Board balks at St. Paul’s window protection change orders – Garden City News

A very mild winter apparently did not assist contractors trying to seal up the many broken windows at St. Pauls, as they proposed additional project costs to the village, which were quickly challenged.

The Village Board decided to table an agenda item for its April 15 meeting calling for a change order that would drive up costs of the current stabilization phase at the historic St. Pauls main building. The identification of new broken windows at St. Pauls, during a very mild winter and while the community and country is under quarantine orders wasnt considered an accurate assessment of conditions warranting the expense. Furthermore the St. Pauls School Window Protection project would be under the supervision of the hired construction manager consultants CNY Group, represented by village resident Walter Beal at multiple Board meetings last year.

Superintendent of Public Works Joseph DiFrancisco said three project change orders were submitted by Talty Construction, Inc. at a total cost of $35,776.83; amounts of $19,043.43, $3,600, and $13,133.40, including charges for additional labor and materials.

The suggested total with change orders for the project awarded on January 9, 2020 and begun in early March would increase from $39,400 to $75,176.83.

The first change order ($3,600) submitted would be for aggregate material that was needed on the ground as there was an area where Taltys lift was sinking into the ground surrounding St. Pauls this was due to a building on that site that was removed (Ellis Hall, demolished by the village in 2014). They needed to secure the ground in order for their equipment to operate in that area, DiFrancisco said.

Trustee Stephen Makrinos immediately said it should not be the villages responsibility if the on-site equipment contractors are using and bringing in would sink into the ground. If they needed to prep a job site for work should this have not been in their bid price already? If they didnt price it then, shouldnt that be the contractors problem? Makrinos said.

The other change orders for Window Protection were also lambasted by board members.

The additional changer orders, respectively $13,133.40 and $19,043.43 were for additional windows that have broken since the job has started (less than eight weeks ago) and/or had been missed when the initial evaluation of the scope of Window Protection was done last year. The total amount of Change Orders submitted comes to $35,776 increasing the cost of the Window Protection to $75,176.83, DiFrancisco told the Board.

Members of the Board took exception that the new total amount could exceed the CNY budgeted amount of $69,000 by $6,176.83.

Trustee Mark Hyer was shocked that 29 additional broken windows have resulted over the last month, with no snow or harsh weather damage recorded in the coastal Northeast. He says there was poor oversight if these windows were missed upon initial inspections of St. Pauls.

I think we need to bring in Walter Beal of CNY Group in front of the Board to explain why this was miscalculated, Hyer said. DiFrancisco told the trustees he spoke with CNY the morning of the Board meeting, and they said there were at least 15 to 20 windows, a significant number that have broken since the beginning of March, when the job started. DiFrancisco says that would account for at least half the change orders in front of the Board now.

During a special Board of Trustees work session on St. Pauls, held September 12, 2019 with a lineup of consultants from Beyer Blinder Belle and CNY Group presenting on the initial Stabilization and Abatement stages, Beal commented that 60 broken windows of St. Pauls were to be addressed. The windows were either to be sealed with winter coming, or at least during temporary protection. The work as outlined was going to be handled by two separate crews, Beal explained, with one on the ground to cut the cracked or missing glass and another to install replacement material (either plexiglass or plywood boards).

Last September Beal told the Board the cost would be approximately $750 per window, including equipment, materials and caulking. The overall cost for the Stabilization phase including Window Protection and ivy removal was to run just under a million dollars, at $984,000.

At the same meeting back on January 9 that the Board awarded the Window Protection bid for St. Pauls it had rejected the sole bid for building stabilization from Westar Construction

Group, Inc. of Syosset as it came in $356,500 over the budgeted amount (as reported in The Garden City News January 17, 2020).

Deputy Mayor Robert Bolebruch said it was ludicrous to believe that CNY has an accurate picture to suggest that within a month, one window per day has broken at St. Pauls. Trustee Hyer said the historic property has been fenced in for most of the past one year.

We dont have 27 kids standing in front of St. Pauls and throwing rocks at the building. I would like to have a better explanation from CNY than that, Bolebruch commented.

Trustee Louis Minuto said when change orders this big could drive up project costs, nearly double the amount, Beal will need to present justification and an explanation of the issues to the Board. The other trustees concurred and the village will request his participation in the next Board of Trustees meeting.

If you look at the original project bids, the contractors price now is coming close to the other bids when Taltys was significantly under those (when the bid was awarded). You start to wonder. The broken window count is just arithmetic its just math. I would like Walter showing us the information and talking through these change orders, so that there is not just a blind approval, Minuto said.

Bolebruch added, lets just make sure we arent getting lowballed and then all of a sudden we ended up where the project is far over budget due to change orders.

Trustee Hyer noted that such surprises with contractors on the St. Pauls job suggesting higher prices could be the tip of the iceberg as we move forward with this.

We have to take another look at costs of stabilization and ivy (vine) removal and see if CNY is correct with what they presented. If all the estimates were lowballed, the price could end up three times what were expecting it to be, he said.

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Board balks at St. Paul's window protection change orders - Garden City News