Friday, December 6, 2013

Review 'em quickly!

The agenda for Monday's School Board Meeting has been posted. The change orders for December total $108,984.

Normally, change orders are available for the public to review at the first meeting of the month. Board approval for change orders are during the second meeting of the month. The school board will be having a combined meeting on Monday, so the change orders will be discussed and voted on the same night.

Here they are. They will be approved on Monday. There isn't much time to review them, so do it quickly.

Change Orders for High School Renovation Project – The following change orders are presented for Board consideration. All the change orders listed below (totaling $108,984) have been reviewed by the architect, PJ Dick and the District administration.

a. ME-17-194 to McKamish for $26,675 to install ductwork in the Little Theatre, 
b. ME-18-195 to McKamish for $21,919 for changes in mechanical work and an added heat exchanger for the pool, 
c. EL-53-196 to Farfield for $20,981 for emergency lighting upgrades based on ML Fire Inspection and generator testing, 
d. GC-90-197 to Nello for $22,117 for 5th floor B corridor work, 
e. GC-91-198 to Nello for $11,272 for ceiling and wall revisions in new buildings, and
f. PL-26-199 to Vrabel for $6,020 for athletic building plumbing changes.

Change orders are now at $2.5 million.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well quick assessment.
Somebody underestimate or forgot they added 2 lanes and they couldn't keep the water warm enough.
Whoever spec'd ductwork for the project doesn't have a clue. They run thru elevator shafts and apparently forgot the Little Theatre.
Wall and ceiling revisions in new buildings??? How hard is it to get a wall right in the first place?
Same with plumbing in athletic building. Is plumbing that hard?

Anonymous said...

Just think, they have yet to take down building C, and the board in its infinte wisdom chose to absolve Celli, Nello or Dick of any extra cost for - get this - unforseen problems uncovered after its demolition.
Meaning there won't be change orders. Just bills to the district.

Unknown said...

It is not that hard. It is a direct result of the different designs teams of the architectural firm not communicating and not having the plans go through a constructability review by an independent party.

Anonymous said...

Damion, the focus obviously wasn't about getting right. The only concern was getting it under the referendum trigger.

Anonymous said...

Damion, I don't know, but wouldn't the constructibility review fall under the responsibilities of PJDick, the construction manager?
Keeping an eye on the CM would fall under the responsibilities of the administrators that got $1,000 bonuses.
Keeping an eye on the administrative staff would stop at the desk of... ta da... The Super!

Damion Deringer said...

8:32PM, usually no. It is usually the responsibility of the A/E firm that designs the building that has to get the constructibility review done, BUT the owner (PJ Dick & Mtl) would had to request that in the bid. In my opinion, all government construction should be required to have third-party independent cost estimators and constructibility reviews done. BUT that is my profession so I may be biased.

Anonymous said...

Can someone explain how all this is going to effect our taxes? How is the new High School going to be paid for? How is Mt Lebanon going to pay for those MASSIVE pension increases?

Anonymous said...

7:55 AM: Are you kidding me?!! Your taxes are going up. Way up. You had better hope your income goes up enough to cover the spread, pal!

Anonymous said...

Not only are taxes going up, but look to new fees and increases in those fees already in place.
Hope everyone that thought a 7.5% increase for a pizza-munching, latte-gulping super gets hammered on their taxes.
Oh and hope everybody enjys the increases coming on the municipal side for turf, PIO payraises, etc.

Anonymous said...

7:55 we know the supers salary went up enough to cover the Increase in taxes he's partially responsible for!

Lebo Citizens said...

I realize some think I am insane, but weren't we saying that the high school project needs to be scaled back because of rising pension contributions? Didn't Mr. James Fraasch predict this, as well?
Here are the PSERS Contribution Rates from 1955-2014.
Keep in mind that the rates will be increasing to approximately 21.4%. Beside's Timmy's outrageous salary increase, the "illustrious" school board decided to hand out bonuses, on top of that. Jan Klein is retiring in 2014. She is going to be sitting pretty in Collier, not worrying about paying Mt. Lebanon taxes.

See? There is a method to my madness.
Elaine

Lebo Citizens said...

10:39 AM, using my trusty percentage calculator website, the PSERS increase is 26.6%. Looks like Timmy will be demanding another salary increase.
Change orders are at $2.5 million.
Elaine

Anonymous said...

The Blue Devil is in the details!

The SD employees PSERs contribution jumps, ha, ha, ha... a miniscule .03% over their 2013 rate.

The employers rate (the SD) jumps 4.57% in the same period. Where do you imagine the district gets that additional 4.57? Whether the money comes in from EIT, real estate transfers, property tax, corporate taxes, from Harrisburg, Washington or gambling revenue... It all comes from one source... us, the citizen and taxpayer.

Another thing to keep your eye on... SD and municipal health insurance. As we in the private sector get hammered under Obamacare, watch how little the district and municipal employees contribute to their healthcare plans!

No wonder certain people support turf, say yes to change orders etc.

Anonymous said...

Something else to look at - payroll for the district- 2013 vs 2014.