Facilities committee reviews three deduct change orders totaling $73,714

Council Rock School District’s Facilities Committee on Oct. 9 reviewed three deductive change orders for completed projects that together return $73,714 to the district’s project budgets.

The committee heard that Walter Rucker and Company, Inc., will issue two deductive change orders for unused allowances: $29,687.50 for facade and fencing repairs at Churchill Elementary and $14,588.50 for interior painting and carpet work at Council Rock High School North and South. Armor Masonry Restoration submitted a deductive change order for $29,438 related to structural repairs and window replacement at Council Rock High School North.

Jessica Vinda, supervisor of facilities, described the Churchill work as “pretty smooth sailing” and said the fence and sod repairs are complete and should reduce the chance of students accessing the roof. She told the committee the high school carpet and painting work went as planned and that crews added some work while on site, such as painting a small adjacent cafeteria at North and applying a moisture-separation coating where concrete moisture tested higher than expected.

On the North structural/window work, Vinda said the two-story stairwell window that had allowed water infiltration and adjacent concrete spalling was replaced and patched; “Water infiltration is is done. We shall see on Sunday because this is really the first big rain that we have,” she said.

Board members asked follow-up questions about whether the projects achieved their objectives and whether there were lingering issues to monitor. Tracy Osecki, a school board member, asked whether the work addressed known leak locations; Vinda replied that the listed items were completed and that staff had used contingency allowances where necessary.

The deductive change orders were presented to the committee for review during the facilities meeting; the transcript does not record a formal committee vote or the final administrative approval step for the change orders.

The discussion underscored staff emphasis on returning unused allowance dollars to the district when projects come in under budget and on documenting repairs where moisture or other site conditions initially required contingency spending.

Upcoming facilities agenda items noted at the meeting included additional architectural and construction management selections for Newtown Elementary, Holland Middle and Southfield Stadium work.