Board of Ed OKs $233,000 more for new building

Construction resumes on the district’s administration building, after the school board approved spending an additional $233,000 to improve the structure’s foundation.

Ben Strack/Herald

After the Board of Education voted against a change order on March 31 that would increase construction costs on the administration building by $233,400, the body reversed the decision at its meeting a week later, as work now resumes on the structure with the price hike in place.

The multi-million-dollar project to reconstruct the building at 235 Lido Blvd. — currently being administered by Axis Construction Corporation — began last year, after the 8,000-square-foot structure sustained significant damage from Superstorm Sandy and was torn down. The contractor notched up its estimates to put in place a more sufficient foundation to the building that the architect did not originally think was necessary, and the board accepted the increase to the criticism of some residents on social media.

Central Council PTA Co-President Gerri Macquet lauded the board for voting down the change in price the first time. “You know it’s ultimately going to fall on the backs of our programs and our students, and we can’t do that,” she told the school board on March 31. Macquet and others did not respond for comment following the second vote.

But even after the board approved the cost increase, Michael DeVito, the district’s chief operating officer, said no taxpayer money in the general fund would go toward the administration building.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency committed to pay the district nearly $3.9 million to do the project, which is 90 percent — minus a deductible — of the anticipated cost to replace the old building, DeVito said. But Because FEMA is allowing any leftover funds to remedy other storm-related damage, the district decided to build a smaller, 7,000-square-foot administration building in order to have remaining money to use for new science labs in the middle school.

The $233,400 increase to the construction means the FEMA funds will no longer fully cover both projects, and the district will have to take money out of the capital reserve fund to go toward the labs, DeVito said.

“It’s not that [resident] taxes are going to go up,” he said, “but what was in capital reserve that could be used for something else, is now going to have to be used for some of this.”

DeVito said the contractor found sub-surface material that called for a more durable foundation system, and after the district conducted testing, it concluded that spending the extra money was necessary for safety reasons.

After the increase was voted down last month, Superintendent of Schools David Weiss acknowledged at the meeting that the board’s failure to approve the price increase could spur a lawsuit against the district. Moments before the vote a week later on April 7, Weiss reminded residents and the board that completion of the construction would allow the district to submit paperwork for FEMA reimbursement and avoid borrowing money to maintain the construction costs. School Board Vice President Stewart Mininsky was the only one to vote against the measure again, as the 4-1 approval put the rebuilding process back into motion.

“It didn’t make sense to stop construction at this point when we found out we could handle any claims afterward,” said School Board President Roy Lester, referring to any legal action the district may take against contractors or architects following the project’s completion.

Mininsky did not immediately respond to the Herald to comment on his opposition to the increase.