By Traci Newell

Town Crier File Photo The Los Altos School District approved Blach Construction Company for the Bullis-Purissima renovations, scheduled to begin in June.

The Los Altos School District Board of Trustees voted Nov. 13 to approve Blach Construction Company as contractor for the Bullis-Purissima school renovations, set to begin in June.

The trustees also voted to approve the lease-leaseback construction method after a lengthy discussion about which construction method to use for the renovations.

Under lease-leaseback, a school district purchases land and leases it to a private developer for a fee of $1. The developer then finances construction of the school through various subcontractors and subsequently leases the facility back to the school district over a period of time. To avoid complications and to ensure a lower overall construction price, the contractor must set an upfront cap on the project’s cost, and time-consuming change orders are rarely allowed.

Superintendent Tim Justus recommended the use of Blach Construction and the lease-leaseback method after meeting with the district’s Construction Oversight Committee. At its last meeting, the committee analyzed three different construction methods before it decided on the lease-leaseback method.

When the school district was renovating the Covington campus in 2003, a project that ended up over budget, the district was using the design-bid-build construction model, which allowed the school district to put its design out to prospective contractors for various bids.

“We had a very unfortunate situation at Covington,” said Board President Margot Harrigan. “Most of our projects came in overbid to begin with.”

Justus said the oversight committee suggested Blach Construction because the company has a proven track record in renovating other campuses in the district. The committee recommended changing the construction method because the lease-leaseback method appeared more advantageous when compared with past construction methods used in the district, he said.

Board Vice President Bill Cooper, who attended the Construction Oversight Committee meeting, said committee members unanimously supported the lease-leaseback method.

“This is definitely the route we want to go,” Cooper said. “With lease-leaseback we have the luxury of having a guaranteed project cost amount, and they are obligated to deliver a timeline.”

Board member David Luskin agreed with the decision. “It gives the school district flexibility, which might result in savings,” he said.

Randy Kenyon, assistant superintendent for business purposes, said there might be “blips” along the way with the “guaranteed” project cost, but the attorney the district uses has negotiated lease-leaseback construction before. Kenyon said there would be a penalty charged to the construction company if the timeline were not met.