Construction for the Aquatic Center at South Plains College continues while the Board of Regents also approved an electrical replacement project for the women’s complex.
SPC President Dr. Robin Satterwhite informed the Regents that the demolition within the Aquatic Center has begun.
Fenced off from the public, the majority of the rubble surrounding the building are the internal walls that have been torn out by construction crews. This also included the flooring, office space and restroom areas.
A handful of holes were drilled into the floor of the pool to conduct a ‘deep ground penetrating sonar test’ to check the integrity of the dirt surrounding the shell of the pool. Satterwhite shared that everything has looked good so far with little concern. He was informed that as the pool is removed crews will be placing barriers to keep the dirt walls from spilling into the hole. This will be a precautionary measure in case there is any pool water that leaked into those areas.
The Board considered approving an electrical replacement for the women’s complex due to several breakages that have occurred. Worried about the longevity of the current layout, Satterwhite explained that the goal was to get through the spring semester before presenting the project to the Regents.
Satterwhite added that the electrical line originates from a transformer next to the communications building and runs underground to the complex.
Roughly a 50-year-old line, repairs attempted last year after a breakage. However, every time an attempt was made another break happened.
Eventually a connection was made, but the necessity of bringing the line from College Avenue has been noted since the repairs instead of running the line from one side of the campus to another.
Three bids were received Acme Electric submitted a proposal for $195,000. Teinert Construction submitted a proposal for $208,660. Vaughn Construction submitted a proposal for $245,000 but was not considered as they do not have a construction bond.
The recommendation was to approve the Teinert proposal due to the projected days of completion. While Acme Electric provided the cheapest bid, the days to completion submitted was 210 days (seven months). The Teinert Construction bid contained an estimated completion of 30 days.
Satterwhite explained to the Regents that the goal is to complete the replacement in a timely manner before the next fall.
The bid proposal from Teinert Construction was approved by the regents with little discussion.
A preliminary budget presentation was provided by Satterwhite. He emphasized that there are still a few unknowns and summer budget workshops will address those items.
The budget provided to the Regents has a surplus of $1,389,039 with the top line of the college’s total revenues exceeding their total expenditures by roughly $1.4 million.
Satterwhite took a moment to thank Vice President for Business Affairs, Teresa Green for her hard work developing the budget.
“Teresa worked a long time on developing this budget, taking all the requirements that were brought up by all the departments and then balancing them,” said Satterwhite. Teresa did a fantastic job.”
The difficulty in creating the preliminary budget falls on a projected reduction of roughly $615,000 in taxes. Satterwhite added that the amount will become clearer around the end of July. It was noted that there was a reduction in state appropriations from last year. The last estimates were provided around February with a projected loss of $483,000 for SPC. As a result, the college had built that into the budget.
Satterwhite is hopeful updated numbers will be provided within the next several weeks to produce updated budget runs before the Regents budget workshop this summer.
“Those progressions are partly based on our enrollment and our enrollment has been going up, so that's positive,” said Satterwhite.
Satterwhite also added that the college is still waiting on a payment from the state for roughly $900,000. Not sure when that payment will come in, Satterwhite explained that payment has yet to be received.
Other things within the budget include a $616,000 increase in the college’s health insurance. It was mentioned that this is the first increase in several years. The college is also expecting a 10% increase in property insurance, roughly $116,000.
“We've built this budget based on a flat enrollment with no expectation of an increase in enrollment from last year,” explained Satterwhite. “That's a very conservative approach because we have seen an increase in enrollment. We feel like we are budgeting very cautiously and conservatively.
“Of course, there is no increase in tuition fees and that's based on the governor's directive.”
Despite those negative figures, Satterwhite highlighted the $1.3 million in surplus and congratulated Green and those who had a hand in working on the budget.
“I feel very good about where we are with the budget,” said Satterwhite. “There is a lot we do not know yet. Hopefully, when we get to the summer meeting, we'll have a little more information so we can make decisions.”