ELY – The $21.5 million building and renovation project on the ISD 696 campus here is quickly headed for the Labor Day completion finish line, and with about a month to go, just seven percent of work remains to be completed, according to project managers.
School board members were updated on the project Monday night and were hit with the surprising news that the $1 million contingency fund, used for unplanned expenditures during the last 15 months of construction, is wiped out. Additional expenditures anticipated to complete the project will likely send the final cost closer to or beyond the $22 million mark.
Portions of the project, such as the boys and girls locker rooms in the Memorial High school building, will still be under construction after Labor Day, according to Todd Erickson of Kraus-Anderson.
Superintendent John Klarich, who assumed his part-time administrative leadership duties about five months ago, read a prepared statement outlining his observations on the overall project and the challenges he faced when he took over following the resignation of Eric Erie last winter.
“My first priority was to get a handle on the building project and the financial shortfalls,” he said. “I began researching the costs and I wasn’t clear until this last week on some of the major issues. It appears that there were some supply issues, COVID-related cost issues, many change orders prior to my arrival, continuing change orders, and a lack of workforce among other issues.”
Klarich described his efforts in working with the district’s lobbyists and area legislators to get the project back on a solid financial footing.
“We received some major funding to get us back on track, however, the legislature adjourned before passing a majority of the bills before them, including two bills that were somewhere between $4-5 million, to help us. So, we are sitting in limbo not knowing what is going to happen.”
He told board members that he continues to work with the Costin Group lobbyists about finding additional financing to complete the building project.
“We have between $4-5 million out there and will have to continue hoping that the (tax bill) legislation will pass when they come back into session next January,” Klarich said.
Klarich said the project quickly went over budget because of unforeseen supply chain issues and increased construction costs due to inflation, along with renovation challenges in retrofitting 100-year-old buildings.
He noted that the ledge rock encountered in the water and sewer line construction “greatly increased” the cost of the project. “That wiped out any contingency funds we had left,” Klarich said.
He maintains that board members were “given wrong information” when they were considering increasing the size of the school building addition to include the new gymnasium, vocational education areas and media center.
“I believe my predecessor underestimated that. He had a price of about $1 million and I think it is at $3 million-plus, if I’m not mistaken,” Klarich said.
“We are getting close to the opening of school as this project is really going full force on all fronts. It is really busy around here in all buildings,” he added.
Erickson updated the school board on the status of the project. The ledge rock removal process hit another snag last week as work proceeded on the north side of the campus along Harvey Street.
“They found the old foundation from the former (Ely Junior) college building that was located here years and years ago. Today, they drilled down through that concrete foundation and got to the ledge rock beneath. They had to blast that rock as well,” he said.
The original bid documents indicted that any ledge rock encountered would be removed at a rate of $300 per cubic yard.
“The estimated quantity is at 1,000 yards,” he said. “We are pretty certain the quantity will exceed 1,000 yards. As of last week, construction crews had documented blasted and excavated about 650 yards of rock.”
In the existing water line that was installed in 1905, all the joints were put together with lead, Erickson said, noting that, “With your lead issues in the water, this was potentially the source.”
Erickson said the new kitchen equipment is in place. The new gymnasium floor was about half installed as of Monday. The new power supply in the basement of the Washington building, that will power that building and the new addition, “will be running by Saturday night,” he said.
Erickson presented a punch list that indicated that parts of the new addition, including the offices and media center, are scheduled to be complete and turned over to school officials for cleaning by Aug. 3.
The kitchen area in the new addition will be fully complete by Aug. 10.
“We have a lot of inspections to be completed in that area,” he said.
By Aug. 17, the commons area, and industrial arts and music education areas are scheduled for completion.
Some areas of the parking lots around the campus are newly graded following the water supply and drain work. The bus drop-off loop should be complete and graded by the end of next week, according to Erickson.
“The parking area on the south side of the Memorial building is scheduled to be graded by Aug 12,” he added.
Curb and gutter work for the parking lots should begin by Aug. 8. Landscaping will then start during the week of Aug. 15.
“Asphalt and paving will start on Aug. 29,” he said. “We are pushing to get the lots ready on time for school opening. We have commitments for everything. Barring weather and more unforeseen structures out there, we’ll have three days of paving, then we’ll have the time to get it striped and signed.”
The original $1,094,000 in contingency funding was slowly chipped away as the project progressed. About $674,000 of the fund was expended as of last month, leaving about $419,000 remaining. The rock blasting, estimated to cost about $300,000, along with pending additional expenditures for bracing for the HVAC systems, locker room floor completion and other recent expenditures quickly zeroed out the account.
Additional expenditures are anticipated, according to Erickson, for more ledge rock and old building foundation removal.
“There are still more things coming in dealing with these hundred-year-old buildings,” Erickson said.
As school board members reviewed five pages of change order requests numbering near 125 of contingency expenditures totaling more than $674,000, Rochelle Sjoberg claimed she never saw some of the change orders requested prior to Klarich’s arrival to the district and asked Erickson to review the change order request process.
“I feel like there are some of these I did not see. Obviously, that is for a whole other conversation,” she said.
Erickson asked her to point out any specific requests.
“I want to put some more thought into this, but I probably will,” Sjoberg said.
Erickson said the second floor of the Washington building is more complete than it appears.
“The prominent things that we are doing up there is the HVAC system and the doors. All the duct work is done on the second floor. All the wiring is pulled. Sprinklers and lighting are in place. Door frames are all placed on the second floor. That second floor could easily be ready for final cleaning in a week to 10 days. And the first floor is just a couple days behind the second floor.”
The biggest concern Erickson said he has with both (existing school buildings) is the HVAC system upgrades.
“We ordered material in December with a six-month lead time. We wanted them in June. The last I heard was that they were supposed to ship by the end of this week. We may end up getting them by the first of August. The wiring and duct work is set in the (Washington building) and crews are ready to execute that,” he said. The Memorial building is nearly ready to receive the HVAC units, he added.
Board member Chad Davis inquired about contingency plans in place for final cleaning of the buildings before occupancy.
“We are looking at having other employees come in to help with the cleaning,” Klarich said.
Erickson added, “It might take a cleaning contractor to step up and do it. As I understand, at one time that was in the (construction) budget and then taken out.”
Erickson admitted the school locker room renovations will not be complete by Labor Day and added that a back-up plan is in place to go forward with alternative locker areas as the school year begins.
“My best guess for the locker room completion is at the end of September or early October. The supply chain is still messing with us. After the shower bases are here and placed, the tile goes in and then all the plumbing has to be hooked up,” he said.