if anything thats what should have been done, hire a contractor with the stipulation that he will be a construction management firm and will not be allowed to bid on the General contractor capacity or do any physical construction on the project due to his conflict of interest being in on the design stage of it gives him an inside track and he knows the ins and outs of the process as opposed to a bidding contractor who is handed a print and and a spec book and told to go off of it and provide a price, had they been involved in the whole process they can know what corners to cut and what costs to shave to get the job.

I must agree with miltonalum to some extent. Putting a project out to bid would give the board a variety of options to choose from and increase competition. On the otherhand a contractor will beable to provide vital information for the construction to the board/architects.

to edwardjdog.

i have been in the design/build business for almost 30 years, i am with a smaller company who would not be able to get bonding for a job that size nor would we attempt to bid something that size, however, i know the process and what the school district has done is basically hand the contract to Miron. I am not bashing Miron, in fact i have relations that work for them and i have heard many good things about them and im sure they will do a fine job. The job needs to be bid and there are seperate design/build firms out there who arent in the General contracting end of things. Miron is not going to put the time into designing with the architect and city this project without a gurantee of getting the job. Sure they will bid the subcontractors to the lowest bidder but i believe that a job this size for a Taxpayer based owner NEEDS to be bid, by Miron, Cullen, Boldt, Findorf and any other capable bonded company. Its ubsurd that they would award a contract before a referendum has been approved in the 1st place.

To miltonalum, why don't you run for school board, or at least volunteer to be on the building design committee? The process that the school board used to select a builder is the most effecient use of our tax dollars. There will certainly be some debate as to whether we should build a new school, and that will be resolved in referendum. The people we elected to guide our school district are a group of well educated, concerned tax payers.

Often a "general contractor" is chosen early, and then acts as a construction manager. This contractor works closely with the architect in the design phase, lending expertise in costs and methods. After the referendum is passed by voters, the district could take one of two approaches:

1) After the design is ready/approved, various parts of the project are let out for competitive bidding. The general contractor may bid along with others. **Janesville School District uses this method.

2) The "construction manager" or "general contractor" works on the design and oversees construction but does not bid on the construction work. **Blackhawk Tech used this method for their latest renovation.

This is absurd, hiring a contractor before the referendum even goes through, Giving that contractor a monopoly over the whole building process. It does not allow competative bidding amongst comparable construction companies, which can save the school district and the city of milton TAXPAYERS millions, yes i said millions, on a 60 million dollar job. Miron can dictate a price and since they are hired it is law, the school district needs this project to be put out for bids between many contractors, not just hand it to one and ask for the bill later, even if its not to exceed 60 million, bidding can save you a million or more off the price.