Distressed trustees balked Monday at paying more than $1 million
in cost overruns to construction management firm Jacobs Facilities,
Inc.
Distressed trustees balked Monday at paying more than $1 million in cost overruns to construction management firm Jacobs Facilities, Inc.
The district has grappled for months with with concerns about construction management decisions and mistakes by Jacobs, the firm that built Barrett Elementary and started the Live Oak High renovations. The board recently voted not to continue Jacobs’ contract and instead hired another construction management firm to build Sobrato High School.
Cost overruns totaling $1,462,907 for the first phase of renovation of Live Oak High were on the board’s agenda for approval, but after much discussion, trustees decided to continue the item to the next regular meeting March 24.
“The district is out of control,” said board-watcher Harlan Warthan. “The amount of money being spent is ridiculous.”
Change orders for the Live Oak renovation include asbestos abatement and renovation of the English, social studies, math, special projects and science buildings; abatement, renovation and expansion of the library; demolition of the two existing pools and construction of a new 35-meter pool; and construction of a new practice gym.
According to the district, the change orders actually total $1,692,304, but district staff recommended approving only $1,462,907 on Monday, with the remaining $229,397, which includes fees for overtime, acceleration and miscellaneous expenses, set aside for further discussion by the board.
Specific items on the pages-long list include $14,273 for changing the ceiling height in the library; $7,020 for moving a toilet in building 7; $19,782 for a revised paint specification for the gym; $2,900 to pump water from the pool; and $1,251 for water to fill the pool.
“I would have assumed that water to fill the pool would have been a part of the original bid,” Trustee Shellé Thomas said.
Live Oak High Co-Principal Rich Knapp said the water had to be obtained from across the street.
“These change orders were reviewed by (former facilities director) Martell Taylor and in some cases by myself,” said Knapp.
Taylor left the district in early December after citing his lack of confidence in Jacobs and Superintendent Carolyn McKennan. District administrators are searching for a candidate to replace Taylor.
Knapp explained that of the change orders – which make up 17 percent of the basic construction costs – 9 percent were requested by the district for “educational purposes.” He said most of the rest of the changes resulted from things that were not apparent in the buildings or in the site when the plans for the renovation were drawn up.
“We would get inside the buildings and find that things were not as they appeared,” he said. “Each pod was supposed to be identical; they were not identical. The heating and cooling systems were supposed to be identical; they were not identical.”
Thomas asked Knapp how the district could prevent these kind of overruns from happening again.
“With Sobrato (High School), we were a lot more diligent in the prework, and we won’t be faced with discovering existing conditions we weren’t aware of,” he said.
Trustee Amina Khemici wanted to know why all the overtime was necessary.
“When we planned to do the work at Live Oak, work was going to be done first at Ann Sobrato High School,” said Knapp. “When we decided to do Live Oak first, we had a lot of overtime getting it going.”
Warthen told the board a construction expert needs to closely monitor construction projects.
“The consultant (Brad Saylor, who studied Barrett construction costs) made it clear that no one is in charge, there is no stopgap,” he said. “Rich (Knapp) is not a construction manager, he’s a high school principal. In all fairness, you can’t expect him to understand construction issues.”
Trustee Mike Hickey said he would like to follow the advice of the consultant. Saylor recommended that the district hire someone to review contract payment procedures and oversee construction.
Board President Tom Kinoshita said there was a board consensus to take that step.
The renovation of Live Oak is funded by approximately $17 million from a $72.5 million bond approved by voters in 1999. The bond also contained funds for the construction of Barrett, which was completed over budget and a year late in 2001, and the construction of Sobrato High School.
