More and more behind-the-scene pieces are coming together for the Greene County School District’s $35.48 million project.

Last week, the Greene County School Board approved fellow board member Sam Harding as the Owner’s Representative for the project. Superintendent Tim Christensen says Harding will be on the construction site, overseeing the project. “Not necessarily making decisions, but again (being) aware of construction practices (and) to notice if something doesn’t look right, then they need to contact the architect and engineers and have them come and take a look. He is donating his services in that capacity.”

Christensen points out that Harding’s background is in construction and he is an engineer. OPN Architects estimated that if the school district hired an individual to be an Owner’s Representative, it would cost about $100,000.

Another item the School Board approved was a $12,350 bid from Storey-Kenworthy to handle the interior design services. Christensen says the company will take care of choosing what types of furniture, fixtures and equipment are needed for inside each of the facilities, with recommendations from the district in mind. He describes another benefit of utilizing their services.

“We could potentially purchase products from ten different companies. If there’s a product that we have an issue with, instead of trying to track down what company that was, it’s a matter of just calling Storey-Kenworthy and they take care of the entire thing, which is another huge positive.”

Board member Dr. Steve Karber also pointed out at the meeting that the overall budget is running about ten-percent over. He said they will either have to reduce the scope of the project to fit the budget or there may have to be some additional fundraising to get all of the aspect they want.