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A funding plan for the Prince Edward Elementary renovation has been set. After Tuesday night’s meeting, it’s also been approved, as supervisors unanimously signed off on the plan. Supervisor Cannon Watson declined to vote, as he is part of Davenport & Company, which is helping to organize the plan. 

The current estimated cost for the school renovation stands at between $43 to $44 million. We won’t know the official number until October, when one of the five bids is accepted by the Prince Edward School Board. The county won’t have to pay all of that. Back in May, Prince Edward received an $8.655 million grant from the Virginia Capital Projects Fund. That leaves roughly $35 million for the county to pay, if the estimate stays the same. On Tuesday, Sept. 10, supervisors decided how the rest of the bill will be paid for. 

Back on May 14, supervisors gave county staff permission to apply for a loan through the Virginia Literary Loan Fund. They applied and were accepted for a loan of up to $25 million at a below-market rate of 3% interest, to be paid back over 20 years. The remaining portion will be paid through bonds issued by the Virginia Public School Authority (VPSA). The county will be able to issue up to $16.8 million in general obligation bonds, paid back over a 25 to 30 year period. The financing will be whatever the market rate is at the time these are issued. Again, since a bid hasn’t been accepted yet, the bond request hasn’t been issued as the amount needed could go up or down. 

“The final bids will allow the County to adjust the borrowing amount from VPSA should bids come in lower than planning levels,” Prince Edward Administrator Doug Stanley told supervisors. 

What about Prince Edward Elementary construction? 

As for the renovations, once a bid has been accepted, then the work can move forward. A copy of the renovation plans has been turned over from Moseley Architects to county staff. The staff will look over them, flag any concerns as needed and then a final set of the drawings will be released at the close of bidding on the project. 

That’s the current step, getting this renovation out to bid and collecting proposals. It was advertised to contractors on Aug. 28. To date, there have been four contractors reviewing the project and considering a bid. They include Kenbridge Construction, which is handling the installation of the mobile units at the school; Raleigh-based Cooper Tacio; English Construction out of Lynchburg and Winchester-based Howard Shockey & Sons.  

There will be a pre-bid conference held on site at Prince Edward Elementary on Monday, Sept. 16. Then contractors will be free to submit bids, which will be opened on Thursday, Sept. 26. The Moseley group will go over those bids and make a recommendation to the Prince Edward School Board during their Wednesday, Oct. 9 meeting. The board could make a decision that night, with work starting later in October. The construction work is expected to take a bit more than three years, stretching from Oct. 2024 to March 2027.