ON PROPERTY THAT HAS BEEN DONATED, HABITAT FOR HUMAN ITY OF MARIPOSA IS READY TO SELECT A FAMILY TO ASSIST IN CONSTRUCTION OF THE ORGANIZATION’S FIRST LOCAL HOME. It’s been a long, difficult road in the construction of the Lake Don Pedro Elementary School multi-purpose room. The road has been blocked by delays, which can be costly in a construction project.

MCUSD Director of Maintenance, Operations and Transportation Bob Morse gave the board an update of the costs of he building at special meeting on Jan. 14. He asked the board to approve new budget for the project, which moves its total cost to $4.2 million. The project was originally expected to cost just over $4 million, but that was over two years ago.

The board had approved budget of roughly $4 million in April, 2007. Since that time, personnel changes and reductions added to the total cost of finishing the building, plans for which have been in the works since 2005.

PURPOSE BUILDING ARE EXCEEDING PROJECTIONS. New board member Judy Eppler asked Morse if his department was keeping track of the myriad of changes. “Yes and no,” he said. “We are now.”

Eppler asked how the project could have drug on this long. Morse said “different management styles, different boards and different superintendents” meant assumptions about the project changed over the years. “There were differents styles and approaches to how we managed this thing,” he explained.

The district is saddled with a construction contract that has no end date, so time is not a consideration for the contractor. During the time the construction has occurred, prices for everything have skyrocketed.

Morse said the change orders to the project had to be made for structural and accounting reasons. Some of the major overages came in the form of architect fees, site work and outside labor. In all, the project is $203,000 over its original budget.

With the new budget approval, the board also approved a number of bid packages that will be awarded to help finish the room. The board may later consider an upgrade to the building’s floor so that it can be used for sports.

Developer funds are being used to pay for the construction project. When it is complete, the district will have a balance of only about $35,000. At the beginning of this fiscal year, the developer fee fund balance was $1.5 million. The district collected only $72,000 in developer fees on new construction projects for the past year, as building in the county has nearly come to a stand still because of the economy.

The board unanimously approved the new budget and the accompanying bid packages.