SAN BENITO — District officials are projecting a $40 million bond-funded construction project will run at least $10 million over budget.
While the Fort Worth-based auditing firm of Weaver and Tidwell’s $223,800 forensic audit last month estimated costs increased from $40 million to $44 million, Monica Mata, the district’s chief financial officer, told officials the project is now $5.8 million over budget.
Meanwhile, Superintendent Theresa Servellon told board members she expects the project to run at least $10 over budget.
“We will be dipping into our fund balance minimally, I guess, at the minimum, would be $10 million,” she told board members during a finance committee meeting last week.
In response, board President Ramiro Moreno blamed the district’s past administration for not requesting consultants review project costs.
“It’s crazy, guys. I’m sorry I’m using the word — our community’s getting screwed and not getting what they were promised,” Moreno said during the Oct. 4 meeting. “Things should have been done using best practices. This is the result of not having professional consultants to give us an estimate of what the actual buildings would cost us. It’s going to have to come out of our fund balance. Once again, poor planning — not going out for consultants and getting real pictures. Again, previous administration — not only the quality of work but evidently the quality of materials. It’s very evident the quality of work is not what was promised to our taxpayers.”
On Monday, board member Orlando Lopez, who served on district’s past board of trustees, said the board’s majority was trying to “smear” the previous administration which launched the bond project in 2018.
“They want to smear the previous administration, that’s for sure,” he said. “It’s very obvious they’re trying to find ways to shed negative light.”
‘Value engineering’
Meanwhile, Joseph Palacios, president of the Brighton Group, the Edinburg-based firm serving as project manager, estimated it would cost about $2 million to complete the project, including building a parking lot and an access road, while installing street lighting and landscaping at the site of the project’s performing arts theater and aquatics center.
“I don’t know what the district’s including in that total — I don’t know what they’re adding,” he said, referring to the estimated $10 million overrun.
Palacios said “value engineering” could cut the estimated $10 million overrun amid the coronavirus pandemic’s supply chain disruption that’s driving up materials’ costs.
“If the amounts are that high, there’s value engineering that needs to take place to balance out the overall cost,” he said. “This is a work in progress. We need to look at all alternatives. We are in unprecedented times. There are cost increases at all sectors.”
Indoor practice field punch-list
During last week’s building committee meeting, Servellon told board members the warranty on the bond project’s $5.7 million indoor practice field had expired, presenting punch-list items she said contractors must address.
Amid discussion, Ray Saldana, the district’s maintenance director, presented photographs showing two cracks on the building’s wall, plywood used to frame doors, screws apparently popping out, a sidewalk crack and a piece of protruding synthetic turf while Servellon said mechanical doors were not properly operating.
“The bottom line, I’m more than sure, I’m saying this with a lot of accuracy, I think, and confidence, is that we’re going to have to put more money into this facility,” she told board members.
Meanwhile, Lopez said other contractors might have caused damages.
“That building has been used for one-and-a-half years,” he said Monday. “There’s been several other contractors that have worked on that building as well. We have to hold them all responsible to make sure these items are remediated.”
Hellas: ‘Fix any valid issue’
On Monday, Jared Carr, field operations manager with Austin-based Hellas Construction, said the company’s one-year warranty had expired on the building which opened a year-and-a-half ago while more than six years remain on the synthetic turf’s warranty.
In response to district concerns, he said the company would address all items for which it’s responsible.
“The concerns they have, I’ve already addressed — I called the subcontractor,” Carr said. “I have no problem coming down at any point in time. Obviously, we want everyone to be happy. I’ll come and fix any valid issue. Things that are valid — absolutely. But normal wear-and-tear — absolutely not.”
On Oct. 4, he and district officials walked through the building to review punch-list items, he said.
“It threw me for a loop,” Carr said, referring to board members’ comments regarding the punch-list items. “When I left, everyone was happy — the people who hired us were happy. I think the facility looks wonderful.”
Carr questioned whether other contractors and students might have caused damages.
“They have been playing there for a year-and-a-half,” he said.
Carr said Hellas, a national company specializing in sports construction while working with 11 National Football League teams, “does quality work.”
“It’s disheartening to us,” he said, referring to officials’ comments. “We’re very proud of what we do.”
Meanwhile, Palacios said other contractors might be responsible for many of the district’s punch-list items.
“It’s important to know that the district occupied the facility on March 24, 2021,” he stated. “The district elected to utilize their facilities department and other subcontractors to procure and install … elements outside Hellas Construction in order to limit expenses by paying the contractor rate for those respective items.”
