5. Change Orders for High School Renovation Project – Change orders for Board Approval for the month of June total $265,923 with $258,927 allocated from the Contingency Budget and $10,118 from the Capital Project Budget as follows:
a. GC-101-229 to Nello for $95,000 for gym floor and scheduling changes,
b. GC-102-230 to Nello for $75,768 for building, wall, floor, door and structure revisions,
c. PL-31-231 to Vrabel for $20,849 for water line rerouting and garbage disposal connections,
d. EL-62-232 to Farfield for $32,909 for raceways, zone boxes, breakers, dampers and data connections,
e. ME-24-233 to McKamish for $31,279 for HVAC, vent, ductwork and fan changes, and
f. CW-03-234 to Reed for $10,118 for additional countertops funded from Capital Budget.
Word on the street is that the high school project will be completed Fall 2015. We'll see about that. We were promised that Hotel Tyvek was definitely opening July 1. That has been moved [again] to September 1.
Finally, I hear that the Rifle Range will be showing up shortly as a $500,000 capital project.
Finally, I hear that the Rifle Range will be showing up shortly as a $500,000 capital project.
38 comments:
Wow. Now over $4.5 million, counting the scam "capital" items separated from the true cost of the "renovation." At the current rate the project will come in over $10 million over the "limit." I remind Ms. Capucci ("it will only cost every taxpayer the price of a latte a day") and Mr. "I can keep the final cost under $95 million") of the foolish things they said to get re-elected. The entire school board should resign, in shame.
...and of course, there is no mention of the tennis courts and Bldg. C has yet to be torn down.
These people will still sit high and mighty at their piggy banquet table and blame the governor, Lebocitizens, cheap seniors for their budget shortfalls. Board members will still get excited, residents will be admonished not to roll their eyes and certain directors will pretend like they have a clue.
Never an apology. Never an admission that we're not as smart as we think we are. No, they keep passing out raises, hiring expensive campaign chairs and patting each other on the back and telling how wonderful each other is.
They are prpbably figuring out the next big money project to start to satisfy their inflated egos.
Also on the agenda, annual salary "adjustments" for administrators, specialists, head custodians, administrative assistants, supervisors, custodial/maintenance employees, and 12 month secretaries.
This would not include Timmy. His is coming next month.
Elaine
My mid-term report card for Steinhauer.
Math - F
History - F
Civics - D-
Woodshop - F
Lunch - A
Recess - B
Comments:
Dr. S, plays and gets along well with the other kids, but seems to have a lack of focus when it comes understanding assignments and task. He likes to showboat way too much and blame others when he gets into trouble.
7:56 if you are right and I think your estimate will pretty darn close, doesn't that put them right about the first bids that these fools were surprised by and rejected?
That the 2nd bid delete alternatives employed to bring the project in under $113.2 were just a sham.
With one year left to go, the contingency fund is now down to $860,286 out of the original $4,276,000. This assumes the new round of CO's will be approved as shown, and does not include an insurance refund of $16,361 which has so far not been received (or if it has the District has not yet made that fact public). Figuring in the insurance refund the contingency fund balance would be $876,647. All figures are rounded to the nearest dollar.
To put perspective on this mess, taking the best case scenario, which assumes the insurance refund is applied and there are 11 months left to go (probably longer), CO's cannot average more than $79,695/month from here on out. School Board meetings should become increasingly interesting and entertaining from now on; just watch the "Buck and Wing" as the Directors scramble to move money around to cover their a.... er, backsides.
Read this article again and pay close attention to this paragraph. Then compare the change orders and capital improvements. See and items in both list? Still think we weren't scammed?
http://triblive.com/mobile/1143394-81/project-bids-board-million-district-cost-lebanon-wrong-construction-costs
"The board previously agreed on seven "deduct alternates" -- items that could be bid separately or cut out of the project if the construction bids were too high, including cheaper materials and equipment for the roof, lighting, computer wiring and locker room ventilation; using off-site tennis courts instead of building new ones; and eliminating one of two auxiliary gyms in the athletic building. The total cost of those alternatives was not available, but a longer list of alternatives the board originally considered was only worth about $7 million."
They were warned, but they chose instead to mock and ignore their constituents.
"The project's cost and a 10 percent property tax increase to cover the first $69 million the district borrowed for it spurred strong opposition within the community, including a group called "Concerned Citizens of Mt. Lebanon" that collected signatures supporting a $75 million alternative.
"I'm not really surprised it went over their estimates. ... I am surprised by the amount of overage," said Bill Lewis, one of the founding members of the group and a frequent critic of the project.
He said the project could end up being subject to a referendum under state law if the costs go too high or the district has to exceed its debt limit. The high bids also could damage the credibility of board members who ran for re-election last year on the premise that the project could be brought in under $95 million, he said."
OK taxpayers, you can ignore recent history, continue to blame the governor for our rapidly escalating school taxes and stay away from the ballot booth in November.
But don't whine and sure as hell don't sit their and say you didn't know and weren't warned.
Every board member present or past who voted for this sham should be sued and held personally liable for their role in this fraud. They lied. It's that simple. They lied to the public. We're seeing the same unethical behavior by the commission. Maybe Posti can do a follow-up to her "In the Ghetto" missive where she derided the presence of a Dollar Store in Lebo. Gee, Josie, thanks to you and the other crooks on the board, taxes are going to increase to the point where that Dollar store will be the most popular place in Lebo. Maybe you and the others should consider moving somewhere else. You're not welcome here.
Can't wait until the next election, look out school board and commission because we have lost our shirts and now you are all going to lose your seats...
Goodbye liars!
Will the $500,000 for the rifle range come out of the PK fundraising? Wasn't it in the original plan?
RG, wasn't it said in a meeting that all change orders will be covered, but some will be challenged at the end of the project?
8:51 AM, I see that Bill Lewis and the rest of us fear mongers were right. No apologies will be issued to us since they are associated with the commission now.
What about the PlanCon reimbursements? Since there is a moratorium, that would kick us way over the referendum limit, right?
Looks like another whopper tax increase is in store for us next year. Newcomers, now you know why I said to put pressure on the school district?
I have been speculating since the beginning that demolition of Building C will be left for last, in case they run out of money.
Lebo bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. Lebo bridge is falling down, my foul school board. This could be Timmy's commencement address this year since magical talking frogs is old material.
Elaine
Is spending $500,000 for another special interest group justifiable?
Yes, newcomers that were happy with your 84% assessment break this year, but next year and beyond you're going to be paying more and more.
They caved on your assessment because it was good PR and they knew they could hammer you and everyone else but their underassessed McMansion kin!
Keep on looking at the individual pieces like turf, school taxes, stormwater fees, McNeilly purchase etc as separate pieces while the giant big picture comes crashing down on your head!
Elaine, this project was originally sold to the public that we would have everything the original school had and more. All up to 21st educational standards.
Now we're being sold rifle ranges and electronics, cafeteria furniture, stage curtains and sound systems and level gym floors as add-ons.
Are we idiots or what?
"RG, wasn't it said in a meeting that all change orders will be covered, but some will be challenged at the end of the project?"
Elaine:
I believe that's the case. My purpose at this juncture is to watch the numbers and what the school board does - not what they say. They can - and do - say anything they want. Right now, with the data available, and the current rate of spending, there's no way they can bring this thing in without spending the remaining contingency and then some.
Some "wag" posted on this Blog that the new edifice was a "temple to adolescence." I actually like that better than "Taj Mahal." It certainly describes the way our "leaders" think about money.
Plus, to do all this we added a $100,000+/year employee (Capital Campaign chair) with not one public accounting of whether that money was well spent or not.
Richard, it's typical of the all our leaders.
Look at the pool, the HS, and soon to be exposed turfing.
Budgets, money mean nothing. If they can imagine it, they want it.
Damn the taxpayer and the big picture.
As long as people like excitable Larry and $50 pizzas Cooper are happy... we should be happy.
I googled "quiet phase of capital campaign" and found this. The Quiet Phase
"This is, in a sense, when the campaign itself begins. In this phase you will form any committees you need, solicit the top 8-10 lead gifts, and make any final adjustments to your case. Most groups are able to move through this phase in six to nine months, but it can take a year or more. The point of this phase is to raise 50-60% of the goal before announcing the campaign to the public. Once the campaign is announced, it already has a lot of momentum and there is a great deal of certainty that it will succeed. In a way, the quiet phase is your last chance to get out of the campaign without any egg on your face."
Elaine
Aren't we heading into the second year of the campaign?
Plus, we hired PK, hired a chairwoman, set the goal... I'd say the quiet phase passed a long time ago.
Another part of campaign strategy is that the leaders that initiated are suppose to be first in with initial contributions.
I wonder if the Board presidents past and current and the administrators that got big raises and bonuses are in yet?
April 2013 the district hired PK, after spending $42,000 with them to find out their initial goal of $15 million wasn't achieveable.
Then in August 2013 they hired Deluca as Campaing Chairwoman at $85,000+ employer tax contributions and benies.
So to date expenditures on fundraising - that we can obviously see - are at $127,000 plus sime campaign fundraising software and training that was around $15,000 or so.
Bulking-up the funding for the renovation project with capital project funds defeats the referendum protection given the taxpayers to keep the project spending under 113 million. It gets worse. If the capital campaign ever generates contributions, those would, I assume go to the capital projects. The capital campaign could operate at a deficit, yet the funds brought in would support the renovation via the capital projects budget. How does a community unravel this mess?
Sue the board members personally to recoup costs. Provided for in the MPC is a provision that holds them accountable for financial misdeeds. They are not, as they believe, immune. Maybe this should be teed up with an attorney and handled on a contingency basis. It would be justice to see every one of them lose their homes due to their abuses.
What does MPC stand for?
Elaine
Elaine: Regarding you posting at 8:10am...I would propose a salary deduction, proportionate to every over-budget dollar to be spread among the administrators. Say 10% of the total overage, now truly $4.5million, with the largest percentage coming out of the most senior official and getting smaller as we move down the food chain. Reductions, not increases are in order, and no basis for "bonuses."
The Remely-Capucci-Kubit Building is a monument to what is wrong in Leboland.
Aren't Remely and Kubit members of the Mt. Lebanon Republican Committee? Now, there is a scandal.
Mrs. Cappucci: Forgetting your promise to keep the project under $95 Million, please tell me how much you pay for a latte, and compare that to the actual increases in property tax on each home in the district attributable to the High School project. Thank you for your anticipated thoughtful response.
MPC refers to the PA Municipalities Planning Code law....Google it...it governs Muni planning (Planning Board, Comprehensive Plan, Muni Planner) and Zoning, including Zoning Hearing Board.
Mr. Remely and Mr. Kubit: Why should any Republican, let alone the Mt. Lebanon Republican Committee ever endorse you for any public office? Indeed, why should you remain on that committee?
If you haven't noticed many republican defected ffrom the party. Mt. Lebanon was once the republican stronghold in Allegheny and now they can barely get 300 people to vote.
Thanks, 4:57 PM. Do school board directors fall under the MPC? I know that the commission does. That might be something to consider over the toxic turf project. But this high school project has been unstoppable. The sports cabal rallied to get the high school project and the same group is up to their old tricks with the turf project.
OK, let's get off of the R/D stuff. We have bad elected officials from both parties. We have issues that are being decided NOW. What are WE going to do about it?
Elaine
That Elaine, is going to take some planning.
Something different from petitions, blogging and yard signs.
We have a lot of intelligent, highly educated people in this community - surely someone has some new ideas.
School board meeting is Monday night. Construction Update starts at 7:00 PM in the Jefferson Middle School Library. School board meeting starts at 7:30 PM. Do you think there will be more than two residents attending? I doubt it. When there is a call for action, people are too busy. There is always a reason.
Elaine
With beautiful sunny weather, two attendees will be a stretch.
No, Elaine, school boards do not fall under the MPC. In fact, school boards are virtually unaccountable (save for Act 14, the PA School Code. Check out section 318 just for laughs).
That's why we desperately need tax reform. It's ridiculous to give the lion's share of our municipal tax dollars to a group of people who then thumb their collective noses at the very residents providing that money.
That's also why the school board in Mt. Lebanon has a history of displaying such contempt for anyone who dares question their decisions. They do because they can. The only way to change that is to make sure the people spending us into oblivion have brief political careers. And that, readers, means getting involved.
The MPC is more or less the guidebook for local government. It covers an array of topics. I'd encourage your readers to at least browse the index to see what's addressed in the Code.
Given the recent actions of our current Commission, I have an opinion on how those actions do or do not conform to what is prescribed and delineated in the MPC. But I'd be happy to discuss that in person if anyone is interested.
7:54 lying is another matter! If a certain FORMER School Board member wakes up and finally does the right thing they can out all the lying that went on to get the final number under the amount that called for a citizen vote. The School Board manipulated the numbers and it now clearly shows this. But as one attorney said about this issue "Liars have no problem to continue their lies even in a courtroom." We need this former School Board member to save themselves before it is too late! Listen to your neighbors and FRIENDS.
Has anyone visited the live construction camera views of the high school project on the district web site?
Camera 1- does this look like some monument to Construction Junction Cheap as opposed to a communities long term invest in education?
Compare Camera 1 to the view from Camera 2 which captures a portion of the original Bldg B.
Which one will stand up to the test of time?
Children, please forgive us for our sins!
Here is the link to the renovation cameras.
Elaine
This is why 84% is no solution.
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