New Panel Looks At Capital Projects Management

By Steve Bigham

The first ever meeting of the Legislative Council’s capital projects sub-committee was held Tuesday morning at Edmond Town Hall. Its mission: determine whether or not there is a better way to manage the town’s major capital projects.

In recent years, some town officials have complained about far too many “cost overruns,” “change orders,” “slips in schedule,” and other problems that were a part of recent projects at the high school, middle school, Hawley School, and the library.

In response, Legislative Council Chairman Pierre Rochman last week created the capital projects subcommittee, despite concerns from fellow council members that such a committee may be taking on work that does not fall under the council’s purview.

“Large capital projects, be they municipal or school, have in the past been funded by the Legislative Council and managed by others,” Mr Rochman said. “The council has no input into the method of managing the financial aspect of the project. How can we establish a better process to ensure better accountability? Who should be in charge of a project? Can we get better reporting and control over money?”

This week, the two-member committee of Doug Brennan and Joe Borst mapped out how it will go about reviewing the current process. They are hoping to avoid the mistakes of the past, while searching for a plan that addresses major capital projects that lie ahead for Newtown, including the 5/6 school, a new town hall, Fairfield Hills, police department, fire house, etc.

Mr Borst believes the Public Building & Site Commission, which acts as the town’s agent during these projects, needs more authority as it goes about running a job. Often, he says, the committee finds itself sitting in the middle of the Legislative Council and the Board of Education/municipal administration.

“When talking about large projects, I think they have to have more power in the execution of their duties,” Mr Borst said.

The end result of the capital project sub-committee’s work could be a suggestion for a charter revision. However, as Mr Brennan points out, better communication between town officials and building contractors may simply be the answer.

“We always end up with people having different information. If we don’t have common data, then it’s hard to agree on things,” said Mr Brennan, chairman of the subcommittee.

Mr Borst agreed. “Sometimes there are too many fingers in the pie and nothing gets done right.”

As the town continues to grow, the demands on the town’s Public Building Committee will increase. Its chairman, Frank Krasnickas, often put in a 40-hour week as he helped orchestrate simultaneous projects at NHS, Hawley, and the library. With the town’s pending purchase of Fairfield Hills approaching, the demands could be even greater. Mr Krasnickas is expected to meet with Mr Brennan’s committee to provide input on current procedures.

At last week’s council meeting, Tim Holian declined to serve on the capital projects subcommittee, saying he did not believe the issue was any of the council’s business. However, Mr Brennan said the committee has been created simply to take a look at the current process of managing capital projects.

“We’re not looking to usurp anyone’s authority,” Mr Brennan said. “We’re just looking to see if there is any room for improvement and what recommendations we can come up with to better serve the citizens of Newtown.”