[MissoulaGov] Committee Update 7-9-08

[James Hoffmann]

I can no longer be silent regarding the criticism of the architectural firm MMW pertaining to the higher costs for their aquatics project. I have been a carpenter, then contractor, and then, for the past 30 years, an architect in this community. Over that period of time, there has never been a period of time like the last 4 or so years. It used to be that construction cost increase closely tracked the cost of living increase, so that building costs typically rose 4 to 6% on an annualized basis. However, a perfect storm of events, local, national and international, has caused those costs to increase, in my practice's experience, 40% or even more in the last 4 years. Architects, engineers and other design professionals are not soothsayers or magicians, nor can we control the construction cost marketplace. In the recent past it has been very difficult to predict what costs for a project will be 6 or 9 months after an estimate is made because the price trajectory has been unprecedented. And we don't know when the inflationary pressure is going to diminish, nor by what amount, nor even if is going to lessen at all anytime soon.  Estimating construction costs makes Vegas look easy. On the one hand the designer does no good service to an owner if he very conservatively over estimates costs, leaving the owner wishing that the design could have been larger, or of better quality. On the other hand, the owner wants the designer to spend every dollar the owner has, but not one dollar more. Its a tight rope walk. An architect is required to do all those things that other architects in the same community would do under the same circumstances. He/she can be considered negligent when the standard of care has not been met. Have those who are publicly criticizing MMW determined that they failed to meet the standard of care? Do they know what that standard is under the current extraordinary circumstances?  Those who wish to criticize the performance of design professionals for their failure to meet project budgets would do well to consult with their fellow institutional purchasers of design services to see how they view this business. The two state univerisities oversee construction worth tens of millions of dollars every year, as does the state architect's office. These institutions have established proceedures to deal with difficult issues such as bids exceeding budgets, change orders, and other circumstances concurrent with building and development. The city's business is too important for us to be inventing the wheel. Jamie Hoffmann
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Jason Wiener 
  To: missoulagov at cmslists.com 
  Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2008 12:45 AM
  Subject: [MissoulaGov] Committee Update 7-9-08


  Bob is on vacation this week so I wrote up the committee meetings today.

  J.

   

  *****

   

  When I was a kid, Nickelodeon ran this show called "You Can't Do That On Television." In addition to dropping green slime on people when they said "I don't know" and sporting a regular skit with a line-order cook named Booger, the show featured a recurring bit called opposite sketches where the normal order of things would be turned on its head-the stingy would become generous, the refined uncouth. This morning turned out to be opposite-sketch time at 140 W. Pine.

   

  Dave Strohmaier was out for work and Ed Childers and Bob Jaffe were both on vacation which meant Pam Walzer, John Hendrickson, Jon Wilkins, Lyn Hellegaard, Dick Haines, Renee Mitchell and I made up the Public Safety & Health Committee. With the self-style conservative minority firmly in control of the votes, I'd venture to guess we got a taste of their governing style.

  Police Chief Mark Muir and Chief Administrative Officer Bruce Bender presented the first item: an $18,000 contract for cost estimating with MacArthur Means and Wells (MMW) as the lead architect and police station specialists Wilson Estes providing specialty support. MMW was given the contract by the administration, following on preliminary work they did on the downtown site that everyone seems to prefer. 

   

  John Hendrickson raised an issue with the selection of MMW, asking if the project was bid. Dick Haines asserted that the entire project would face an uphill battle because MMW has "zero credibility" because of their work on the aquatics project. They didn't seem bothered by the fact that the job wasn't advertised with an RFP since its size didn't merit that. They just flatly objected to MMW. The principal architect is different and the subcontractors, too, but merely the letters MMW were enough to precipitate some ensuring shenanigans. There was a motion to approve the contract and a call for a show of hands on it. Pam and I voted in favor.  Jon W., Lyn and Renee voted against it while John H. and Dick abstained. Pam tried to call the count 2-3-2 but John H. told Jon W. to change his vote to yes and Jon W. obeyed, making the vote 3-2-2. Then John H. changed his vote from abstain to no so the vote would be 3-3-1. The objective was to tie the vote because, under a poorly constructed Council rule, a tie in committee is the only way to keep an item from moving to the Council floor. Of course, we can just take it up next week unless the administration decides to pick another architect for this $18,000 piece of a likely $40 million project. I got frustrated with all the puppeteering and offered to change my vote as well, which prompted John H. to offer to change his back. It finally stopped when City Clerk Marty Rehbein pointed out that minute-taker Lesley Wills had no idea how anyone was voting. We eventually moved on to the other item, a towing contract extension sent back to committee because it the extension was offered without an RFP. The Police agreed to advertise the RFP and asked for an extension with the existing company in the interim, which the committee agreed to. We came back to the vote on the police station but stand-in chair Pam ended up continuing the item to another meeting because of the obstruction and irresolution.

   

   



   

  *******

  Jason Wiener, Alderman, Ward One

  1238 Jackson St.

  Missoula, MT 59802

  (406) 542-3232

  jwiener at ci.missoula.mt.us

   



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