Reprint from the Progress Times - November 16, 2007
©Progress Times 2007 - All Rights Reserved

MCISD renovation projects come in over budget

By Kathy Olivarez

Once again planned renovation projects for the Mission Consolidated Independent School District are coming in over budget.

"We cannot believe how much over budget these projects are coming," Miles Ponder, roofing consulting for the district, told the MCISD Facilities Committee in a meeting held Wednesday, November 14.

Ponder explained that one reason the cost of the HVAC replacement on Waitz Elementary and K. White Junior High was so high was because of the condition of the duct board. He said that it was falling apart and every bit of the duct board and metal work would have to be replaced instead of used again.

To bring the project down in terms of cost the RFA boxes to be put in the classrooms had been taken out of the budget.

Ponder said he still had no idea why everything came in as high as it did and asked the board for more time to study the bid. Although Ponder had recommended use of the chilled water system as a means of saving energy costs in the future, they might be able to get a construction cost savings by using a DX system instead.

Facilities Committee Chairman Dan Gerlach said it was time to sit back and look at the projects that were planned during the last bond issue.

"We need to see where the money is coming from," said Gerlach. "Unless the district has an extra seven or eight million dollars hidden somewhere, it will be impossible to do everything we had planned to do. We have to prioritize."

Superintendent Oscar Rodriguez said already there had been things cut from the original scope of the bond issue.

"How long do we wait?" asked Oscar Martinez, who said that while the district waited to do the projects, the amount of money it would cost to do each one would increase.

The planned renovations for Cantu and Leal were not as bad. MCISD architect Marta Hovar said that if only the libraries and the kitchen renovations were done and other renovations were left to another bond issue, the projects could be done on budget.

Hovar said the total renovation costs for Cantu came in at $4.4 million. A total of $3.36 million had been budgeted from IFA funds for Cantu with $2.5 for construction. The kitchen and library renovations came in at $2.53, which was within budget with contingency. Planned HVAC and lighting renovations would have to be cut.

The overall IFA budget for Leal Elementary was $3.36 million. Actual construction costs were set at $2.4 million. The base bid for construction projects at Leal, which included a new library and four classrooms and kitchen expansion came in at $2.7 million. Contingency funds would have to be used to complete just the minimum project. The alternative bid for renovation of two classroom buildings, was above the IFA fund budget.

The projected cost of reroofing for Mims and O’Grady was also projected to be high. Architect Eddie Vela talked to the board about different types of roofing that might be used to bring costs into line. Estimated costs at Mims were $1.7 million and O’Grady $1.8 million.

Vela said other cuts could be made to bring the campus into budget such as not replacing an old gas line at $9,000.

Gerlach asked about the life expectancy of the gas line. Vela was unsure. Gerlach said it would be better to go into contingency and replace the gas line because the safety of the children was at stake.

Rudy Gomez of Gomez Mendez Saenz, Inc said that the contractor had poured the concrete foundation for the last two sections of Building A of the new middle school. The CMU walls are going up all over the building. The rough-in work for Building B is ready and beams for the foundation are being installed.

Gomez said the contractor had asked for additional days. Rodriguez said that the school would have to be substantially complete by time for school to start and was opposed to giving additional days at this point. Gomez said that realistically only one building would be complete.

The new elementary is three days ahead of schedule. The main concerns at the meeting were on what type of tile would be used in the kitchen area so that the carts would not squeak when they rolled over the floor.

Rudy Molina of Milnet Architectural Services said that the firm was working on background plans for the renovation, and that they would have something to present in January.