WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. August 1, 2006: The Board of Education approved a contract with the architectural firm of Kaeyer Garment & Davidson (Mount Kisco) last night defining fees the firm will be paid if the Capital Projects Bond, currently projected to be presented to voters at a total of $66.7 Million, is approved by city voters. The Superintendent of Schools also indicated the district would push for an October referendum date.
According to the contract approved last night,5-0, Michele Tratoros, Peter Bassano, Bill Pollak, Rosemarie Eller and Terry McGuire voted to pay Kaeyer Garment & Davidson 8% of the Construction cost for construction projects under $5 Million, and 7% of the construction cost for projects over $5 Million. Donna McLaughlin and Rick Tompkins were not present.
Two projects in the plan cost over $5 Million: the new Post Road School ($39.4 Million) and the Loucks Field Renovation ($5.7 Million). K.G & D would earn $2,755,130 of its fee (by WPCNR estimate) on the Post Road School construction and $404,442 on the Loucks Field construction.
An actual fee figure was not in the contract, which states “After the approval of the bond referendum by the voters of the White Plains City School District, the above-referenced percentages shall be converted to a fixed lump sum.” Should the referendum not be approved, Kaeyer Garment & Davidson would be paid $50,000 for their work to date.
The $5 Million fee is a preliminary figure, based on the present cost estimates provided by Triton Construction to the Capital Projects Committee the night of July 20
Going to the Ref in October.
The School Board is considering pushing for a referendum on the bond this October, before the general election. The Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors said last night that the Capital Projects Committee will present its final recommendations to the district August 15.
The last meeting for deliberations by the Capital Projects Committee is scheduled for Wednesday evening at Education House at 7:30 P.M. Connors expressed the possibility that the Board of Education could consider the Capital Projects Committee recommendation in the last two weeks of this month and schedule a bond referendum vote in October.
Construction Cost Projections Included in New Bond Threshold.
Another factor in the “bond creep” is the cost of construction, projected by Triton Construction as being 2% per quarter. That inflation rate, according to Terrance Schreurs, Assistant Superintendent for Business is built into the present $69.4 M estimate. The “Conceptual Estimate” presented to the Capital Projects Committee July 20 pegged the estimate at $69,366,748 , not $66.7 Million as previously costed.
That final figure depends on the Capital Projects Committee final decision on the Highlands Parker Stadium Project. The committee as of July 20 was of a consensus to eliminate artificial surfacing of the Highlands Parker Stadium, and renovate the bleachers only. This may bring the cost back to $66-67 Million level. No estimate has been prepared for executing the bleacher improvement only. If the Parker Stadium project is reduced by say, $2 Million, the Kaeyer Garment Davidson total fee for the entire project would reduce $223,817 to $4,874,150.
“Below Market”
Previously, the Board of Education had expressed reservations about the contract over “technicalities,” Assistant Superintendent for Business Terrance Schruers told WPCNR last night. However, other than legal language there was no significant change from the terms of the deal. Peter Bassano mentioned that 80% of the architect’s fee would be paid when construction began, but did not provide details, however Bassano praised the contract payment arrangement as “below market” for services KG & D will provide as part of the project, but did not provide details. KG & D is the only architect consulted on the preparation of the entire capital projects upgrade.
Schreurs said the 80% of fee arrangement for KG & D, the architect would be paid as the architects designed each separate project in sequence – not in a lump sum.
The Breakdown
Chris Pearson of Triton Construction presented the following updated Cost Summary Conceptual Estimate to the Capital Projects Committee July 20. WPCNR has computed the architect fee associated with each individual construction project
School Total Bond Cost Architect’s Fee
(WPCNR Estimate)
Post Road
New Building $39,359,008 $2,755,130
Mamaroneck
AVE School $4,271,825 $ 341,746
High School
Lockers $ 500,250 $40,020
Infrastructure
Program
Church Street
School $2,712,508 $217,000
Dammann
House Infra $ 198,387 $ 15,870
District
Wide Infra $ 109,405 $ 8,752
Eastview
School $2,682,604 $214,608
Education
House $ 142,664 $ 11,413
George
Washington $ 402,609 $ 32,208
High School
Infrastructure $3,298,042 $ 263,843
Highlands
Middle School $1,643,988 $131,519
Mamaroneck
Ave School $1,784,172 $142,734
Ridgeway
School $1,551,505 $124,120
Rochambeau $1,259,321 $100,745
Site Development
Program
Loucks Field $5,777,742 $404,442
Highlands
Parker Stadium $3,672,717 $293,817
TOTAL COSTS ESTIMATED ARCHITECT FEE
As of 7/20/06 $69,366,748 $5,097,967
Parker Stadium
Cutback if full
Parker turf
Program eliminated $1,000,000 (est) $70,000 *
- Alternative upgrade to Parker Stadium has not been defined, this is an estimate of the architect fee only, if the district did $1M of repairs to the Parker bleachers.
