New Track Concern at BOE Meeting By Klaus Gaebel--Post Star
In September and October, controversy erupted over whether to increase the track from the designed 6 lanes to 8. The track was already significantly under construction as part of the district's renovation project. The Board of Education eventually decided to proceed with the architect's planned 6 lane configuration. The board agreed that changing it to 8 lanes at the time would have been too expensive and caused substantial delays. At the most recent November board meeting, the track again became the focus of attention, with construction manager Craig Zandonella explaining the discovery of the track's asphalt being 3 inches too short in the track's width. That led to an additional layer of track being added to correct the error. During discussions about the track that lasted over an hour, the board frequently noted it's displeasure that the track's design consultant, architect, and engineer did not attend the meeting to respond to the board's concerns. With no one else available to answer the board's inquiries, Zandonella found himself being asked tough questions by the board that weren't under his sphere as construction manager. Vice-president George Heidcamp began discussions on the track, indicating concerns with the fix applied to the track and asking who'd be responsible if problems eventually develop. Board member Mark Thompson said the board had questions and concerns relating to "differences in compaction between the main track and the addition." Zandonella responded "that question is a good one and should definitely be on your list for the engineer." Thompson added he believed that the addition poses "a potential risk of that seam cracking or separating, and I think that's the main concern here." Zandonella read a letter from Hershberg & Hershberg in which they claimed the extension of the track pavement that had been completed is not in conflict with the original specifications for the track. Hershberg & Hershberg is a civil engineering company and a consultant of the district's hired architect who is responsible for the design of the track. Addressing the board's key question of who would ultimately be responsible if problems developed with the track due to the error and rectification, Zandonella gave his opinion after reading directly from the Hershberg & Hershberg letter. Zandonella said "I believe that's what the concern is when people have raised the issue of cold joints, their remediation or their direction there was to overlap the layers so it's important that that's their design. Again, this is coming from your engineer, which I believe is leading back to the question of what is your guarantee - your guarantee is in their professional license which holds them responsible for that sketch and the documentation to proceed and how to fix that mistake." Trustee Rich Petramale asked "is there's a warranty on the asphalt?" "That would have to be answered by your engineer," said Zandonella. Petramale went on to ask "if the patch fails in 2 years what do we do? Does it get fixed for nothing or do we pay for it?" Zandonella responded that "the architect is going to have to answer that question." Board member Sam Fisco suggested withholding further payment "until the people responsible for this appear to answer the questions." Vice-president George Heidcamp complained that the board only became aware of the track issue after the fix had been completed. Trustee Jim Steinhilber addressed his comments to Zandonella saying: "I hope you catch a lot of more mistakes and let us know about them because I don't want to suffer down the line - so be vigilant about them." Superintendent Rhau reminded the board that "the job for the most part has gone very well" and complemented those that discovered the problem and took action on it. Referring to the project architect and engineer, board president Don Tucker insisted "we've got to get these people here to talk to them. I know time is of the essence." Tucker concluded his remarks saying "we need to speak to these people - to satisfy the board members and the taxpayers who are paying the bill." The inclination was to have the school's attorney present at a special meeting as soon as possible. |