By Ally Lanasa, Staff Writer

(Jan. 28, 2021) Oak Contracting, Harkins Contracting and The Whiting Turner Contracting Corporation will be interviewed about their proposals regarding an addition to Stephen Decatur Middle School, the Worcester County Board of Education agreed during its meeting on Jan. 19.

ALLY LANASA/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
The Stephen Decatur Middle School Addition Selection Committee will interview Oak Contracting, Harkins Contracting and The Whiting Turner Contracting Corporation about their proposals for an addition at the school on Seahawk Road in Berlin.

The candidate companies will be interviewed by the Stephen Decatur Middle School Addition Selection Committee in the next step a process that began in November with the school board’s request for construction management services proposals.

The request was sent to 18 construction management firms. Three additional firms obtained the documents that were posted on the school system’s website.

A pre-submission walk-through was conducted for the firms last month at the middle school on Seahawk Road in Berlin. Joe Price, the school system’s facilities planner, said nine firms attended the walk-through.

On Dec. 18, seven construction management firms submitted proposals to the school system.

Those submissions were reviewed and graded by the middle school addition committee, Chief Financial Officer Vince Tolbert, Assistant Construction Manager Rick Martens and Price.

“Points were awarded for 10 categories,” Price said.

Interviews for the three selected firms will take place on Feb. 5.

The committee’s recommendation of a firm to provide construction management services will be presented to Superintendent of Schools Lou Taylor and the school board on Feb. 16.