Scoreboard improvements

[MightyNDNS]

Ok, that's enough with the karma crap.

 

[IndianFan]

Personally, as a business person for the past 28 yrs., I don't understand how someone can give a bid on a job, get the bid, then raise the price so much. I've done tons of work for PNGISD over the years, and for EVERY contract that I was awarded for them, after the work was performed, the amt. I was paid was to the PENNY what my contract stated. Now some engineering firm ( you know, the proffession that wants everyone to think that they are always so precise and perfect) pitches a price to the school board, and the board pitches it to the voters, and we get all excited about it and vote for it,...THEN, after construction starts, we're told that those precise engineers missed by a couple dozen MILLION DOLLARS???? Where's the accountability? How come someone on the school board doesn't stand up and say "NO, THIS WAS YOUR BID, THIS IS OUR CONTRACT, AND YOU WILL HONOR YOUR CONTRACT! That's what bonds are for, to ensure work is performed per the contract.

I guess what I'm asking is, how come these companies aren't held to the same standards that we, as citizens are held to?
What kind of signal does this send to our kids?

And now the biggest question... Are we going to vote those same school board members back into office again?
If we do, we are telling them that we agree with the way they handled our tax dollars.

This is the decision that ea. must make on their own.

Sorry for the rant. :sorry:

I think it's important to differentiate between a bond proposal and actual bids. A bond proposal consists of proposed projects and estimated costs. There are no bids or contracts involved. And no price guarantees.

Take the stadium for example. Sure, SHW Group engineers designed the stadium enhancements and estimated that a lot more could be built into the stadium for 9 million. After seeking bids several months later it was obvious that the estimate was off target by several million. The reasons for that cannot be blamed on the school board. Inflation and rising construction prices are affecting ALL school districts, communities and industries. The influence of inflation, world steel demands, rising energy costs, etc is a lot greater than a school board in the tiny towns of PN and G. The district approved the lowest bid and signed a construction contract with H.B. Neild & Sons who is now working under the agreed upon constraints including the 'guaranteed maximum price, "not to exceed" amount', or fixed-price contract.

What examples do we have so far of a contract prices being overrun?

 

[PNG Proud]

All of that makes sense, and perhaps I used the wrong terminology in "contract", but the fact still remains that we were indeed sold a bill of goods for a stadium and school improvements that should cost X amount of dollars. To miss it by such an enourmous amount of money is still mind boggling to me, and, I would think that the school board would be prudent enopugh to get some sort of actual propsal before starting a project of this magnitude, and hold the construction company somewhat accountable for building it at the cost given.

 

[Tomahawk Chop]

I don't believe anyone could have anticipated the rise in building costs since the bond was passed last May. The cost of fuel alone has risen 60-70%. Building materials have risen as much as 50%. There is no one to blame for this IMO. It is our economy. I believe some people are misinterpreting some information. The stadium will be built for what the contract says. My interpetation of the overages on budget lie in the fact that because of the rise in costs, other construction that was going to happen might now be on a smaller scale on eliminated all together. That is where the district is over budget. They might have alotted 5 million for a project 18 months ago and now it would cost 8 million to complete the same project. Because of this, the district would now be over budget. Again that is just my interpretation on things. I could be totally wrong.

 

[IndianFan]

All of that makes sense, and perhaps I used the wrong terminology in "contract", but the fact still remains that we were indeed sold a bill of goods for a stadium and school improvements that should cost X amount of dollars. To miss it by such an enourmous amount of money is still mind boggling to me, and, I would think that the school board would be prudent enopugh to get some sort of actual propsal before starting a project of this magnitude, and hold the construction company somewhat accountable for building it at the cost given.

Agreed, I had the same reaction when they first announced that the stadium features would be cut. I just wanted to clarify the details and raise the idea that the school board is not the group of incompetent bandits that many here like to make them out to be. Our local school board (Cy-Fair) receives the same types of criticisms. Regarding the differences in the bond proposal numbers and actual costs, I would credit the professionals that were hired to design and estimate costs of the new construction for the poor job of projecting costs. Unfortunately the same thing happens in other districts and communities.

 

[IndianFan]

I don't believe anyone could have anticipated the rise in building costs since the bond was passed last May. The cost of fuel alone has risen 60-70%. Building materials have risen as much as 50%. There is no one to blame for this IMO. It is our economy. I believe some people are misinterpreting some information. The stadium will be built for what the contract says. My interpetation of the overages on budget lie in the fact that because of the rise in costs, other construction that was going to happen might now be on a smaller scale on eliminated all together. That is where the district is over budget. They might have alotted 5 million for a project 18 months ago and now it would cost 8 million to complete the same project. Because of this, the district would now be over budget. Again that is just my interpretation on things. I could be totally wrong.

Bullseye!

 

[MightyNDNS]

I have said in other post that the Board is just a group of people - the same as you and me - some have construction background, some don't. But there should be some sort of oversight committee, maybe the original bond committee, to oversee what is going on with each project. Other school districts in the state do this, why not PNGISD. I would think that this would take some of the heat off of the Board.

Maybe I am looking at this bond thing from the wrong prospective. I am looking at it from a contractor point of view. I understand and agree that whomever did the planning and projected budget for this should share the blame, but some errors were made on our part, as in the technology portion of the bond and that was a 3.6 million dollar error. It had nothing to do with increase in cost. It was incorrect from the get go. I have this info confirmed from a district administative employee who is involved on a daily basis with the bond. I was correct about the 12 million dollar over budget amount, that has now been reduced to 2 million - with the possibility to go up from here unless other re-arranging of funds are made or other projects are cut back. I was misinformed about the softball, baseball and tennis facilities, what can a say, I went off of information from a Coach that is directly involved in at least of these sports. Maybe admin was trying to get this person's blood pressure up for the fun of it, I don't know why they would tell me that and it not be true. But it is isn't true, so....

My thoughts on the roofs have been made clear, it is crap - but we have to cut cost somewhere. I am just curious as to why the Board would listen to people that only want their money instead of someone who lives here and is trying very hard to guide them in the right direction - I gain nothing from this, I am not a sales rep and do not work off of commission. I only wanted to help provide a decent roof (which is what protects the rest of the building) on our new schools and try to help out on the existing schools. But the board bought the sales pitch from "that other company" hook, line and sinker - even after I warned them. I am done with that - if the roofs fail, they better not let me know about it.

 

[CardiacKids 92]

Thanks for all the info on the score board improvements, really nice thread! opcorn:

 

[MightyNDNS]

Thanks for all the info on the score board improvements, really nice thread! opcorn:

It's BIG, It's Bad and It's Built!!! End of Story. What more do you want to know?

 

[NDNband69]

I spoke with a construction supervisor who said our video screen is probably the best of any high school in the state. He said the resolution will "blow people away".......and most colleges don't have video screen resolution to compare to what we have.

 

[pngfan93]

I spoke with a construction supervisor who said our video screen is probably the best of any high school in the state. He said the resolution will "blow people away".......and most colleges don't have video screen resolution to compare to what we have.

Dang I want to run one of those cameras to make sure we get nice close ups of the plays.

 

[IndianFan]

4.4 Trillion colors. HD quality. :thumbsup:

The video screen at the Reservation is 16.6'x27' compared to the 14'x24' HD Barco board at Shotwell Stadium.
http://www.olenwilliamsinc.com/Installs/Football/New%20Pics/shotwell2.jpg

Interesting article...
http://reporternews.com/news/2007/jul/13/shotwell-video-screen-to-air-commercials/

 

[pngfan93]

From the article:

. . . video screen that will display instant replays, AISD messages and advertising, complete with sound.

I hope we don't use cheesy sounds like Galena Park uses. I remember the "comedic" wah-wah noise as the opposing team dropped the ball. It was really annoying.

 

[PNG1992]

From the article:

. . . video screen that will display instant replays, AISD messages and advertising, complete with sound.

I hope we don't use cheesy sounds like Galena Park uses. I remember the "comedic" wah-wah noise as the opposing team dropped the ball. It was really annoying.

I agree.

As far as the stadium goes I hope they put the flagpoles atop the home stands and on top of the scoreboard like they have in the drawings. (similar to what Nederland has) Imagine being on the visitors side looking across at a sea of purple with purple and flags atop the stands.

 

[NDNband69]

Flag poles are already set. 3 poles.....nice location.

 

[pngfan93]

Flag poles are already set. 3 poles.....nice location.

They're talking about the smaller flag poles that would hold some type of PN-G flag.

 

[IBLEEDPURPLE]

It would be nice to see the smaller flag poles erected along the home side across the top rows!!!

 

[PNG1992]

Flag poles are already set. 3 poles.....nice location.

They're talking about the smaller flag poles that would hold some type of PN-G flag.

yes, similar to what nederland has and what was drawn in the stadium drawing. It would look very nice. Three on top of the scoreboard would look cool as well.

 

[MightyNDNS]

Somebody better go find the bubble wrap that the scoreboard came in - for the rest of hurricane season!!!!!

 

[NDNband69]

We now have video test #1.

WOW ! ! ! It is definitely HD. So vibrant that this "Cow Bell" video looked almost 3-D.
And this was taken during the day.