By GARRETT SAGER
Hays Post

At 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Rockwell Administration Center, the Hays USD 489 Board of Education is expected to take action on the approval a a firm to act as the construction management at risk for the district.

On Jan. 9, USD 489 heard from four different construction firms during an executive session meeting. The approval was to happen at last week’s board meeting, but the meeting was canceled due to icy conditions.

Superintendent John Thissen said he was was pleased with how the presentations went and that the district would be lucky to hire any of the four firms.

The four firms that are vying for the position are McCownGordon Construction, Hutton Construction, Crosslands Construction and Nabholz Construction.

Olathe-based Nabholz has partnered with Paul Wertenberger Construction of Hays.

“This partnership brings together a larger regional CMAR that has expertise in large school bond projects to team with a local contractor that already has experience working with the Hays school district,” the company said. “Nabholz Construction is also the on-call CMAR at Hays Medical Center and has six years of experience working with Paul Wertenberger Construction on projects at HaysMed.”

CMAR’s are crucial in keeping large projects on schedule for districts, according to Thissen.

The board will also act on the  approval of a facility improvement planner along with three other items.

Discussion topics include:

• Kansas Education Systems Accreditation update
• Superintendent evaluation
• Board policy review