Unforeseen projects snarl school construction budget

SHANNON VELEZ

Whitefish Pilot

As the first phase of Central School construction rapidly draws to a close, there is a $63,000 question lingering on Superintendent Jerry House's mind: why didn't anybody see that the overhead power lines on Spokane Street came dangerously close to the exposed steel of the new building.

"Somebody made a boo-boo," House said, "Someone should have seen that."

As it turned out it was Flathead Electric Staking Engineer, Wayne Ristine who noticed the violation in October of last year when he inspected the construction site. After advising the construction crew of the danger and bringing construction to an immediate halt, he notified his supervisor. Ristine met with the contractor, Derek Swank of Swank Enterprises, the electrician and Superintendent Jerry House to determine how to proceed.

At that point there were two options, Ristine said, "One, move the building or two, bury the lines."

The building wasn't going anywhere, so the district went with option two. This unforeseen project, or "fun and games" as House dryly calls it, not only put construction behind schedule by about six weeks but added an additional $63,000 to the $10.2 million project.

While the $500,000 contingency fund, set aside to cover such incidents, took care of the cost Superintendent House has made it clear that he does not believe that the Whitefish School District should bear the brunt of the financial responsibility.

House initially approached the city to request help in defraying the cost. City Financial Director, Mike Eve, said that "the city has neither the tax base or the funding available" to help the school district out. Eve also pointed out that the city did not feel responsible for what is essentially a "project driven cost."

No one is willing to point fingers. And House, while chagrined, is cautious while discussing the details and stops a step short of laying blame.

"I don't know at what point the oversight of not seeing those lines becomes fault but what I'm saying as a school person is that somewhere along the line someone, either the architect, the contractor or both, should have known," House said.

Derek Swank, who believes this was a simple oversight, takes a different stance on the subject.

"I don't blame it on anybody," Swank said matter-of-factly, puzzling over what all the to do was about, "The school would have had to pay for it one way or the other, whether we would have discovered it now or last fall. Either way it doesn't cost any less."

Contractors are obligated to do an on-site inspection before bidding a job to evaluate the cost and investigate these kind of potential road blocks but what these controversial matters usually come down to is the wording in the contract.

Local Construction Lawyer, Michael Farrington said that typically, in these kinds of situations, it is the land owner who will end up absorbing additional costs due to an "unforseen circumstances" provision in contracts absolving the contractor of financial responsibility.

Whether or not the power line problem was "unforseen" or simply neglected is a matter all parties circle warily.

Surprisingly, Flathead Electric Communications Director Mike Radel said that when it comes to power lines, it's a rarity for contractors to approach them with requests for estimates or even safety specs when bidding on a job.

Radel said that, unfortunately, lack of foresight creates costly situations, not only financially, but in terms of human life - putting not only construction workers but Flathead Electric employees at risk.

"It impacts a lot of people," Radel said, diplomatically explaining that regardless of who is at fault his main concern is the safety of all concerned.

"We have an obligation and a liability to make sure that the codes are met and situations are taken care of," Radel said.

Senior engineer of new services Dan Anderson for Flathead Electric believes that these code violations evolve from a lack of education on all fronts.

"Architects are not educated in National Electric Safety Code. They will design a structure that violates this code and that is where it all starts. Who is responsible at that point, I don't know," Anderson said.

At press time we were unable to contact the Architects working on Central School, Architects Northwest.