Not Enough Bang for the Buck
There are many things in this world that I just don’t understand. I don’t understand recounting a vote three weeks after an election. I don’t understand geometry and I don’t understand the actions of the School Board last week. Do I believe that White Pine needs renovation and more space. Yes. Most reasonable people agree that the school is in need. But, I don’t understand the willingness of the Board to scrap their Capital Projects Plan, which addresses other needs in other schools, to fund a plan that is at least 30% over cost and will most likely come in even higher. There are other alternatives that the Board appears unwilling to even consider.
A smart man put it this way-if I am going to buy a car and I go to a local lot to check out prices, letting the salesman know that it may be a few months before I can make the purchase, and then the price I was quoted increases by 30% in the course of a few months, I am going to look somewhere else. Why are we not looking for another architect firm that can do what we need for the price we need? 30% is a huge increase. How did they miss by so much? Or did they miss by so much?
And then there is the little issue of the roof. Who cuts professional installation of a roof to meet budget constraints? Cope, the architect firm, says that they can cut quality to get us in budget. They offered the alternative of a ten year building. Yes, you read that right, a building that will last for ten years. They should be embarrassed and we should be embarrassed that would even believe for a moment that we would be receptive to a building with a ten years expiration date. I drive my car longer than that. This firm has had questionable answers for the School Board for months,not to mention that the delay that they, Cope, blame for the increase in cost is directly related to their unwillingness to sign the contract. My question is this-which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Unwillingness to sign for good cause is one thing but what exactly was the cause? Is this just a credible miss or are we missing something?.
It is a reasonable question. Perhaps it really was just an incompetent estimate. Whatever the reason, it is time for a fall back plan and that should not include a $1.5 million dollar price increase that does not even have a professional roof installation.
Don’t get me wrong. I believe that the School Board and the County Commission have their hearts in the right place on this project but you can’t let your heart lead your head. $3.5 million dollars is not a long term fix for White Pine School. And we cannot, as a County, fund a $3.5 million dollar band-aid. There is a long term fix for White Pine and it includes a new middle school. It is what makes sense for Jefferson County. With a little rezoning it could take the pressure off of other schools in the County and have an appropriate educational split in grades. So, fix White Pine’s kitchen and band room, like Principal Walker said. Then look at a permanent space fix for White Pine and the rest of the County. In the mean time, don’t divert Capital Projects money from other schools that also have needs. Have we learned nothing about upkeep and maintenance in the last few years?
The School Board still has time to drop back and punt. Let’s hope that they rethink their actions and come back with a better, more holistic plan. We all know that you can’t fix everything but this is one thing that can be fixed. It is time to finish the kitchen and band room, we already own the plans. Then let’s look at putting our money toward something that will actually have long term impact. The School Board isn’t wrong to want to move with the White Pine project but they are wrong to want to move with the White Pine project at any cost. This $3.5 million dollar plan has just too little bang for the buck.
