Change Orders for High School Renovation Project – The following change orders are presented for Board consideration. All the change orders listed below (totaling $131,284) have been reviewed by the architect, PJ Dick and the District administration.
a. GC-92-200 to Nello for $25,139 for new building renovations and additions,
b. GC-93-201 to Nello for $11,105 for Athletic floor covering and elevator changes in F Building,
c. GC-94-202 to Nello for $6,401 for fifth floor B Building changes,
d. GC-95-203 to Nello for $28,804 for signage changes,
e. EL-54-204 to Farfield for $12,817 for power, motor and wiring revisions,
f. EL-55-205 to Farfield for $22,884 to maintain power in B Building during phasing,
g. EL-56-206 to Farfield for $29,587 to install data and power floor boxes in writing lab,
h. PL-27-207 to Vrabel for $13,683 for concrete and plumbing work,
i. ME-19-208 to McKamish for $11,896 for vent and elevator room changes,
j. ME-20-209 to McKamish for $19,114 for HVAC piping modifications, and
k. AB-04-210 to Precision for a credit of -$50,146 to reduce scope of abatement in encapsulated area.
Update January 14, 2014 8:55 AM From the agenda:
The District opened bids for the design and construction of a display/trophy case in the new athletic building on Tuesday, December 10, 2013. One bid was received meeting the specifications. The bid was from Viking Woodworking, LLC with a low bid of $73,828.One bid was received. I missed that point completely. Dan Remely was unhappy, as usual, but it will be approved at the January 20 meeting.
36 comments:
Too vague and meaningless to be useful for review.
By design.
"a. GC-92-200 to Nello for $25,139 for new building renovations and additions,"
New building renovations? NEW BUILDING RENOVATIONS!!!????
Isn't that why you build a new building so you don't have to make renovations. The NEW building is less than a year old and we have to pay $25,139 to renovate it already! Are they kidding?
Wait until we connect all the student iPads to the Whiteboards so the teachers and the students can all work in collaboration on a math problem.
To be added in the near future : $35,000 due to unknown rock formation affecting pool renovation.
Besides lousy descriptions of change orders, i also noticed that there is a credit to reduce the scope of abatement. Please, someone in the business explain to me what this means. Asbestos was found in the auditorium, so why is there a $50,000 credit to reduce the scope of abatement? How much is the additional abatement?
Have they fixed the pool railing yet?
Elaine
While the district is renovating the renovation, those cutbacks in guidance counselors are impacting the kids in the schools.
More pressure is being placed on building principals to handle everyday challenges. They are taking short-cuts. The kids don't like it much either b/c some of the principals are not exactly trained in the sort of kind, thoughtful or sensitive engagement a typical guidance counselor possesses.
11:48 PM, that would be for the pool at the Rec Center, I understand. Or is that for the high school pool?
Elaine
If that rock formation is for the old pool space at the high school thats scary, because the board in its infinite wisdom chose to accept all financial responsibility for any problems undercovered in recovering the space under bldg. C when its torn down.
Assuming these CO's are approved as shown at the next business meeting the contingency funds remaining will total $1,647,674.43 (out of $4,267,000). This means that to date 61.4% of the contingency has been exhausted. At the current rate of expenditure the District will run out of money before the project is completed.
It is certainly quite possible that the number and amount of CO's will diminish; that is usually what happens as a project nears completion. Even so I think it will be a "photo finish" for the contingency fund as the project crosses the finish line.
If I were a school board member with a conscience I would be starting to have some restless nights right about now.
Also note $78,828 additional dollars for a trophy display case that doesn't appear as a change order.
Why is this noteworthy?
Because when they were lookung for ways to get the project under the cap, I think it was Celli that said they could bid out the project using all the old cabinetry. Then at a later date buy new cabinetry from general funds and keep the purchases out of the cap total.
So, in reality add $78,828 to the project total.
12:22 PM, I will consider that. Do you know when this conversation took place?
I checked the Potential Project Cost Savings Worksheet and didn't notice anything about trophy cases.
Elaine
This conversation occurred very early in process, I'm remembering it being discussed soon after the current design was settled on and it was a verbal suggestion made in reply to a question concerning cost.
The question wasn't from one of the directors wasn't about the trophy cases per se.
It had more to do with classroom and cabinetry in general and it wasn't a line item.
A trophy case for $74,000 is one helleva trophy case! Didn't I read recently that a whole kitchen was renovated for under $50,000?
Elaine
What was wrong with the old trophy case?
Don't forget the unidentified expense of finding a new location for the facility department offices. Any estimates for this operating or capital budget cost?
"What DOES IT MATTER!"... isn't it for the kids? Everyone needs to forget all those un-needed expenses like going out to dinner, going to a movie, buying new shoes and clothes so they can pay their RENT to the Lords of Mt Lebanon.
You know, monthly agendas are all we have, when it comes to a change orders list. We can't even get an official running total! The taxpayers deserve more than what the school board is giving us. "New building renovations and additions...signage changes...concrete and plumbing work...and all the other hazy descriptions now represented aren't cutting it in my book.
Elaine
Rather than publishing a list, why don't they just post: "Change Orders- just because we can."
That'll save typing time at the very least.
Where is the trophy case going to be placed? Is it part of the athletic wing? Does it showcase trophies for a variety of endeavors, including academic pursuits?
The trophy case is going in the new athletic wing. To me, that sounds like it will be limited to athletic achievements, 12:54 PM. When it comes to sports, the sky is the limit in Mt. Lebanon. You know...21st century education.
Elaine
I think #5 on the agenda is really important to point out.
They are spending upwards of $70,000 on the trophy display case that will likely be sitting in the new Athletic Wing. It says in the item:
The bid was from Viking Woodworking, LLC with a low bid of $73,828. No previous budget was established for this one
particular item as it was anticipated to be included in the project FF&E budget.
I think that means the Board is kicking this out of the construction budget and into capital projects.
Just another way to hide the true cost of the HS Project. Maybe we need to start another tally on your website!
Done, 9:14 AM. I need your help though. Have there been other projects approved which should be in the tally? You would have to look at all the agendas from regular (business meetings). They can be found here.
Elaine
Officially maybe they don't count as being kicked out of the budget, but wasn't the project sold as we'd have everything we had and more?
Did we lose the planetarium, many school are adding hi-tech ones that use 3D, and can be used for math instruction, geometry, engineering classes.
How about tennis courts and of course the rifle range.
Oh yes, we're so 21st century, we're getting a new trophy case!
http://potomaclocal.com/2013/10/09/now-giant-ipad-hylton-planetarium-offers-new-shows-attracting-new-audiences/
"Now a ‘Giant iPad,’ Hylton Planetarium Offers New Shows, Attracting New Audiences
The planetarium was originally built in 1991 as part of the high school’s educational programming. The original projector featured a round, tin ball with tiny holes on the exterior and light bulb in the center and could project stars on the ceiling through the small openings. Kilgore said he contributed to the planning to upgrade the planetarium’s technology. Today, Kilgore describes the dome as a giant iPad, capable of producing a real-life experience that was not possible before.
“When people would come to the planetarium before, it was originally built so that I could reproduce the night sky and talk about it and that was the extent of it,” says Kilgore. “Whereas now, because it is digital, I can land you on the planets, I can take you into deep space, I even do an underwater show and because it’s a dome, it’s happening 360 degrees all around you.”
Had we followed the Rothschild/CAC recommendations, we could have kept the planetarium, the tennis courts, the rifle range, the trophy case and also gotten an indoor running track and a main entrance on the front street.
But no, we needed a vomitorium and a bridge.
Here's what a Connecticut school district is doing.
ftp://copyservices.wallingford.k12.ct.us/Docs/11000.pdf
"Sheehan Mahan Planetarium Upgrade Project Support
Overview
The Wallingford Education Foundation, in conjunction with the Wallingford Public Schools, is seeking public and private sector financial support to dramatically upgrade Sheehan High School’s Mahan 1960’s Planetarium to a state of the art Digital Learning Dome. The purpose of this financial support to offer enriched school-day, after-school, and summer science and other subject area education to K-12 students in Greater New Haven County and other central Connecticut cities and towns. A sampling of current partners in this effort include the Leitner Family Planetarium at Yale University, and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Center for Science Teaching & Learning at Quinnipiac University, the NASA Galileo Educator Network and other school districts in central Connecticut. The project’s primary objectives are to: (1) obtain new private and public sector funding to purchase the new digital hardware and software planetarium equipment; (2) continue to develop K-12 digital learning dome STEM based curriculum that will benefit students across several school districts; and (3) establish a schedule for 12-month use of the Digital Learning Dome which includes teacher professional development, school field trips, student enrichment organization and Family Science/STEM Learning Nights.
Matching funds will come from other fundraising events sponsored by the Wallingford Education Foundation, in-kind professional contributions from university astronomy departments, science departments of cooperating school districts, and through science and across-the-curriculum education grants at the local, regional, and federal levels. To date, the Wallingford Education Foundation has raised $45,000 through a 3M grant of $25,000 and private donations.
(cont.)
9cont.)
The nature of the request
Wallingford’s 35-foot, 53-seat A. Raymond Mahan dome planetarium was part of the infrastructure of the new Sheehan High School when the school opened in 1971. The original projection system, a Spitz Model A-4 was actually manufactured in 1968 and is still in operation. The projector is a mechanical device operating by gears and motors, with incandescent lights used to illuminate the stars and planets on the dome. The projector is now more than 40 years old, and is showing its age. Mechanical failures and power failures are becoming more frequent, and Spitz no longer has access to spare parts. The old black & white technology also is no match for today’s high definition graphics available in nearly everything we touch.
The proposed replacement of the Spitz A-4 with a high definition digital projector will revolutionize the current science programming in the school system. The digital projection system will enable students from kindergarten through high school to experience the unique learning environment of a full-dome planetarium, while benefiting from state-of-the-art curriculum software. The flexibility of the system allows the instructor to design his/her own digital programming to meet the needs of the class, and the current curriculum topic. The high-definition projection with 3-dimensional effects will engage even the most technology savvy students. Perhaps the greatest benefit of the digital projection system is that it allows instructors, student teachers and the general public to design and produce hi-definition 3D digital software programs that expand the capabilities of instruction to include history, meteorology, physics, art & music, mathematics, biology, life sciences, graphics design, environmental studies and more. The addition of so many learning opportunities outside of astronomy has led to expanding the title of the project to be the Mahan Planetarium and Learning Dome. With the purchase of a SMART Board system, interactive teaching components, and a student engaging response system, K-12 students and learners of all ages will be attracted to the Planetarium.
What do we get to watch in 21st century Mt. Lebanon?
We get to watch the football team run out of a vomitorium.
2:53 - an appropriate description of this mess!
What? No planetarium??? Now where will the jock's go for the "Nap Class". That helped all our GPAs and kept many on the field playing.
Here are examples of what other school districts have paid. We are paying way more than all the others:
The new trophy case and wall project is expected to cost between $40,000 and $45,000, according to estimates.
http://www.twinsburgbulletin.com/education/2013/08/08/twinsburg-athletic-boosters-to-raise-money-for-new-trophy-case-brick-by-brikc
The case - planned to be 45 feet long and eight feet tall - will sit between the gym doors at the high school’s cafetorium. It will be custom built and will costs about $25,000.
http://www.irontontribune.com/2013/09/05/school-district-begins-trophy-case-project/
It is the administration’s recommendation that the Board of Education approve the purchase and installation of one (1) trophy case from Dakota Ridge Construction, Inc. at Grandview High School for the cost of $24,018.
http://www.cherrycreekschools.org/BOE/Agendas/September%209,%202013%20Board%20Meeting%20Agenda.pdf
The most expensive case is $1097.66:
http://www.discountshowcases.com/Trophy-Cases-s/90.htm?searching=Y&sort=2&cat=90&show=12&page=1
Are we getting 70 of these?
The USC trophy case for their athletic wing was *donated* by an alum.
http://www.twpusc.org/magazine/pdf/hands_in_time.pdf
When I was a student, we took Wood Shop as a class, a very valuable learning experience. I made a wooden cat that I still have stashed somewhere today. I'm assuming Wood Shop is still a class. Why not have the students make the case themselves? I guess that makes too much sense.
HVAC piping for $19,100?
Didn't we have a large CO for water line feeds to the boilers because they were missing from the original drawings?
Now we have to change order a change order?!
My God, have these people never built a school before?
Dear Mt. Lebanon School Board,
Do we really need a $74,000 trophy case? A secure school district doesn't need a $74,000 trophy case because it knows that its good enough without one.
Show us your confidence. Put the trophies in a closet and if a generous alum comes forward to present a trophy case check for $74,000, you can build your showcase then.
If you go ahead with this $74,000 trophy case, what message will you be sending the children, their families, and the resident taxpayers about your priorities? Furthermore, what message will you be sending the rest of Pennsylvania about the educational goals and values of the MTLSD?
Thanks for your time.
Signed,
Anonymous Concerned Citizen
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