According to David Griggs, Skanska project manager, there are several causes for the $976,931 overage in the district’s bond issue; however, even understanding these causes may not give the entire picture of the project.
‘I could present a budget that is no problem,? said Griggs during a telephone interview, ‘but I want to be prepared for anything.?
One way Griggs says he does that is by not listing items as they are being spent, but by listing the total amount that can be spent on that item. For example, the district administrators are in charge of selecting and purchasing the equipment for the new high school. A specific amount has been allotted for this task.
Griggs stated that instead of listing how much of that amount has been spent as the administrators purchase the equipment, he continually lists the entire allotted amount in the budget. So, even though only half the amount may have been spent, the entire amount is listed as pending. Griggs explained this shows every account as ‘maximized.?
‘Certain portions of the project are under budget, but I can’t reflect that because those numbers come from the owners and they don’t want to show those,? he stated. ‘They want the architect and professionals to come down to where they should be instead of depending on the left over funds.?
In addition to this, the picture becomes clearer when the portions of the bond completed well under budget are added: Daniel Axford Elementary came in $18,821 under, Clear Lake just over $2,000 under, Lakeville Elementary $66,830 under, Leonard Elementary $69,375 under (including the addition of two extra classrooms not originally scheduled), and Oxford Elementary $276,895 under.
Also, there are still several items left that require price negotiation, such as the cost of masonry, and many items are being ‘value engineered? to create savings, such as foregoing masonry work for dry walling or choosing a less expensive carpeting. Griggs added that ‘value engineering? does not effect what the public voted to build ? the same space will be built, just at a reduced price.
Griggs also stated that on top of these items, there are two areas that could not be avoided and have caused costs in the bond to rise: changes in the structural steel plans and necessary soil engineering.
The largest overage in the bond to date is $1,406,715 at the current middle school, and the bulk of that amount has been caused by structural steel changes. Griggs stated that this one area ‘from the original bid to today in change orders went up significantly? and almost ‘doubled the price.?
Structural steel changes occur, according to Griggs, when the designs are ‘drawn one way, but in reality it wouldn’t work.? This happens when the architects drawings will not work for the structural designer.
‘There were some coordination issues between the structural and architectural points,? said Griggs. ‘Major design changes in the steel are our largest hurdle at the moment.?
He added that most jobs will see around two percent of the project go through structural steel changes, but any more than that is concerning. To date, the project at the current middle school has well surpassed the two percent mark.
When asked who is responsible for these ‘coordination issues,? Griggs said that depends on the item.
‘I think the professional team is ultimately responsible to bring the project down to budget,? he stated. ‘Yes, I think there is some responsibility there is some way, shape and form.
‘Absolutely, the school and we are taking a long hard look at these steel revisions. It’s our responsibility to manage the bond wholly, the construction, the money, everything.?
The other item to increase significantly in cost was the required soil engineering. Every construction project is required to go through soil bearing tests before laying foundations. Griggs stated that while preparing the ground on the N. Oxford Rd. side of OMS, the soil bearing tests showed that the site was not providing adequate foundation bearing.
In order to prepare the area for construction, workers had to redesign the foundations and dig lower until appropriate bearings were found. The final cost increase was around $500,000.
‘It was a reasonable amount for the project,? said Griggs. ‘It typically happens on every job.?
Overall, Griggs stated that the $976,931 is not the final number and, in fact, around $600,000 of the overage is actually anticipated costs, not actual costs. However, this still leaves more than $300,000 to reduce.
‘Now we’re going to fix this,? Griggs told school board members at their April 27 regular meeting. ‘We are not coming back to Oxford with this. I believe the bond has to support itself so this number has to get to zero.?
‘We’re not going to cause Oxford any trouble,? Griggs later confirmed with this reporter. ‘This bond issue will support itself. The professionals need to come in and do what they’ve been hired to do.?