From the BCCT.
You just have to shake your head and ask "Why?" when you see this line: "The project does not meet state guidelines necessary for state PlanCon reimbursement."
How is this a wise use of the taxpayer money of Morrisville?
Renovation plans at the 50-year-old Morrisville high school
Posted in News on Thursday, November 6th, 2008 at 6:31 pm by Courier Times reporter Manasee Wagh
Morrisville’s school board is working with Vitetta, a Philadelphia-based architectural and engineering corporation, to update old heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems at the Middle/Senior High School.The project’s scope includes a range of new components, including ventilators for heating in classrooms, windows with better weatherproofing, expansion tanks for boilers, heating and ventilation units in the gym, locker rooms, auditorium and kitchen, gas-fired hot water heaters and parts for the air- conditioning units in the library and administrative offices.
Vitetta also will test the hot water supply and piping at the high school because it probably has corroded due to age, said the facilities manager, Tim Lastichen.
There have been no sizeable renovations to any of the district’s three schools in decades, Lastichen said.
Morrisville’s two elementary schools are also in need of similar repairs, and the school board is in talks with Vitetta to perform upgrades there.
Part of the original $30 million bond meant for the new school will be used instead for the renovations.
The company’s fees for overseeing the high school upgrades total about $400,000, and the cost of replacement parts and labor is expected to be around $3.7 million.
The project does not meet state guidelines necessary for state PlanCon reimbursement.
Either renovation or construction is eligible for state reimbursement only under two criteria, according to the state Department of Education: adding capacity to the building, as in the case of a growing student population, or bringing the building up to modern American Disabilities Act standards.
Friday, November 7, 2008
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From the PDE Plancon FAQ Page:
What types of school construction projects are eligible for reimbursement from the Commonwealth?
The Commonwealth provides reimbursement for school districts for the construction of new schools, additions to existing schools, and/or renovations or alterations to existing schools to meet current educational and construction standards. A condition of reimbursement is to bring the entire building up to current educational standards and reasonably current construction standards.
So, I suppose it is up for interpretation what "reasonably current construction standards" means, and whether this work will "bring the entire building up to current educational standards."
I don't necessarily disagree with these conditions. They seem quite reasonable in fact.
My question to the board is, why not initiate Plancon and see what they say?
What's truly ironic is that I've seen some of the board members and fervent supporters behind this half-baked non-PLANCON non-ADA non-current code compliant renovation scheme have real difficulties getting up the steps into board meetings.
To respond to my own question, I suppose a better question to the board is, why not "bring the entire building up to current educational standards and reasonably current construction standards."
Besides the currently planned renovations, I'd like to know what is being done to comply with fire code (if there were a fire, smoke drafts into the hallways, which is backward in the current code) and other health and safety issues, such as asbestos abatement, wiring, and lighting?
Yes, I would like Peter's questions answered too.
I'm afraid the answer is that it costs too much money to do it right for this board's tastes. And by "this board", I mean Bill Hellmann, Marlys Mihok, Al Radosti, Brenda Worob, Gloria Heater, Jack Buckman, and Bill Farrell. I DON'T mean Joe Kemp and Robin Reithmeyer.
And aside from the ideological foodfights over who did what to whom and who's fault it was, since 2005 alone, the Morrisville School District has spent about $5 million on architects, engineers, lawyers, bond defeasers, bond holders, etc. for ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! NADA! ZIPPO!
Let's call it 50/50 - $2.5 million for the "prior board" to develop the now-dead new school, and $2.5 million for the "new board" to give all but $4 million of the $30 million in new school bond money back to bondholders.
And now the new board is moving ahead to spend almost $4 million more (the only bond money it didn't give back) on haphazard "renovations" that will not bring the buildings up to reasonably current construction standards, and for which the board is not seeking any state reimbursement.
Say what you will about the new school and how it went down, but at least that process followed PLANCON and sought state reimbursement, which would have been 10-12% of the cost. I don't know how the reimbursement formula works, but if it's similar for this $3.7 million exercise, that's $370,000 to $444,000 in reimbursement money that the nbew board is ignoring. In terms of tax millage, that 6.2 - 7.4 mils, or $112 - $133 for the average Morrisville homeowner. Who wouldn't want to hold onto that in these economic times?
So, new board, how about some "due diligence" (i.e. more homework) about what it would cost and take to meet PLANCON before you spend $4 million in public money?
From today's BCCT.
By RACHEL CANELLI
Bucks County Courier Times
COUNCIL ROCK - Good news for Goodnoe Elementary — the school is one step closer to getting upgrades.
The Council Rock school board Thursday night approved with a vote of 5-2 and one abstention an agreement with Schrader Architects to design a renovation and addition project at Goodnoe Elementary in Newtown for 5.5 percent of construction costs, which could be $10 million.
The proposed work on the school is part of the district's 10-year facilities master plan and to prepare for future capacity and potential growth at an already fully utilized school, said Tom Schneider, supervisor of operational services.
Besides filling the need for small and medium-sized instruction areas, the project would remove the school's eight modular classrooms, officials said.
The board tabled a similar motion in the beginning of October because members expressed concerns on moving forward with the economic crisis.
Schneider assured board members that the bidding market is competitive, interest rates are low, and starting now would give administrators more time to plan with staff. Plus, he said, waiting could cost more money since Goodnoe has had boiler and roof issues in recent years.
But a few board members were still not comforted.
“I don't think we should ask people to fund a new project,” board member Patricia Sexton said. “Let's finish the projects we already have and see where we are.”
Board member Bernadette Heenan agreed and said, “I just can't justify this right now.”
From today's Intelligencer. Also saw it in the todays's hard copy BCCT.
Officials to tour nearly completed Snyder-Girotti
By ELIZABETH FISHER
The Intelligencer
BRISTOL - The nearly completed Warren Snyder-John Girotti Elementary School was the main topic of discussion at the Bristol school board meeting Thursday night. Board members plan to take a tour of the $32 million building at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 28, said school board President David Chicilitti.
“That's Black Friday and most people will be off,” Chicilitti said. “It's a good time for a tour,”
The new school, expected to open in September for 1,100 students from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade, is in the final phases of construction. Windows, floors and roof installation continues, and plumbers, electricians and heating contractors are finishing up their work.
Traditionally, students in seventh and eighth grades move up to Bristol Junior-Senior High School. After the opening of the new school, plans call for those grades to remain at Snyder-Girotti, and the space they occupy at the high school will be renovated for what school officials term the “ninth-grade academy.”
In other business, school Superintendent Broadus Davis told the board that the U.S. Department of Education will not visit the district in response to a complaint alleging discrimination against female athletes. A representative of the civil rights board investigating the allegations will discuss the complaint via conference call between the civil rights office, Davis and district administrators.
The telephone discussion is scheduled for Nov. 18.
Board member John D'Angelo called the complaint was “as petty as you can get,” and expressed confidence that the district would be cleared.
The complainant's name was withheld by the civil rights office when it requested information about 2007-08 and 2008-09 high school teams' budgets and schedules, booster club records, awards ceremonies and other information.
At least the BCCT article implies that Vitetta will test the hot water supply and piping at the high school before they replace it. At the Oct. 22 meeting, the board voted to spend $108,000 to replace the piping without even testing it to see if it was still OK. I hope they can rescind that spending authorization. Otherwise, they're just gonna be paying to test it before they dispose of it!
Dear Mr. Hellmann, thanks for answering my question about this when I asked about it at the Oct. 29 special board meeting. NOT!
Plus, as I re-read the article, it sounds like an estimated $4.1 million will be spent on the Middle-High School alone ($400,000 in Vitetta's fees + $3.7 million in materials & labor). Doesn't that pretty much take care of the leftover bond money? What money will be used to "renovate" MR Reiter and/or Grandview Elementaries?
Plus, during the "new school era", I seem to recall all kinds of folks opining about the accuracy of "estimates" provided by architects and engineers, as well as their rock solid beliefs that no projects ever come in under budget, and that there will be change-orders galore that grossly inflate the final tally. Do you all now feel differently about these estimates? Why?
"I'm afraid the answer is that it costs too much money to do it right.."
Ultimately, that is the answer. We already knew that. Citing just the one example Jon provided, Goodnoe Elementary in Newtown will cost $10MM to renovate.
Citation #2: the shiny new Warren Snyder-John Girotti Elementary School in Bristol cost $32M.
This town doesn't have the stomach to do it right the first time and will instead continue to piecemeal the schools, which is exactly why they are in the condition they are in today. At some point we have to bite the bullet and do complete renovations. Sadly this will probably not be any time soon.
Round and round she goes, where it stops noone knows!
From the March 27, 2008 BCCT. Good thing we just hired Vitetta too!
Board to decide on school's color scheme
By JOAN HELLYER
Bucks County Courier Times
The Bristol school board has to decide if it wants the district's new school to be gray brick with red brick trim or red brick with gray brick trim, officials said.
The original plans for the $33 million pre-K through eighth-grade school off Buckley Street called for red brick with gray brick trim, district officials said. However, designs produced by VITETTA, a Philadelphia-based architectural firm in charge of the project, specified for the building to be gray brick with red trim, officials said.
The building contractor ordered the bricks according to the design specifications and crews began to install the bricks in the back of the school before the mistake was caught, officials said.
VITETTA representatives acknowledged the mistake to board members during a closed-door executive session earlier this month, district officials said.
The Courier Times was unsuccessful in reaching VITETTA Executive Vice President Michael Minton, who is in charge of the project's design, for comment Wednesday.
During the closed-door session, Minton asked board members to take a look at the bricks that already have been installed at the back of the school near the Grundy Towers senior citizens facility, the officials said.
He asked them to decide if they want to continue with the gray brick with red brick trim scheme, or if they want to use the original color scheme.
The construction project, including the issue with the bricks, is expected to come up again tonight during an executive session prior to the board's regular meeting, Superintendent Broadus Davis said Wednesday.
The brick issue is not listed as an item on the board's public meeting agenda, but any board member can make a motion regarding the concern during the meeting, Davis said.
Vice President John D'Angelo said he has had a look at the bricks and didn't think they looked too bad. He said he plans to suggest they put up the red brick with gray brick trim on the rest of the building before it's decided whether to tear down the already installed bricks.
The bricks that are already up “will delineate the boiler and maintenance area of the building. It will look like we did it on purpose,” D'Angelo said.
The brick situation is not expected to delay the building's construction, which is expected to be completed during the 2008-09 school year, officials said.
The building will replace the adjacent Warren Snyder-John Girotti Elementary and provide more learning space for district high school students when the seventh- and eighth-graders move out of the high school and into the new school, they said.
IF YOU GO
The Bristol school board is expected during its 7:30 p.m. meeting tonight to consider what to do about the brick color scheme of the new pre-K to eighth-grade school under construction off Buckley Street. The board meeting will be held at the administration building off Farragut Avenue. Call 215-781-1000 for more information.
Oh, and good thing Bristol was paying that "owner's representative" (i.e. the guy who was on the agenda and spoke at Morrisville's Oct. 29 board meeting) to oversee construction and make sure mistakes like that don't happen.
Uh, I think that's one of those "the project's still ongoing and there may be some claims from it, so I can't really get into details" things he mentioned when questioned at the Oct. 29 meeting.
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