Site work, new construction and renovation of a mixed-use development in Jackson, Georgia. Completed plans call for the construction of a stadium; educational facility; for the renovation of a stadium; educational facility; for site work for a stadium; and educational facility.

https://www.mdjonline.com/tribune/regional/h-j-isd-breaks-ground-on-henderson-middle-school/article_b0440b8a-8969-567b-8765-f7af7d6e6e07.html Hardin-Jefferson ISD on Monday morning broke ground on a new middle school, auditorium and athletic complex in a ceremony attended by local, state and federal officials. The occasion comes after years of careful planning, reviews by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the passage of two bond issues. Buildings across the Sour Lake-area district were swamped in 2017 when Tropical Storm Harvey inundated Southeast Texas with historic rainfall amounts. Henderson Middle School was rendered unusable, and water sat in the auditorium for years before it was demolished. In the meantime, middle school was held in a temporary campus called Henderson Village. "Ever since 2017, the staff at Henderson Middle School and our athletic staff have adjusted to the challenges that were created when Harvey hit Southeast Texas, " district Superintendent Brad McEachern said at the ceremony. "With the creation of Henderson Village, our staff and administration created a plan to move forward and to continue to educate our students at the level that the Hardin-Jefferson community has always been accustomed to." In May 2020, the board approved a plan to ask voters to supplement FEMA funding to complete a wide array of construction projects and renovations, but the items were pushed back to November due to the coronavirus pandemic. In November 2020, two bond issues, totaling $25 million, passed after the board asked voters to approve a plan to supplement FEMA funding to complete a wide array of construction projects and renovations. The two funding sources together afford the district $69 million for repairs and construction. Brad Boullion, the district's director of operations, spoke at the ceremony as rain started to fall at the future site of Henderson Middle School. "Rain got us into this," he said, to laughter. "We are committed to students and to the community, and we are so excited to build a campus that you will be proud of. I know it has taken us a while to get here, and we appreciate everyone's patience." Much of that wait was due to reviews by FEMA and other agencies to ensure projects met the requirements to receive federal disaster recovery funding. "After three-and-a-half years working with them, I realized what a significant challenge it is to administer billions of taxpayers dollars as fast as they can while ensuring to protect the taxpayers of this country from wasteful spending," Bouillon said. Paul Morris, the director of FEMA's Texas Recovery Office, echoed those sentiments. "It is incumbent upon us to make sure that (tax dollars) are spent appropriately," he told The Enterprise. "The last thing we would want to do is see some audit come up later and someone question the eligibility." Hardin-Jefferson ISD is not the only district to receive funds years after devastating flooding occurred -- delays that have compounded the impacts of flood damage occurring year after year. Deweyville ISD cited the delays in a fact-sheet for voters when they were asked to, and ultimately did, approve a $7 million bond issue to repair flood-damaged campus buildings. "It is hard to imagine that in this era of powerful computers and the instantaneous transfer of information, that the disaster recovery program of the most prosperous and powerful nation in the history of Earth could negatively impact our children for over a decade," Deweyville Superintendent Keith Jones told The Enterprise after the bond passed. FEMA officials confirmed to The Enterprise that 13 subgrant applications have been approved for Deweyville ISD and that subgrant application requests are "currently going through FEMA technical and programmatic reviews." Vidor ISD is another district that spent years completing reviews before facing further delays. It broke ground in October 2020 for a new elementary school and is in the process of constructing a new middle school after the previous one was destroyed in Harvey. The delays have become the focus of several lawmakers, including Brian Babin, R-Woodville, who has been a vocal advocate for Hardin-Jefferson and Vidor ISDs over the last several years. Babin chastised FEMA throughout the process, calling for the application process for disaster relief funds to be simplified. In multiple interviews in 2019 and 2020, he said the process for Hardin-Jefferson and Vidor ISDs was too arduous. "They have a very obviously high turnover at FEMA." Babin told The Enterprise in January 2020. "There has been a tremendous delay in the districts to receive disaster relief funding that will allow them to rebuild two middle schools." But Morris said that while multiple Program Delivery Managers have overseen the review, the key players helping in the review process remained throughout. "Although I've heard concerns about PDMG turnover, I will say the folks who helped to lead this effort ... have been here at the table since day one," he said. "We have a lot of dedicated folks working for FEMA." McEachern said the new facilities, which should be completed over the next two years, will serve the community for years into the future. "It is now time for our district to move from recovery to reconstruction," he said. "Today is the groundbreaking for a bright future for our community. These facilities will serve our students for years to come. We cannot wait for the culmination of this project and to be able to watch our students walk the hallways for many years in the future." _________________________________________________________________ The BUTTS COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM desires to retain the services of a professional Construction Management firm that, in BCSSs sole discretion, best meets the needs of the school district to enter into a CM at Risk contract for Red Devil Stadium and Athletic Complex renovation and major modifications, Performing Arts Center construction, furnishing and equipping, Fieldhouse at Henderson Middle School construction, furnishing and equipping all of which are capital outlay projects to be performed during or near the same time frame as part of BCSSs E-SPLOST VI campaign.