[MissoulaGov] Construction Costs
Brent Campbell
BCampbell at wgmgroup.com
Fri Jul 11 08:54:28 MDT 2008
I lived in Davis for 5 years while my wife went to school there.
Planned for bikes from the beginning, that town was. In the 90's we
were pretty proud of the biking conditions in Missoula as well. Now our
bike lanes are worn and hardly visible. The lane system needs to be
expanded on and restriped with Epoxy paint and thermoplastic which lasts
about 5 years. CMAQ money can be used for this as part of our federal
transportation funding. This money is in short supply with much of it
going to transit of late. This is a timely topic of discussion for the
Transportation Plan Update that is now underway. The Downtown Master
plan is also addressing this issues in exciting ways. Look for more
discussion on this soon, although there is no money to pay for the great
ideas.
Federal funding is in short supply. We need to address the funding
issue at a local level with a local option gas tax to help us build our
complete streets with bike lanes and sidewalks. Timing may be bad with
people pinched already, but it will only get harder the longer we wait.
Brent Campbell, P.E.
President / CEO
WGM Group, Inc.
http://www.wgmgroup.com <http://www.wgmgroup.com/>
________________________________
From: Patrick Klemz [mailto:pklemz at missoulanews.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2008 3:58 PM
To: Brent Campbell
Cc: missoulagov at cmslists.com
Subject: Re: [MissoulaGov] Construction Costs
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
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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
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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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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Patrick M. Klemz
Missoula Independent
w: 406.543.6609 x109
c: 406.214.2425
pklemz at missoulanews.com
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