Expense issue angers USD 258

By RICHARD LUKEN
Register Reporter

HUMBOLDT — A storm sewer line issue that had flown largely under the radar for USD 258 Board of Education members came to the forefront Monday night.
And board members weren’t happy about it.
The board grilled Ed Carlson of the architectural firm Hollis and Miller, in charge of designing the Humboldt Community Fieldhouse, about the storm sewer lines.
In a further sign of their unhappiness, board members declined to pay for any more of the storm sewer project until they know more details about the cost.
At issue was a series of events that cropped up much earlier in the construction phase, when workers discovered that phone and fiber-optic lines were in the planned path of storm sewer lines.
Because of the time constraints related to the construction project and anxiety about how much money would be available for the storm sewer work at the time, Carlson said he, Superintendent of Schools Robert Heigele and other subcontractors visited about possible solutions at a construction planners meeting.
The consensus was to relocate the storm sewer lines instead of removing the other utilities. Much of that work had been done weeks ago.
But board members did not get the bill for the modified lines until Monday, in the form of two change orders totaling $59,474.50.
“Hindsight being 20-20, there’s no way we would have approved the work had we known it was going to cost that much without coming to the board first,” Carlson said.
Carlson’s explanation of the events did not sit well with the board members, nor did the timing of the change order.
“I’m not really thrilled about paying for a change order that the board’s not asking you to make,” Joe Works said, saying such responsibility should fall on the builders.
“The builders build what is on our dockets,” Carlson said. “That is why we carry a contingency fund. This is one of the items that falls in the category of a change order.”
Virtually all of the storm sewer work is complete, with the rerouted portions, which likely means board members have little alternative than to pay for the change order.
Carlson explained that the phone lines impeding the storm sewer system weren’t discovered earlier because crews were working from a 10-year-old utility survey report, created during construction of Humboldt Middle School in the mid ’90s.
It wasn’t until crews were ready to break ground that they discovered the other utilities were in the way, Carlson said.
The cost of the change order is mitigated somewhat because the district would have had to pay more up front for more surveying work, plus the sewer line changes, Carlson said. Likewise, relocating the phone and fiber-optic lines would have cost the district as well.
Carlson did not recommend the board pay the entire $59,474.50 because he also had an issue with a portion of the bill from Don Cress Backhoe, Humboldt.
Cress had billed the district $40,361.50 for the piping, “a number I don’t agree with,” Carlson said.
Carlson said industry standards would place the piping’s cost between $25,000 and $28,000.

HEIGELE SAID the responsibility for the lack of prior communication regarding the change order fell on his shoulders.
“We’re obligated to pay it and the fault is probably mine,” he said.
But Heigele also took issue with Cress and other subcontractors who did not complete their work sooner.
“We had bricklayers who told us they could get their work done in eight weeks,” Heigele said. “We gave them 10 weeks. And you can count up 20 weeks we had of good weather, and I would bet there were bricklayers there for all 20 weeks.
“What did that actually cost us?” Heigele asked.
Heigele noted that Cress still has not completed with the storm sewer lines.
“We broke ground on this in the middle of July,” Heigele said. “We had almost six months of good weather, and he’s still wallowing in the mud. How much of this cost is what he’s trying to make up? Is there a penalty involved for piddling around when the weather was good? Are we paying for that now?”
Carlson said an itemized bill will detail all of the costs related to the storm sewer work, and that any delays beyond what the contract stipulated penalize the subcontractors. “They’re not being rewarded for being late.”
The contracts, however, did not provide for liquidated damages, Carlson said in response to a question from board member Curt Mueller.
Board member Chris Bauer asked, “Is it typical for the work to be completed before you go to the owners” with a change order?
“I had anticipated the pricing coming in more quickly, but it doesn’t always happen that way,” Carlson replied.

NOT ALL OF the news regarding change orders were bad. Board members learned that a different system of light fixtures for the fieldhouse will come in at $30,000 less than had been expected.
They eagerly agreed to that change order.
The district still must pay for a $35,000 sound system for the fieldhouse, and they approved spending up to $16,000 to put a rubberized surface on the facility’s elevated walking track.
Board members tabled discussions on implementing a new security system, saying they needed to see the requirements for securing the new fieldhouse while still making it accessible for the community.
The district has about $80,000 remaining in contingency funds of the $6.1 million project.
Carlson and Mike Van Dyke of Prosser Wilbert, construction manager for the fieldhouse construction, said the entire project should be done by the end of March.
Heigele hedged his bets a bit, saying he would not be surprised if the work goes into April.

MICHAEL HEALY, a computer applications instructor at Humboldt High School and Humboldt Middle School, will retire at the end of the school year. Healy has been with the district for 31 years. Board members also accepted the resignation of Shelby Huddleston, music instructor for grades 6-12, and assistant baseball coach Sherman Asmore.
Board members hired Kevin Miller as Huddleston’s replacement, Missy Channel as a cook at the high school and Connie Isaac as an elementary school paraprofessional.