PORT NECHES — Trustees for the Port Neches-Groves Independent School District selected CBRE-Heery of Houston for project management services for researching for a proposed November 2019 bond.

That doesn’t mean there will be a bond in the district’s future — that will be up to voters in November if, in August, trustees decide to go forward with the issue.

Assistant Superintendent Julie Gauther said CBRE-Heery would work as a consultant of sorts to look at possible sites for a project, such of going to four elementary schools; two in each community.

Earlier in the month, trustees heard from two prospects: CBRE-Heery and Sledge Engineering of Taylor, Texas but one of the board members had to leave the meeting early and the remaining board members didn’t want to make the decision without him.

A project manager, in this instance, typically comes in and helps determine what needs to be done and answer questions such as, “Do we have the property to build the schools on?” “What kind of schools need to be built?” and “How much money will it cost?”

This information is then given to board members who will decide in August if PNGISD should move forward with a bond proposition to be held in November.

Gauthier said the district is not looking to buy land for the yet-to-be-proposed project.

“We have plenty of land already owned by the school district,” Gauthier said. “We will not be purchasing land.”

Earlier this year, trustees unanimously approved exploring a bond election on the November 2019 ballot.

Matt Marchak, who headed up the facilities committee tasked with the issue back in 2015, told board members that based on all of the work the committee did previously the group recommends going forward with the bond, according to an archived story.

The recommendation made in 2015 was to go from six to four elementary schools — two in Port Neches, two in Groves — combining the Port Neches administration building, West Groves administration building and the alternative campus into one facility.

A final decision has not been made on the configuration.