Moon School Board to Address Change Orders, Sewer Issues on District Campus
School board members say no end date is yet available for continuing work on the district's main campus in Moon Township.
The vice president of the Moon Area School Board said remaining change orders on the middle school renovation project will be paid for through a capital reserve fund.
School board member Ron Steele said a contingency fund for change orders on the district’s middle school overhaul was depleted several months ago.
He said the fund was exhausted earlier than expected due to a “bank recording error.”
“So now, quite frankly, we are limited to what we have through our capital reserve fund,” Steele said. “What’s making it difficult for us now is it seems like the change orders are getting more and more expensive.”
The exact cost of overall change orders for the middle school project was not immediately available.
School board members on Monday tabled a motion to move forward with $33,000-worth of work to the renovated campus' driveway, located outside of the high school's administrative offices.
The driveway, which is planned to serve as part of a main entrance for motorists, was not completed to original specifications. Brian Fulkerson, a project manager with the New Castle-based Eckles Architecture, said the work had been accidentally omitted in earlier construction phases.
As an omission, the district is still responsible for funding the work, Fulkerson told board members. Under original plans, crews were expected to install a sidewalk and seating wall in the area, and repave the driveway’s surface.
“(Construction crews) either forgot about it, or didn’t deal with it at the time,” Steele said of the work.
Board members are now expected to reconsider that portion of the campus—possibly eliminating the seating wall from the plans, or implementing other cost-saving measures.
Steele said board members believe that the work is “costing us more than it would have, because it was not bid out as a part of a larger project.”
“The argument (from Eckles) is that we would have had to pay for it anyway,” Steele said.
The district opened its renovated middle school at the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year. The facility, constructed in 1964, formerly served as the district’s high school before undergoing a $48 million overhaul.
The middle school houses students in grades five through eight.
In addition to the middle school, the district opened a newly constructed, $76 million high school in 2011. Its former middle school is in the midst of a demolition.
Board members on Monday also tabled a series of change orders related to sewer and waterline work running through the high school’s stadium and field house.
School board member Laura Schisler, who also sits on the board for the Moon Township Municipal Authority, said a water authority inspector contacted her regarding a number of issues related to water lines in that portion of the campus, including specifications on water meters and aging pipelines.
Schisler said she believes contractors on the project had not contacted the water authority “since the first phase of construction” on the middle school.
Schisler said she brought the issue to the attention of school board members and administrators earlier this week.
“The inspector had picked up on some red flags,” Schisler said. “To me, it was odd, that we have this type of project and this would not have been looked at sooner.”
MTMA President John Riley said an engineer is now working with the district to address those issues.
Steele said the district is unsure of when work will be finalized on the district’s main campus. He said tentative plans indicate that work may wrap up in August.
“But I’ll believe it when I see it,” Steele said.
Construction on the high school began in 2009, with work on the middle school following.
Former prime contractor Reginella Construction defaulted on the middle school renovation in 2012—a setback that Steele said is likely to blame for delays and confusion on change orders.
“We can’t seem to get a date on when this is going to end,” Steele said. “I asked that question (to Eckles manager Brian Fulkerson) and I didn’t get an answer.”
In This article
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Moon Area School District
8353 University Blvd, Moon Township, PA -
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Moon Area High School
8353 University Blvd, Moon Township, PA -
Leena B
1:42 pm on Thursday, March 14, 2013
Who is the Construction Manager on this job?
Louisa
10:49 am on Friday, March 15, 2013
The construction manager, architect, and contractors were all hired by Mr. Scappe when he ran this school district. Where is Mr. Scappe now? I hope he isn't planning on running for school board again. This is what many people who opposed the lavish construction said years ago - you don't have enough money! We would have been better off with new or remodeled buildings that do not have all the gingerbread. I'm amazed every time I go into the middle school for my kids events - there's a huge wall of television screens to greet visitors, what in the heck do they show on these all day? We could have saved money on such unnecessary features and still have been able to pave the driveways. This is what Moon gets for electing him and his acolytes year after year.
lynn
2:07 pm on Friday, March 15, 2013
What Louisa [ Julia ] wants everyone to overlook is the out of control spending on excessive change orders done by the current board majority - the yellow team that had her as their campaign manager! The yellow team has approved every single change order since they took control well over one year ago. The only board member who questions the change orders, and who holds the architect and construction people accountable is Jerry Testa. He has voted "no" to numerous change orders. Thank goodness one person on that board will stand up for the taxpayers.
Louisa
8:03 am on Monday, March 18, 2013
Hey Lynn who's Julia?
Teri Shaw
8:48 am on Monday, March 18, 2013
It does not surprise me that you forgot who you are Louisa (Julia). It's hard to remember all the lies. The current board has approved every change order. Mr. Scappe has been off this board for 2 years stop blaming him. You need to move on. You need to look at this current board and their actions. I mean ACTIONS! First approved every change order, furloughing staff, increased class size, trying to close an elementary school, Members playing footes which each other. Stop blaming Mr. Scappe and former board members. They have been off this board for 2 years. Put the blame on this current board. I would like to have seen how the previous board would have completed the construction work under budget as they stated. I guess we will never now becasue of all the lies which were stated during the last school board election. I remember one the yellow team stated that the district was going to have to raise taxes because of the building project. However in the last Three years NO TAX INCREASE. I guess Mr. Scappe and his team did not lie because they stated No tax Increase was needed. Mr. Scappes statements were proved by the NO Tax Increase for the past Three years and it looks like another year of No Tax increase. STOP blaming Mr. Scappe and move on.
Louisa
12:14 pm on Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Wow, Teri seems you are angry! Please stop trying to smoke me out, I am who I am, not "Julia". The fact is Scappe, and his colleagues including current board member Jerry Testa voted for this massive building program. They hired the construction manager and contractors, they approved the HS and MS projects including MANY change orders, and bled money out of the bond fund. They are also responsible for the reprehensible condition of the athletic fields perhaps if they or their consultants had kept a sharper eye out on the construction projects this school district would not be headed to court over getting them fixed!
Leena B
11:31 am on Tuesday, March 19, 2013
I am not an expert in construction. However, I do know that change orders do happen. No one is perfect. It is my understanding that this project has had very minimal (the opposite of excessive) change orders compared to other construction projects. I think that all involved should be commended for their efforts. I toured the building and thought it was beautiful.
When people are buying a home they look at the school and the district. We want to keep our kids in a competitive educational environment.
As I was taught in my business classes, "you have to spend money to make money."
lynn
2:05 pm on Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Leena B you are absolutely correct. The buildings are beautiful, and what great educational facilities they are. I wish my children could have attended school in such fine buildings, but I am happy that my grandchildren are in the Moon School District. Louisa [ Julia ] has a very scary obsession with Mr.Scappe. He has been off the board for nearly two years now but yet she still feels the need to continuously mention him and blame him for everything. Louisa [ Julia ], you might want to see a professional and get some help with your strange fixation on Mr. Scappe.
Teri Shaw
2:05 pm on Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Louisa, Julia whoever you are. Let's talk about bleeding the funds. I remember Mr. Bussard canceled the first building project and then bled the district funds in renovating McCormick. Now he wants to close an elementary building because we do not need five buildings.
Jenna Staul
10:12 am on Thursday, March 21, 2013
I'm going to turn off this commenting thread, just as its started to devolve and get off-topic. Even though we allow anonymous commenting, let's at least try to keep it polite and related to the topic.
Thanks,
Jenna