SOUTH PORTLAND – Finding $4 million to trim from the long-awaited South Portland High School renovation project is proving harder than some had hoped.

Building committee meetings at which cuts were to have been voted on have been postponed while the project engineer, Portland-based Harriman Associates, continues to negotiate with the low bidder, PC Construction.

The meetings were originally set for March 21-22, but the building committee is now scheduled to vote on cuts on Tuesday, March 27 and Thursday, March 29. Both sessions, to be held in the high school library, will begin at 5:30 p.m. and run “as late as needed.”

The final project budget will then go to the school board on April 2 and the city council, meeting in a special session, on April 4.

“After that, we’ll send a memoranda of agreement – essentially, the contract – to PC,” said Dan Robbins, Harriman’s senior project manager. Building committee Chairman Ralph Baxter Jr. said the building committee may also meet the weekend of April 1, if necessary, in order to make the agenda for the school board and council meetings. As long as those latter votes happen on time, he said, construction on the 33-month project can still being as planned in mid April.

The rebuild was budgeted at $47.3 million, including a $41.5 million bond agreed to by voters in November. Administration, engineering and other costs left $39.26 million for actual construction, but PC’s bid, the lowest of four opened February 23, was $43.24 million. That’s left school officials scrambling ever since to bridge the gap.

According to Harriman architect Dan Cecil, his firm has worked with PC reps from both its Portland branch and its South Burlington, Vt. home office to hammer out a list of “more than 200” cost-savings ideas. However, Robbins told building committee members Thursday evening that marathon talks have yet to narrow in on dollar amounts for many proposals, leaving them with nothing concrete to vote on.

“The information, is just not there,” Baxter told the group. “I understand, I’m frustrated, too, but they’re working doing their thing and we’ve just got to be patient.”

“PC is keeping things close to the heart because of their sub-contractor bids,” explained Robbins. “Keep in mind, you do not have a contract with these guys yet and if their numbers get out on the street it could cause problems.”

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