Council Considers Taking A Bigger Role In Construction Projects

By Steve Bigham

& Jeff White

Seeking to avoid the mistakes of the past, the Legislative Council last week took part in a discussion about the financial management of future construction projects – specifically the Board of Education’s proposed 5/6 school.

Council Chairman Pierre Rochman initiated the discussion due to concerns he had over the handling of the town’s last two major capital projects – renovations and additions to both the high school and Cyrenius Booth Library. Both jobs, running simultaneously, had a handful of financial glitches that were never addressed by the council. Instead, Mr Rochman pointed out, they were handled by an overworked Public Building Committee headed by Frank Krasnickas who was forced to treat the volunteer position like a nine-to-five job. Mr Rochman credited the work of Mr Krasnickas, a longtime resident, but believes there ought to be a better system of managing the town’s money without having to rely so much on a volunteer.

Confusion over change orders, overruns and the use of contingency had some council members wishing they could play a part in the construction process.

“All big capital projects have left a lot of questions in the council’s mind as to just how the money was really spent,” Mr Rochman said. “And I think better communication is part of the answer, but also perhaps we need more of a say in how projects get contracted out. Something certainly did not go the way it should have gone. Things were approved and decisions were made that had financial impact, without the council’s involvement.”

Mr Rochman suggested a contract be created to state that all change orders over a certain percentage of the contract come back to the council. This would avoid some of the surprises of the past, he said.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said the council made some good suggestions but pointed out that with the exception of the middle school project that went $90,000 over budget, no other job had gone over budget. The high school was an exception because of two lawsuits. It was a messy project, Mr Rosenthal admitted, but the town did not overspend.

Council member Tim Holian agreed that the council should be more involved, but warned that it should avoid micro managing.

Currently, projects are contracted by the building committee and, in the case of school construction, by the Board of Education. But some council members say there is a question of accountability on the part of these boards, who do not consult with the council.

“We don’t want to know about bricks and mortar, but the library had problems that the Legislative Council never heard about. There were apparently cost overruns that were never brought to our attention,” Mr Rochman said.

Superintendent of Schools John R. Reed suggested the council form a subcommittee to join the school board and building committee for discussions with the architect and contractor as the project is ongoing. Dr Reed said he is unaware of approving any change orders without first getting approval from Mr Krasnickas and his board.

Project Manager vs.

Construction Manager

The Legislative Council’s concern in this area influenced the school district’s decision to seek proposals for a project manger for the 5/6 school instead of a construction manager.

According to Ron Bienkowski, the district’s director of business, the choice to side with a project manager “was clearly an attempt to address the issues that have occurred in the past.”

The town’s building commission recently agreed to recommend Strategic Building Solutions (SBS) for the job of project manager and owner representative, and the Board of Education will vote on the matter at its March business meeting.  

A construction manger is often contracted to provide design services or construction contracting for the project, which carries with it the potential for a conflict of interest. The building commission wanted to avoid such a conflict, and a project manager that is not contracted to provide specific design or construction services would give the town some security. “By the nature of a construction manager there is a conflict of interest because they are getting a piece of the action,” Mr Bienkowski said this week. “They are not an unbiased representative.”

Utilizing a project manager also translates into lower fees, since competitive bidding allows for less expensive general conditions.

The project manager can look at design concepts and scrutinize them against “bigger picture” items such as program and technical aspects. By creating a single point of responsibility for construction, lines are not blurred as to who answers to whom.

SBS, pending school board approval, would assist the town’s building commission to oversee the implementation of the project and would be responsible for managing all aspects of the project on the school district’s behalf.

Among others, responsibilities of the project manger would include establishing and monitoring the total project budgets, developing a project implementation schedule, facilitating and coordinating the design, and coordinating construction activities with school activities.

Newtown resident David Valerie would manage the 5/6 school project should SBS get hired.