[MissoulaGov] Construction Costs

[Patrick Klemz]

Sounds good. Davis holds the nation's only platinum rating as a bike- 
friendly city. At the moment, I'd settle for not getting killed.

On Jul 10, 2008, at 3:50 PM, Brent Campbell wrote:


> I echo Jamie's sentiments on cost inflation and tie that to the HHB

> Roundabout.  We are paying $100 a ton for asphalt and $20 a cubic yard

> for subgrade gravel these days.  Not more than three years ago those

> costs were about $22 and $4 respectively.  If crude oil hits $200 a

> barrel as some predict, we may not be able to afford to wait on the

> roundabout.  There also may not be any cars on the road to use it.

> Fortunately, it will work great for bikes and scooters, three abreast.

> We will restripe it as a 6 lane bike roundabout like in Davis, CA.

>

> Brent Campbell, P.E.

> President / CEO

> WGM Group, Inc.

> http://www.wgmgroup.com

>

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: missoulagov-bounces at cmslists.com

> [mailto:missoulagov-bounces at cmslists.com] On Behalf Of

> missoulagov-request at cmslists.com

> Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2008 2:46 PM

> To: missoulagov at cmslists.com

> Subject: MissoulaGov Digest, Vol 29, Issue 8

>

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> Today's Topics:

>

>    1. Re: Committee Update 7-9-08 (James Hoffmann)

>    2. Fwd:  Committee Update 7-9-08 (Lynn Ascher)

>

>

> ----------------------------------------------------------------------

>

> Message: 1

> Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:28:25 -0600

> From: "James Hoffmann" <jamie at jameshoffmann.com>

> Subject: Re: [MissoulaGov] Committee Update 7-9-08

> To: "Jason Wiener" <JWiener at ci.missoula.mt.us>,

> 	<missoulagov at cmslists.com>

> Message-ID: <01a401c8e2cb$833f95c0$0500a8c0 at HOFF5>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

>

> 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

>

>

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

> --

> ------

>

>

>   _______________________________________________

>   Note: This list is NOT an official service of the City Of Missoula.

> But posts to this list may be entered into the public record.

>   Subscribe or view archives at Missoulagov.org

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> ------------------------------

>

> Message: 2

> Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:45:41 -0600

> From: Lynn Ascher <lascher01 at bresnan.net>

> Subject: [MissoulaGov] Fwd:  Committee Update 7-9-08

> To: missoulagov at cmslists.com

> Message-ID: <BA085EC0-6521-40F3-844A-2CC6CF5694EB at bresnan.net>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"

>

>

>

> Begin forwarded message:

>

> From: Lynn Ascher <lascher01 at bresnan.net>

> Date: July 10, 2008 2:41:05 PM MDT

> To: "Jason Wiener" <JWiener at ci.missoula.mt.us>

> Subject: Re: [MissoulaGov] Committee Update 7-9-08

>

> This roundabout has been in process for literally years.  There's  

> never

> going to be a "perfect" time for its construction so let's get it done

> as soon as we can, i.e., fall '08.  Any more delays and I can see the

> project  becoming increasingly problematic and finally vanishing

> altogether as more and more people suddenly discover they have issues

> with it.  I'm sure that drivers will find alternate routes to use  

> during

> the 6-8 weeks of construction, and that crossing guards will be on  

> hand

> to help kids and pedestrians navigate crossing Higgins on one side or

> the other of the construction.

> -- lynn

>

>

> On Jul 10, 2008, at 12:45 AM, Jason Wiener wrote:

>

> 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.

>

>

>

> PAZ followed, albeit starting late because of PS&H?s pile-up. We  

> talked

> about the Office of Planning & Grants Urban Initiatives task list for

> the next fiscal year, which lays out the non-project priorities of the

> department. The biggest tasks (with hours

> allocated) were as follows: zoning revision (2400 hrs), application of

> UFDA work including a plan for Orchard Homes (2000 hrs with the county

> collaborating), Mayor's Housing Initiative (1000 hrs). The whole  

> list is

> here: ftp://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/Packets/Council/

> 2008/2008-07-07/UITaskList.pdf

>

>

>

> Everything in the plan was funded except for a revision to the

> Rattlesnake Comprehensive Plan. Partly in response to some development

> pressure on unzoned land, a group from the Rattlesnake, including  

> people

> from both Neighborhood Councils has been working to update its 1995  

> plan

> to create tools that would inform resource decisions on specific

> land-use matters and highlight missing infrastructure. The item was

> assigned 2000 hours by a scope of work drawn up this year. Pretty much

> everyone agrees that?s too much time but right now none of it is  

> funded

> anyway. The people in that area are looking for money outside

> government. I?d like to see a fraction of the money and staff time  

> made

> available by the city so the community can leverage it. Otherwise, the

> community people working on this will have wasted many hours and,  

> after

> having their hopes raised by OPG drawing up a scope of work, their

> cynicism will simply be stoked by the lack of any movement on it.  

> Other

> areas of the city are under greater development pressure, of  

> course, and

> I recognize the need to prioritize based on need. I think desire,

> expressed with genuine grassroots effort, should also merit support.

>

>

>

> About an hour was left for a discussion of stacking lots. Roger Millar

> from OPG made a presentation about the practice, which allows the

> redrawing of lot lines in established subdivisions without undergoing

> subdivision review as long as the number of lots after the  

> redrawing is

> no greater than before and the parcels, buildings, setbacks, etc.

> conform to zoning. If the stacking results in lots arranged under a  

> PNC,

> the requirement that the redrawn parcel conforms to zoning doesn?t  

> mean

> that they have to meet minimum lot size, setback and the like for the

> existing zoning because the PNC is a zoning regulation. At least  

> that?s

> what I took away. If you are interested in the intricacies, you can

> download the presentation (over 3 MB) at

> www.jasonwienerforcouncil.org/stacking.ppt

>

>

>

> Most of the Council questions, and all the public comment, centered on

> the Lincoln School, a historic school that?s being converted to what

> looks a lot like a 13-lot subdivision using the planned neighborhood

> cluster tool. Very quickly, familiar sounding complaints about PNCs,

> zoning overlays, and neighborhood protest filled the committee room.

> None of it had much to do with Roger?s suggestion on how Council could

> rewrite local subdivision regulations so future attempts at stacking

> would have to go through subdivision review.

> Even if we did adopt his suggestion, there are a number of other

> loopholes in state law that would probably still allow such  

> projects to

> be exempt from subdivision review, like condominium ownership.

> Some of the rhetoric got overheated; at one point the Lincoln School

> project was compared to murder, at another a puss-oozing blight. So I

> was surprised when we ended early. During public testimony, which

> stand-in chair Marilyn Marler limited to three minutes so everyone  

> could

> speak, Lee Clemensen took more than twice her allotted time, ignoring

> four-minute and six-minute warning and ultimately refusing to yield  

> the

> microphone. Without a sergeant-at-arms to enforce the chair?s ruling,

> Marilyn adjourned the meeting at that point. It was the right move, in

> my opinion, but, regrettably, two people who wanted to testify were  

> not

> allowed. Odds are good that they wouldn't have gotten to anyway  

> because

> of the filibustering.

>

>

>

> I was glad lunch time had arrived. We accomplished precious little

> during the morning but expended plenty of energy.

>

>

>

> After lunch, A&F met briefly to set a public hearing on park  

> maintenance

> districts. There are two on the south side of town and the assessments

> fund the improvements instead of the general fund. It is an unusual

> arrangement but no one had an issue with it. I guess someone could  

> voice

> one at the public hearing though.

>

>

>

> In Public Works, we approved a pair of purchases for sewer and  

> streets.

> We also approved an encroachment permit for an alley skywalk  

> between the

> current Garlington Lohn and Robinson building at 199 W.

> Pine St. and their new building, planned for 138 W. Broadway, where

> Scooterville currently is. (Someone in a position to know tells me

> Scooterville is eyeing the proposed green mall as a new location.

> They were offered ground-floor retail in Garlington?s new building but

> need to locate somewhere during the year that will take to build

> anyway.) The skyway plans call for more than just a connection between

> buildings, with the skyway to contain a conference room and break  

> room.

> We talked about the criteria for approving the request since there is

> only one skywalk in Missoula, between the Palace Apartments and  

> Central

> Park. Basically, there is no entitlement to encroach so the  

> decision is

> discretionary. We aren?t setting a binding precedent by saying yes.  

> The

> vote in favor of the permit was unanimous but the architect will be

> available Monday if there are questions. Some plans are visible at

> ftp://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/

> packets/council/2008/2008-07-07/Referrals/ROWEncroachSkywlkPlan.pdf

>

>

>

> The final item was a discussion of the interminable Higgins-Hill-

> Beckwith construction project. Delays in acquiring right-of-way in  

> front

> of the Grizzly Grocery have pushed the project to a schedule where

> construction could not begin until late fall. That?s frustrating, of

> course, because this project has been going on for a long time. It  

> also

> means the project should probably wait until spring. If construction

> doesn?t begin until the fall, the 45-day schedule could be interrupted

> by winter weather, which is highly undesirable since the finished

> product is a bit of a prototype in Missoula. Steve King and Kevin

> Slovarp from Public Works said MDT wants the project to be built first

> thing in the spring, April 15.

> This will mean closing the intersection for over six weeks while  

> school

> is in session and detouring the traffic associated with the street and

> Paxson School through the neighborhood. The alternative is waiting  

> until

> school lets out to start construction, which adds uncertainty to the

> cost of the project because the bigger the gap between bidding and

> construction, the greater contingency a contractor is likely to insist

> on for changes in material costs.

> Stacy expressed a preference for waiting until school is out but there

> was no vote on the matter as it is an administrative decision.

> I?m inclined to defer to the ward reps but would like to hear from

> people in the area about their preferences for construction: fall 08,

> spring 09 or summer 09.

>

>

>

> We looked at the BID budget in Budget Committee of the Whole. They are

> enjoying a lot of success, winning over even people who thought the

> district?funded assessments on downtown property owners?was a bad idea

> when it was created. The clean team and downtown ambassadors have  

> done a

> lot to help with that. Success with Downtown Master Plan is likely the

> linchpin of renewing the BID when it comes up for renewal, which  

> will be

> in the next 12-18 months if I am not mistaken.

>

>

>

> We also finished up Parks. Marilyn asked that we come back later to an

> item funding various management plans, beginning with Conservation

> Lands, continuing on through Turf Management, which is probably as far

> through the list as Parks can expect to get in one year. The

> Conservation Plan came in as the top priority because turf has good

> science associated with it and public buy-in for the techniques

> indicated. Conservation lands management needs more original work and

> includes a public process to determine how to balance tolerance for

> pesticide and antipathy toward noxious weeds or the desires of

> recreational users with the health of the land. A half-dozen new

> requests were turned down ? the list of funded and unfunded new  

> requests

> in the budget is at ftp://www.ci.missoula.mt.us//Documents/

> Council_Review_Budget_FY09/New%20Requests%20From%20All%20Departments%

> 20FY%2009-ForCouncil.xls ? including one to keep good behaviors at the

> skate park by hiring some young people to be good role models by  

> wearing

> helmets, doing awesome tricks, and living clean. Apparently, this  

> was a

> strategy that historically succeeded in roller rinks.

> Marilyn remembered the people in the roller rink of her youth who fit

> this profile and was shocked to learn they were likely planted. It  

> seems

> like a good idea and not too expensive. It would be nice to fund but

> there?s unlikely to be enough money this year since the item is

> currently unfunded. That wrapped up Parks although we will be  

> returning

> for Marilyn?s conservation lands discussion and Stacy?s request  

> that we

> revisit the Park Maintenance budget, which was reduced by over half,

> meaning that improvements at several existing parks will not be funded

> id the status quo prevails.

>

>

>

> Finally, we considered non-departmental budget items, including the

> legislative agenda ($27,500 for a lobbyist, intern and expenses).

> There was money for a legislative reception in there; Mayor Engen

> estimated about half the delegation comes down to hear from Council  

> and

> administration. I hope we rate better than 50% attendance next  

> time. How

> the state behaves or doesn?t is critical to how well the city  

> serves its

> constituents. We also discussed the city?s pay structure for non-union

> employees, including how cost-of-living adjustments (3%) and step

> increases (2%) for employees making below the midpoint for their pay

> grade, which reflects pay in similar cities, combine to keep city

> employees interested in working with us.

> There was also some discussion about a plan to add skill/competency-

> based pay. It was ensconced in a bunch of bureaucratese that  

> translates

> the sensible substantive goal of paying people for adding skills  

> into a

> neutral procedure for figuring out when that has happened. We also

> talked about taking a look at the distribution of salaries again down

> the line, since the last salary survey was completed in 2004.  

> Probably,

> there will be a referral on that when budget season winds down.

>

>

>

> There will be a special budget hearing Thursday night from 7-9 p.m.

> in City Council Chambers. We will be discussing the remainder of the

> non-departmental items, everything from the Missoula Cultural  

> Council to

> the Missoula Area Economic Development Corporation to the Missoula

> Ravalli Transportation Management Association.

>

>

>

> Thanks for your interest.

>

>

>

> *******

>

> Jason Wiener, Alderman, Ward One

>

> 1238 Jackson St.

>

> Missoula, MT 59802

>

> (406) 542-3232

>

> jwiener at ci.missoula.mt.us

>

>

>

> _______________________________________________

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> provided by www.CedarMountainSoftware.com.

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Patrick M. Klemz
Missoula Independent
w: 406.543.6609 x109
c: 406.214.2425
pklemz at missoulanews.com



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