Schools

Potential Cost Increases Keep D86 Summer Projects on Hold

The board wants more information about what caused summer-project costs to rise nearly $100,000 since the original bids were approved in April.

Well into July, summer projects are still not underway at Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South.

The District 86 Board of Education chose not take action Monday night on approval of 2013 re-bid summer construction contracts and requested more information from the district's general contractor about possible cost increases that have surfaced.

The overall summer projects cost has gone down from about $1.7 million to about $1.2 million with the nixing of hallway improvements at both schools, according to the district’s general contractor Gilbane Construction, but the second round of bidding resulted in the remaining projects for Central and South being $96,688 more expensive than they would have been under the original bids accepted by the previous board in April.

Find out what's happening in Hinsdale-Clarendon Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The new board canceled those original bid agreements during its first meeting in May.

READ: D86 Board to Vote on Canceling Hallway Improvements Project

Find out what's happening in Hinsdale-Clarendon Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Gilbane said in a written response to the board included in Monday night’s agenda documents that the apparent increases can be attributed to changes in project scopes made by the board, subcontractors discovering items in the bid packages they hadn’t the first time around, and variances in how the subcontractors distribute their costs from item to item.

“Added to the scope of work was the steel around the mechanical unit on the roof of Hinsdale South serving the pool, and added coiling doors and associated work at the concession stand at Hinsdale Central,” Gilbane’s Stephanie Mueller wrote in a letter to Superintendent Nick Wahl.

The concession stand project went from costing $139,652 under the original bids, according to Gilbane’s calculations, to $186,151 under the new bids—a $46,499 difference.

Despite having no scope changes, the cost of a new sump pump went from $17,500 to $36,500, and the cost of some new batting cages went up from $60,294 to $70,806.

Rick Young of Perkins and Will, the district’s engineering firm, said the cost estimates provided by Gilbane for individual projects could be inexact because summer work is bid out based on trade, not on entire projects, and the contractor had little time to break down the different bids by specific project. 

The individual project cost variances were requested by the board on July 6, and Gilbane’s response was provided on July 8.

Board members decided not to act and give Gilbane more time to provide more detailed information on the possible increases and a breakdown of which increases are due to scope changes and which increases are due to other factors.

"I personally think there needs to be a little bit more time looking at these numbers and trying to figure out how to get some rectifications on what the scope might be and how to keep the price and cost at or below the previous bid," said Ed Corcoran, chairperson of the board’s Facilities Committee.

Faciliites Committee colleague Richard Skoda said the committee likes the projects and believes they will enhance the schools.

“I think the thing we’re really looking for here is just for us to know if we are getting a good value for doing this or if we’re getting fleeced,” Skoda said.

It is possible that the district could also be on the hook for an additional $12,773 in cancelation fees requested by subcontractors, according to Gilbane. Those fees, Corcoran said, have not yet been paid and Young confirmed they are negotiable.

“We’re over $100,000, potentially, of additional costs,” said Jennifer Planson, who voted for the original bids on the previous board and against canceling on the new board.

It was not made clear if Gilbane’s revised data will be ready for further review in time for the next board meeting on July 15.


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