cost increase - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T06:02:11Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/cost+increaseDelray Beach: Changes add to costs of new lifeguard towershttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-changes-add-to-costs-of-new-lifeguard-towers2018-07-04T14:35:41.000Z2018-07-04T14:35:41.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong></p>
<p>Delray Beach city commissioners approved changes to the city’s eight lifeguard towers that will add more than $21,000 to what some have called “mini condos” that now sit on the beach.<br /> One change order on June 19 included seven items: extra 30 days to pressure-treat the lumber in a more environmentally friendly manner; extra seven days to pick the correct color schemes; extra 14 days to comply with state regulations to protect nesting sea turtles; $9,600 for roof material change from cedar shakes to metal; $8,700 for roof color change so that the lifeguard towers now match the roofs on the pavilion and gazebos; $2,906.86 for stainless steel testing of bolts; and extra 30 days starting Nov. 1 to demolish the existing towers. The state won’t allow demolitions on the beach during turtle-nesting season.<br /> Bolt testing cost by an independent laboratory, Applied Technical Services, was not included. That cost was said to be $1,245. <br />The stainless steel tests were done after rust was found on the bolts just weeks after the lifeguard towers were placed on the beach..<br /> “We were told the stainless steel bolts would not rust,” Mayor Shelly Petrolia said June 19. City Attorney Max Lohman, whose undergraduate degree was in oceanography, said the surface rust on the bolts was likely from a reaction with sulfur in the air. He also explained that stainless steel is not rustproof, but rust resistant. <br /> The commission voted 4-1 to approve the change order to the lifeguard tower contract, with the mayor dissenting.<br /> Petrolia supported replacing the old lifeguard towers, which were no longer usable, but she didn’t want to spend so much of taxpayer dollars on the new ones.<br /> The new lifeguard towers will each have a metal roof, a solar panel to power public safety radios and a fan inside, impact windows, louvered shutters and skids so that they can move easily along the beach.<br /> The $21,000 will come from the 5.2 percent contingency fund in the contract, said Susan Goebel-Canning, new public works director. <br /> The towers now cost $128,951 each. When such soft costs as moving the towers are included, the individual price for a lifeguard tower tops $142,000. <br /> Goebel-Canning assured the commission that the lifeguard towers would last 20 years and the hardware would not have to be replaced.</p></div>Gulf Stream: More delays, higher costs for town’s underground utilities projecthttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/gulf-stream-more-delays-higher-costs-for-town-s-underground-utili2016-03-30T16:02:32.000Z2016-03-30T16:02:32.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Dan Moffett</strong><br /><br /> Faced with a staggering cost increase and continued delays, Gulf Stream commissioners are scrambling to get their much-troubled and long-awaited underground utilities project back on track.<br /> Danny Brannon, Gulf Stream’s engineering consultant, had nothing but bad news to deliver at the March town meeting. He said the bids have come in for phase two of the project and they’re about 33 percent, or roughly $954,000, higher than expected. <br /> Work that was supposed to cost about $2.8 million now will approach $4 million, raising the total cost of moving all the town’s power, telephone and cable lines underground to about $6.5 million.<br /> “Absolutely stunning,” said Vice Mayor Robert Ganger.<br /> But forget about phase two for a moment, because there still is no telling when phase one will be completed. Brannon said he has had trouble getting Comcast to take down its lines so Florida Power & Light can come in and remove its poles.<br /> Neighborhoods that were supposed to be fully transferred to the underground system by now still resemble construction sites.<br /> Mayor Scott Morgan said the town’s south end “looks like a Benghazi suburb” and lamented the continued inability of the utility companies to work together.<br /> Brannon said it’s been impossible to get FPL, AT&T and Comcast to commit to a timeline.<br /> Even the project’s accounting has come into question. Commissioners told Brannon they couldn’t make sense of the numbers he brought them. <br /> Ganger called the bad bookkeeping “a rookie mistake” that had to be cleaned up before the commission can decide how to proceed. “You’re asking us to make a decision when someone can’t even do the math,” Ganger said.<br /> Morgan proposed consulting with town residents who have experience in finance and construction to draw on their expertise for ideas about righting the foundering project. He said he would bring recommendations for discussion at the town’s April 8 meeting.<br /> Commissioner Joan Orthwein said there is no choice but to move forward, because the town is too far into the project to turn back. “That would be like stopping building a house halfway through,” she said. “What have you got? Nothing.”<br /> The commission decided to conditionally award the contract for phase two to low-bidder Wilco Electric, with the hope that the contractor can find ways to take some of the cost out of the project.<br /> Gulf Stream’s problems with the project should send an ominous signal to surrounding communities. On March 15, voters in the town of Palm Beach approved a plan to move utilities underground that is roughly 15 times the size and cost ($80 million) of Gulf Stream’s.<br /> Palm Beach may want to take a second look at the Gulf Stream timeline. The idea for burying utility lines was born in the aftermath of the three hurricanes that struck Palm Beach County in 2004 and 2005. <br /> Gulf Stream started setting aside prepaid assets for the project in 2010. Construction was to have started in May 2012 but didn’t get going until late in 2013. The original completion target for both phases of the project was somewhere in the first half of 2015.<br /> Cyclical economic factors have contributed to the delays and overruns. Coming out of the recession, contractors were looking for work and gave low bids. Material prices also were low. Utility companies downsized their staffs, pushing into early retirement experienced workers who knew how to handle complicated projects. <br /> Now with the national economy rolling again, the cost of most everything has gone up and companies are understaffed.<br /> Despite the rising price tag, Town Manager William Thrasher told commissioners there is money in the town’s budget to pay for the project if they decide to proceed.</p></div>