THE MAMMOTH MULTI-PURPOSE BUILDING AT LAKE DON PEDRO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL REMAINS UNFINISHED. The Mariposa County Unified School District Board of Trustees struggled with a decision that would authorize a change order for $87,000 more for the construction to the Lake Don Pedro Elementary School multi-purpose room. The board originally split, 2-2, before finally authorizing the change order on a 3-1 vote.

The vote came near the end of the Nov. 19 regular meeting. The newest change order would have put the district over budget on the project’s contracted site work, but savings in other areas of the construction project were utilized to make up the difference. The district had already budgeted $73,652 of the amount requested, leaving the additional funding at just over $14,000.

MCUSD Director of Maintenance, Operations and Transportation Bob Morse said there was originally $250,000 in the project budget for outside labor for site work and change orders. To date, the district has expended $176,347 of that amount.

The request for $87,807 was brought back to the board on the advice of the district’s legal counsel. The original contract for the building was authorized for $2.55 million. With subsequent change orders, the district now puts the total contract sum at $2.7 million.

District 4 representative Joe Cardoso was clearly against the item from the beginning. He asked about previous change orders and why the district continues to have to pay more.

Vicki Bustos, who formerly worked in the facilities department, explained that when the original plan was approved, the district had its own construction manager. “That’s not how we’re doing it now,” she said. “We no longer have a staff member. The original budget is not predicated on what it looks like today.”

The project’s construction manager, Travis Kirk, said the intent of the original contract was to save money and take care of the site work quickly. It ended up being premature because the state took so long to approve the plans. The project failed a compaction test, and the pad had to be redone.

“It was a good intention, but it didn’t pan out,” Kirk told the board. “It was necessary to correct something that was overzealous. It was necessary to limit the district’s liability.”

Cardoso was undeterred. “This thing makes me sick to my stomach to hear how it was done,” he said. “They’re still not done.”

Kirk called the extra expense “a learning experience” and said he would chalk up the change to “lessons learned.”

Morse reassured the board that the building is moving forward. “We are on the downhill side of this,” he said. “We really are.”

Cardoso said he wasn’t sure if the change order was valid. “This contractor’s taken so long to do it,” he said. “To give him any extra money is wrong.”

The board member suggested the district deny the change order and take the matter to mediation. The original contract had no completion date, therefore the district cannot collect damages for work that hasn’t met a deadline.

Superintendent Randy Panietz said that the whole project has left a lot of people with “heartburn” over its length and expense. “We felt very much like we’re being taken for a ride,” he said. “Nobody is happy about how this building got started.” He said the district does not intend to do further business with the contractor or to recommend it to other agencies.

Morse said he just wants to see an end. At the end of the day, I want to see kids in the gym,” he told the board.

Cardoso made a formal motion to table the item until DMSI finishes the work. District 5 member Kim Forsythe-Allison seconded it. District 1 and 2 members Janette Gamble and Eldon Henderson voted against the motion. It died for lack of majority. District 3 representative Debbie Peters has resigned from the board and was not present at the meeting.

Cardoso reminded the board that the work was done without a valid change order. Morse and Kirk said much of the work has been done on a handshake. “We agreed to that,” he said. “We’ve already given them a purchase order and signed it. We’re here. I think we just approve it.”

Gamble didn’t have an issue with Cardoso’s concerns. “I totally agree that this is a big mess,” she said. “I’d still like to propose that we get this out of the way.”

Gamble’s motion to authorize the change order passed 3-1. Forsythe-Allison cast the lone dissenting vote.