financial institution of $26,800 and $63,55o respectfully.  The remaining funds will be wired on June 1, 2011 completing the sale of the bonds.