AT SBISD: SHIFTING OPINION ON HALTED $40 MILLION NATATORIUM-PERFORMING ACTS CENTER CONSTRUCTION

(It seems the public needs a program to know who the players are in this continuing saga of the "Nat and PAC Faulty Construction" Play, so I will attempt to provide the details. These facts are taken from the April 12, 2023 School Board meeting.)

By Tomas Montemayor
Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Timeline:
2017- March 14, 2022 Dr. Nate Carman employed by SBCISD
Nov. 2018 - $40 million bond issue passed
Jan. 2019 - Joseph Palacios, Brighton Company, Hired as Project Manager
Nov. 2019 - Davila Construction Company, Inc. hired as construction manager of Nat and PAC
March 2, 2022 - Foundations of Nat and PAC poured
March 21, 2022 - Theresa Servellon hired as SBCISD Supt.

Players:
Davila Construction Company, Inc.: Poured the foundations.

ROFA Architects: The firm whose inspectors, since back in March, 2022, were the first persons to find "discrepancies in where the Geopiers were actually located vs where they should be, which is under the foundation, " as presented at the April 12, 2023 school board meeting.

Mr. Mike Alex: ROFA representative to the board when Orlando Lopez asks, "Why wasn't it (the misplaced foundation) addressed then?" Mr. Alex responds, "I don't know. I don't know why y'all weren't notified then. I can't explain that." Later he said, "We have stopped work on both buildings. We want to make sure we didn't build vertically anymore and then have to take things down." So citizens, who should have notified the district that there were issues with the foundation back in March of 2022?

Mr. Ivan Garcia: Professional Land Surveyor, brought in by the district, showed proof where the Geopiers are not under either of the foundations. Geopiers don't shift.

Hinojosa Engineering: Structural Engineers Main supporting columns of the building, very critical beams supporting the roof were checked and same thing was found.

Mr. Kyle Workman: Forensic Accounting on Construction. He is a construction expert that testifies in legal matters, evaluates conditions on projects, examined some of the matters brought forth by Davila Construction.

1. Mr. Workman reviewed the Davila cost escalation claim in the amount of over $1,000,000 and he says, "documents do not bear out the position Davila has taken "in its request for over $1 million dollars. Attorney Weller asked if the documents bear out Davila's claim needing an additional $1 million? Answer: "Not that I've seen, No."

2. Time and Delay claim made by Davila. Mr. Workman reports, "not able to identify where a procurement delay or reconstruction delay of foundation elements resulting from the failure related to the construction of foundation would have impacted the project. Need to continue our investigation of the information provided (by Davila)."

3. Mr. Workman was asked what he saw on the pay applications. “Pay application submission process is Not in accordance with the prime contract of Cost plus guarantee maximum price. (Cost plus fee, not just percentage complete) Contract is very prescriptive. The Package is to include all the necessary supporting information, invoicing, petty cash, expenses, payroll reports, the kind of things in order to justify every amount that's being billed. 

"That was not taking place until one of the most recent transactions after this was identified (to be a problem). It seemed Davila Construction tried to recreate the supporting information of previous payment applications. There are some discrepancies there. There appear to be some things that appear to be duplicative. Going forward, we need to make sure the payment amounts match the costs that have been incurred in the project and that they are compensable. The contract is not wide open in terms that not just any cost they incur on the project is compensable, There are limitations attributable to the contract.” 

Weller: “We brought this issue up with Davila, we noted it and that we have concerns with it. There is no debate, there is no dispute. The applications were not submitted as the contract calls for.”

Board member Orlando Lopez asked who approved the pay applications. Answer: Approved by ROFA and (Joseph Palacios of) Brighton.

Vocabulary term-“Shift”: Doesn't mean the Geopiers are moving or that the foundation is moving due to weight or weathering. Ariel Cruz and Rudy Corona kept asking about the piers shifting. Mr. Garcia and Mr. Alex made it clear that the Geopiers can’t shift. “Shift” is an industry term meaning that the foundation was poured not directly above the Geopiers, but had been shifted over to areas not above the Geopiers. After Ariel again asked about Geopiers moving, or shifting, Mr. Alex again stated, "The Geopiers do not shift. They are not in the right location and the foundations are not in the right location."

Vocabulary term- “Foundational Discrepancies”: Mr. Mike Alex defined, "Beams not being in the correct location. Honeycombing happening at foundations where we've had to take foundations out, all that happened in 2022."

Conclusion: Mr. Alex from ROFA Architects clarified for Orlando Lopez, that back in March 2022, their inspectors were the first persons to find discrepancies in where the Geopiers were actually located vs. where they should be, which is under the foundation “since back in March, 2022."

Mr. Alex: “Our focus is primarily investigative. We are trying to figure out how pervasive the problem is, the degree and scale of it. The problem could be vast or it could be small. We will certainly get to the point of how this happened and who is responsible, I need everyone on board to work together. From contractor, to engineers to you guys. I need communication. I need 2 weeks to come up with solutions. There are a number of piers that are off their intended target, we need to look at every one of the piers."

Well, citizens, let's see what happens in the next few weeks. I'll keep you posted, or better still, watch the meetings yourself. It’s a learning experience and it affects your tax dollars.