Reprint from the Progress Times - October 3, 2008
©Progress Times 2008 - All Rights Reserved

 

District considers architect termination

 

By Ricky Reynoso

Citing a misunderstanding of project scope and budget, the Mission Consolidated Independent School District (MCISD) Facilities Committee discussed the possible contract termination with architects for the Mims and O’Grady Elementary School construction projects during a meeting on Wednesday, October 1.

Superintendent Oscar Rodriguez said the working relationship with EGV Architects has become strained due to miscommunication and budget concerns.

District Architect Marta Salinas-Hovar later clarified that the problem was with the invoicing by architect. The two projects are in the design stage. “Nothing’s been constructed. We haven’t bid it out yet,” she explained.

The architectural fees for these projects are a fixed fee, based on the projected cost, or budget, for each project.

“The projects for Mims and O’Grady were budgeted for $1.7 million and $1.4 million and they invoiced us for more,” Rodriguez said.

Facilities, Maintenance and Construction Executive Director Ricardo Rivera claimed the architect went with a different air conditioning system than what was originally planned for the projects.

“We never agreed to that type of system,” Rivera said. “Our miscommunication was with the mechanical engineer, who works with the project architect. I had no communication with them when they made the changes.”

Project Architect Eddie Vela said he had previously presented line item changes to the facilities committee and was under the impression that they were given the go ahead with the changes.

“Under the direction of the superintendent we put the item changes in order according to priority,” Vela said. “We came back to the facilities committee and presented the itemizations and rankings. After presenting for a third time we were given direction to go ahead.”

Hovar disagrees. “The budget has remained the same. The item has never been taken before the board for approval,” she said. Hovar explained that when a budget increase is approved on a project she would write a letter to the architect notifying them of the change. “That never happened. I never told them we were increasing budgets,” Hovar later said. 

The facilities committee decided to bring the issue before the board of trustees on October 8.

Board of Trustees

A proposal to seek a contractor for the second phase of Mission High School Renovations was brought before the Trustees.

Two bids were submitted for the project, which will focus on buildings A,B,C,E, and G. Rio Valley Construction Incorporated and Topcon Incorporated were the two companies that submitted the bids.

Rio Valley Construction’s bid came in at a total of $3,260,000 with a base bid of $2,742,000. Topcon’s total was $3,189,479 with a base bid of $2,385,000. Though Topcon’s bid was lower, Rudy Molina of Milnet Architectural Services said their packet was incomplete. The board voted recommended Rio Valley Construction be awarded the bid.

Finance Committee

On the agenda was an item seeking committee direction regarding the Veterans Memorial High School softball batting cage complex.

Rivera told the committee that the item had previously been approved by the board of trustees but was subsequently tabled due to construction budget constraints.

“Rio Valley Construction quoted us $453,600,” Rivera said. “That’s a little larger than the one at Mission High School, but it’s identical in every other way. Mesa Construction quoted us a price $378,000, but that’s without engineering services.”

Facilities Committee member Patricia O’Caña-Olivarez voiced concerns with the price which she thought seemed excessive.

“I’m just shocked and frustrated,” Ocaña-Olivarez said. “These are the same numbers as a six thousand square foot home. I know that construction costs have gone up, but I wouldn’t have thought it’d be that much.”

The committee directed Rivera to find a structural architect in order to expedite the potential project.

Also on the agenda was a notification of an increase of campus key accountability, inventory and replacement costs. Citing security concerns, Rivera said the district would be raising the cost of replacement keys for district employees.

Currently a replacement key costs five dollars. The new price for the first lost key will now be $15 each, $30 for the second, and $50 for the third. A master key will cost $100 to replace and a great grand master key for the whole building will cost $500.

“Don’t lose your keys,” Rivera said.

Chief Financial Officer Connie Lopez informed the committee that their contract with the newly renamed Compass Bank has not changed. Lopez said that though their original depository contract was with Texas State Bank, Compass informed them that it would still be valid.

“It has involved some transition,” Lopez said. “We’ve had some more work to try to get wire transfer approval, but the security is much tighter. Overall, it’s been fairly smooth. Either way we still have a year left on our contract.”