POST FALLS - The administrator and builder of the future Kootenai Technical Education Campus were named on the same day.

The KTEC board, consisting of representatives from the Post Falls, Coeur d'Alene and Lakeland school districts and industry partners, on Friday unanimously approved Mark Cotner as the part-time administrator and Contractors Northwest of Coeur d'Alene as the builder of the professional-technical high school on the Rathdrum Prairie.

Cotner has been executive director of the Canyon-Owyhee School Service Agency (COSSA) in Wilder, Idaho, since 2003. COSSA, similar to KTEC, is a public school consortium consisting of five districts that offers seven professional-technical programs.

"It is a passion of mine, not a job," said Cotner, who attended the KTEC meeting at Post Falls High. "I've been working with this (KTEC) group for the past four or five years. I like what I see up here. There's already a partnership between education and industry, and I'm glad to be a part of the team."

The school will open in fall 2012.

Cotner, who will start at KTEC on Oct. 1, will be half-time at the school. He is also recommended to be the professional-technical education coordinator at the Coeur d'Alene School District, another half-time position.

The Coeur d'Alene School Board will consider the recommendation on Sept. 12 at 5 p.m. at Midtown Center.

"He's the rock star of professional-technical schools," said Ron Nilson a KTEC board member. "We will all learn from him, and the whole community will profit because of him."

Nilson said he visited 10 such schools across the country and Cotner is the cream of the crop.

Five people applied for the job.

Cotner's salary, which will be between $80,000 to $90,000, will be split evenly between KTEC and the Coeur d'Alene district, pending board approval.

Cotner has a bachelor's degree and master's degree in trade and industrial education from Oklahoma State University. He has also completed coursework for a superintendent's certification.

Contractors Northwest submitted the lowest of three construction bids at $7,910,000. Ginno Construction of Coeur d'Alene came in at $8,030,000 and Meridian of Spokane Valley $8,265,000.

"It will be personally rewarding to me to have our company build the building," said Dean Haagenson, CEO of Contractors Northwest. "It's not just going to be one more project."

Haagenson was a KTEC board member, but took a leave of absence in July so his company could bid on the job. He officially resigned from the board on Friday.

Haagenson would be eligible to serve on the board again after the project is done. The KTEC board will seek a temporary board member to fill in for Haagenson and indicated it would like Haagenson to return after construction.

Jerry Keane, Post Falls superintendent and KTEC board member, said the board is pleased with the bid. The building was earlier estimated to cost about $9.5 million.

"It fits within our budget for the project," he said. "We were somewhat surprised to only receive three bids."

Keane said the law passed by the Legislature required KTEC to put language in the bid that said bad economic conditions may delay the total payment to the contractor for up to three years if tax revenues decrease.

"Our architect (Cory Trapp) indicated that the language may have scared some bidders away," Keane said.

Voters in the Post Falls, Coeur d'Alene and Lakeland school districts approved financing for the school a year ago.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the 54,000-square foot school at the southwest corner of Lancaster and Meyer roads in Rathdrum is tentatively being planned for Oct. 4 while Idaho Gov. Butch Otter is in the area.

KTEC will offer classes in skilled trades such as health occupations, welding, construction and automotive to juniors and seniors in the three districts.