Remember the "rumor" that Josephine Posti addressed on her Center Court blog? http://jposti.blogspot.com/#!/2012/08/project-on-schedule-and-on-budget.html There has been speculation in the community since discussions first began with the change order for Geofoam.
So tonight, there will be a discussion about the seven change orders listed on the agenda. For some reason, the School District is only counting five towards the construction.
We now have a need for retaining walls, Geofoam, pyrite remediation, repairs to utility line conflicts, to name just a few of the change orders needed.
Back in October 2005, architects Burt Hill Kosar Rittelman Associates alerted school board directors of the unstable soil on the site. Mt. Lebanon Pool cost up again; now $6.5 million Knowing this, would Celli Flynn design a building on unstable soil? Is it poor workmanship? Nello built our Public Safety Building. Ask our police and firemen about the condition of the building. Or is it the school board directors? Remember this cost savings worksheet? Potential Project Cost Savings Worksheet Look at what was eliminated. Does the Board have the luxury to cherry pick from a list as to what should be eliminated? Doesn't one change affect others?
Didn't the Board waive contractors' insurance as a cost reduction? If that is the case, then there is no hope for reimbursement from insurance.
Wonder if those larger caissons were included in the bid?
ReplyDeleteProbably not. Just going to build the pool on smaller ones and we'll wait for it to sink to make repairs at double the cost.
Idiots. I thought Dan Remely was a construction guy and he would make sure these sorts of things wouldn't happen. Who is going to ask Dan when he will take responsibility for these oversights...
Dan...Dan...paging Hardhat Dan...your underbid budget is calling...$95 million my arse.
"This doesn't prevent gossip. There is no truth to a rumor some of us heard last week that the new concrete slab on the athletic building has to be demolished and replaced. All of the caissons are embedded down to the bedrock and aren't going anywhere. There was an issue with water pooling on the slab during the last rainfall that's being resolved."
ReplyDeleteJo Posti on Center Court
I've gone through a review of all the comments and your original post and I can't find any comment that claims the concrete slab on the athletic building has to be demolished and replaced.
Maybe I missed it, but maybe the person that made this comment can reference the rumor Posti is dispelling:
"Anonymous said... So, the rumor you started and then tried to substantiate on this blog was false.?September 6, 2012 4:17 PM"
The only rumor that I can find is a comment that the pooling water on the slab may indicate the athletic wing may be sinking.
Posti doesn't dispel that rumor. In fact she substantiates that at least part of the rumor is true. She said there was an issue with water on the slab and "that's being resolved."
Doesn't claim its not from sinking, and doesn't tell why or how they are fixing it.
In her usual - I'm not going to tell you anything I don't want you to know PR babble - she hasn't dispelled anything.
I guess 4:17 loves to live in the dark.
Remember Dan commenting that he was sitting on a very thin fence over the change order request for the geofoam.
ReplyDeleteThat very thin fence rail has slipped so far up between his cheeks that he thinks both feet are touching the ground.
HAHAHAHAHA...129, you nailed it. First she says it's jsut a rumor. Then she says they're addressing the problem...that supposedly didnt exist...maybe her party hat was on too tight to think clearly.
ReplyDelete1:45 the first I heard of a rumor suggesting the athletic wing needed to be demolished was from Jo on Center Court. So I guess she is spreading a rumor so that she can turn around and immediately dispel it. Making her look like she's hiding nothing.
ReplyDeleteOr perhaps, and I happen to favor this scenario. Perhaps in discussions with the contractors Posti heard someone say there COULD BE a potential problem and the resolution if they can't find a fix - can you say geofoam anybody - the wing would need to be taken down and start over.
Posti then got confused and forgot who said and who posted what.
In a web link on how to detect if someone is lying two of the things they advise to look for:
ReplyDelete"Liars sometimes avoid "lying" by not making direct statements. They imply answers instead of denying something directly.
Hmmm, who on the board would exhibit such behavior?
Here's a clue:
"There was an issue with water pooling on the slab during the last rainfall that's being resolved."
If that's not an implied answer, I don't know what is!
The second thing to watch for: "The guilty person may speak more than natural, adding unnecessary details to convince you... they are not comfortable with silence or pauses in the conversation."
You can bet I'll be watching the replay of the board meeting to see if these tips work.
From Jo's blog:
ReplyDeleteWe will also have a 7PM presentation before our Regular Meeting on September 17 by Pursuant Ketchum, the firm we retained to conduct a feasibility study for a potential capital campaign. They will share their report and recommendations then.
PURSUING KETCHUP IS DONE WITH THEIR STUDY!
I can't wait. Tonight they are going to tell the Board that not only do they think they can raise over $15 million in Mt. Lebanon, but that they are just the firm to do it, for a 2% fee of course.
Way to go PK!
Of course, what they maybe won't focus on is that they expect the work to take many, many years to complete and that the $15 million will come in the form of not cash contributions from big wigs, but from estate assignments. That is, when people who love the District kick off, they might leave some of the assets to the District...stocks, bonds, savings, etc.
So while they can tell you they have $15 million by 2022, it will not be money that can be spent, it will be money that is "in the pipeline". I wonder if the 2% for PK will come when the promise happens or when the bucket gets kicked...
Does anyone think in their right mind that PK will say the District does NOT have $15 million in private money ready to be donated?
I hate to burst your bubble, but the PK presentation will not be tonight. It is scheduled for next Monday.
ReplyDeleteElaine
I don't know what everyone's upset about.
ReplyDeleteI think its creative and qusint how Celli got the blue in the sky to reflect in the pooling water on the athletic slab. Just watch construction camera #1 on a sunny day like today.
It's not exactly Lebo Blue, but shit for $110 million what were you expecting... The Bellagio Fountains from Vegas?
4:57,OMG, you're right! You can see passing cloud formations and blue sky. You must be right brained! How beautiful! Look at Camera 1 and watch today's time lapse. http://multimedia.mtlsd.org/live.asp?stream=renovation.asp
ReplyDeleteElaine
Elaine, how many school districts have reflecting pools immune school grounds? I think we should leave it like that.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, I'm thinking we ought to cut out the middleman on gambling revenue rebates from the casinos to school districts and let the districts set up their own gambling halls.
Football sports betting, drinking at athletic events, everything practically in place.
Pursuant Kerchup presentation next week you say!
ReplyDeleteThat explains why Timmy and the Directors have been walking around all week singing "We can never know about the days to come
But we think about them anyway, yay
And I wonder if I'm really with you now
Or just chasin' after some finer day
Anticipation, anticipation
Is makin' me late
Is keepin' me waiting'"
When you see that #23 on that list is Pyrite remediation and it's pretty well known that Pyrite is a problem in this area, you know they're up to funny business. They'll do anything to avoid that referendum cap, won't they.
ReplyDeleteLies, no matter how strong you believe in a cause, are still lies. Yes, I am talking to you ALL SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS!
Funny, another government project that really wasn't wanted also had a Pyrite issue. Interstate 99 had quite an expensive Pyrite remediation "add on" to it's project plan:
http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/the-timely-lesson-of-the-bud-shuster-highway/
So, how long before we start to hear "But we can't wait for a referendum! The children will have no place to go to school! Why must you hate the children so much?"