Source: http://www.observer-reporter.com, May 10, 2015

West Greene School Board learned last month just how expensive it is going to be to build a retaining wall behind the district’s new elementary school, following the collapse of the original wall Nov. 6.

The board last month approved a contractor’s proposal to build a new wall at a guaranteed maximum price of $5.2 million. With engineering and administrative fees, the bill could be as much as $6.4 million.

Considering the guaranteed maximum price is almost half the original cost of the elementary school project, the new wall is going to be expensive. Contracts the board awarded in May 2013 for construction of the school, including the original retaining wall, totaled $10.9 million.

Obviously, the board is not happy with the situation. Last month, members questioned where the district would get the money for the project and why the price for the new wall seemed to escalate within a matter of months.

The board earlier decided to build the new elementary school next to the middle-senior high school, which will consolidate all district buildings on one campus. But in order to make room for the new elementary school at the site, the district had to excavate a large hillside, which required the construction of the retaining wall. The original retaining wall was massive. According to early drawings, it stretched 761 feet and reached a height of 31 feet.

Long before the wall collapsed, the board expressed concerns about its adequacy. Last April, seven months before the wall failed, the board hired an engineer to review the wall design to ensure it was appropriate for site conditions. At this time, only the board and others involved in the project, including the architect, the engineering firm that designed the wall, the general contractor and construction manager know why work continued on the wall despite initial doubts about its adequacy.

We can assume each of the parties also has its own point of view of what happened and who should be blamed for the original wall’s collapse. The general contractor on the school project, Liokareas Construction Co., already filed a lawsuit against the district seeking damages for additional work it claims it was asked to perform in response to issues involving the failed wall. The board solicitor has declined to comment on the matter, but we feel confident more lawsuits will follow.

Since the wall collapsed in November, the board expedited the process of hiring a new contractor and developing plans for a new wall. It hopes to have the project completed in time for the district to begin using its new elementary school at the start of the school year.

Though not enough information is available to draw any conclusions about why the wall collapsed or who is at fault, we can say with certainty no one wanted it to happen. We’re sure the board right now would rather be showing off the district’s new elementary building and all its amenities and not sitting on pins and needles waiting to see if a new wall can be built in time for the start of the school 2015-16 school year and within the proposed budget.

The board’s concerns also will probably only be prolonged by the litigation that is bound to follow and could continue for years.

The project certainly has its problems, and if there is any consolation it is the district will soon have a new elementary school that should long outlast the troubles it has caused.