What went wrong? I could say so much, but I will ask you folks to answer that. Maybe the School Board will listen to us this time.
Update 10:47 AM At the June 8, 2009 School Board Discussion Meeting Part 1 and Part 2, there was a discussion about Add Alternates. It was pointed out that $11 million in athletic improvements was suggested, $7 million went towards green technology, $1 million was added for budget oversights, but not one dollar was added for academic issues. Before the Add Alternates, we were at the $110 million mark. Listen to John Allison say that we cannot afford this after Sue Rose had asked for his input.
The board will meet on 25-APR-2011 "to discuss next steps."???
ReplyDeleteThe board needs to vote either to:
1: Accept the lowest responsible base bid and move forward with the existing plans or
2: Direct the architect to redesign the project scaled down so the lowest responsible base bid falls below the $113MM threshold.
This is where taxpayers depend on school board leadership to vote on the issue. The meeting will be a reconvened regular voting meeting, even though Mr. Ostergaard adjourned the 18-APR-2011 with the gavel instead of taking a recess.
It is not a discussion session.
We need to demand our elected officials make the decision that needs to be made on 25-APR-2011.
David Huston
I believe the questions Dan Remely poses related to construction documents...drawings, specs, contract terms & conditions and how queries were possibly handled...may prove to be the major contributors to the bid results, and not the typical scapegoats of labor, energy and materials. However, had nonunion labor wages been allowed the overall construction costs might have been 10% lower.
ReplyDeleteIf the District attempts to *solve* the problem by exercising all sorts of delete alternates, the project would no longer provide the 21st. century education promised to the community.....it is critically important to remember that the SB insisted that all current *Taj Mahal* design features and specifications were necessary in order to provide a 21st. century education....to remove features and cheapen the specs would mean we will be retreating back to a 20th. century education !
Bill Lewis
See what happens when folks like Comrade Cappucci and Comrade Walton, both members of the Master Design Team, won't talk to people who disagree with them - you go backwards to the 20th century.
ReplyDeleteJohn Ewing
I have a question...
ReplyDeleteDoes a new building mean higher test scores? Does it mean higher graduation rates?
If so, could someone please explain the dollar spend to percentage boost? Could they quantify it?
Just asking
"I was very upset to hear about this, and I'm working diligently with others to correct the situation," said board member Dan Remely on Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding me, seriously-- he actually said this with a straight face- "I'm upset to hear about this!" Hear about it, Dan! You're the guy that has been admonishing people that they were wrong for fighting the design for over a year. Exclaiming you and Ms. Cappucci were on top of it! You're upset to hear... you told us regularly you were on top of it!
I'm sorry, residents like Taylor, Stephenson, Lewis, Matthews, Fraasch (especially) were asking questions and sending up alarms and you chose to ignore them.
Mr. Celli warned the board it should consider delete alternates months ago, and that didn't send up a red flag.
Feigning surprise at this stage just doesn't instill a lot of confidence.
- Giffen Good
Mrs. Rose said long ago that the public has lost the confidence and trust of the public. She was right then and she is still right today.
ReplyDeleteIt was instructive to read the letter from Celli posted by Bill Mathews that said the school board was one year behind schedule when Superintendent Allison was here.
Surely Comrade Cappucci and Comrade Remely knew about that letter. Did they ever showed that letter to Superintendent Steinhauer?
Too bad Superintendent Steinhauer didn't put the Master Design Team meeting minutes in the Board Members' packets. It is difficult to keep track of a multi-million dollar building program when you don't know what is happening behind closed doors.The blame for that goes to the Kubit school board president that is running for re-election as well as Superintendent Steinhauer, Comrade Cappucci and Comrade Remely who failed to keep the Board properly informed.
John Ewing
Furthermore, did the board seriously think the 4,000 residents that signed the petition Elaine presented to the board did so only because they were cheap.
ReplyDeletePeople that chose to live in affluent Mt. Lebanon knowing full well their school taxes would be higher.
i firmly believe the majority of signers did so because it wasn't the right project, at the right time or as we now know- the right price!
Wonder if Mr. Kubit still believes the community is evenly divided on the project?
- Giffen Good