Rob McCray, coordinator of support services for Park County School District 1, gave the board of trustees an update Tuesday on the rebuild of the bus barn that burned Sept. 14.

He began the presentation by showing a photo of the barn as it looked in August after its summer facelift. He followed that with a video of the fire, including Powell firefighters driving a bus and other district vehicles out of adjacent buildings. “The fire department did an amazing job,” he said. 

But putting out the fire was just the beginning of a process McCray said was filled with challenges.

For instance, the insurance on the building and its contents was purchased from one company, but is administered by a second company, or co-insurer. At first, that company wanted to simply rebuild, until it was told a public entity such as a school district must use a bid process to comply with state statute. 

Everything has to be sent to the company for approval or denial before anything can be done to the building.

First, there were the investigations. The insurance company sent its own investigator, and the state sent two — one to inspect and investigate the fire and a second who was an electrical inspector. It was quickly determined the undamaged part of the building could be used and the electricity was reconnected. None of the investigators could pinpoint where the fire started other than determining that it originated in the most heavily damaged portion of the barn. Everything else, McCray said, was inconclusive. 

A construction consultant was brought in to examine the purlins — similar to rafters — and the I-beams on the building to determine what could be used and what had to be replaced. 

An architect has been brought in and the original plans tweaked. The updated plans have been approved by the insurance company and a contract has been prepared.

Each step, like bringing in the construction consultant and architect, has to be approved by the insurer before the professionals can be retained.

Next, the planned construction has to be advertised in a newspaper of record. That advertisement window closed in early February and bids are due March 2. 

The board of trustees will review and let the bid for reconstruction on the building at its March 9 meeting and completion is expected by Aug. 15.

Although the insurance company will pay for the new construction, there has been no public indication of the anticipated costs, so as to maintain a level playing field for all would-be bidders on the project. 

McCray also discussed whether the building should have a sprinkler system installed. That isn’t the straight-forward issue it appears to be at first glance.

The building is not inside the city limits and is on a well system. A sprinkler system would demand drilling a new well and installing a cistern with a 20,000 gallon capacity. The system would also require a dedicated power supply because one of the first things that happens at a fire scene is the power is disconnected. Beyond that, because part of the building has no heat system, it will have to be a split system using both chemicals and water as the suppressant. 

The real hangup is that, because the building originally did not have sprinklers, the state will not pay for what it considers an enhancement. The same holds true for adding a heater to the unheated portion of the building for a water system. In either case, the school district would have to foot the bill.

Trustee Don Hansen had previously asked if adding a sprinkler system would pay for itself in the form of reduced insurance premiums. However, McCray found there would be very little reduction in the insurance costs if the building is equipped with a fire suppression system.

The property could be hooked up to the city water system, eliminating the need for a separate well and power supply. The fee to connect would be $250, but the city could force-annex the property into the city at any time. There would be no tax repercussions attached to the annexation, since it is school property. 

McCray said there is no requirement for the building to have a sprinkler system because it is under the size limit at which sprinklers are required. However, he noted that the fire suppression system could be added at any time, since the pipes that would service the system would be installed from the ceiling rather than being placed in the walls or roofing as in other types of buildings.