District 204 high school over budget

[wvhsparent]

District 204 high school over budget
Leaders blame cost of building materials

By Sara Hooker
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Thursday, September 14, 2006

The rising cost of building materials is pushing the budget for Indian Prairie’s proposed third high school beyond its limit.

Unit District 204 Superintendent Howard Crouse said the 3,000-student facility — expected to be finished in fall 2009 — is over its $82.5 million budget.

Crouse would not reveal how much the project’s over budget, saying specific numbers are being prepared for the next school board meeting. He blamed the cost of raw materials, which are “are going up practically by the minute.”

Voters in March approved a $124.7 million tax increase for the new school, to be built near 75th Street and Route 59.

That includes $82.5 million for the building, $24 million for land and site work, $10 million for furnishings, $4.5 million in professional fees, and $3.7 million for miscellaneous expenses and contingency money.

“(The overage) is not insurmountable,” Crouse said. “It’s just taking longer to get there. Frankly, I’d rather be where we are today than find out when we put things out to bid that we’re over budget.”

The district still needs to acquire an additional 55 acres to begin construction.

Officials filed a condemnation suit in December and recently requested the state legislature for quick-take powers to begin building on the land immediately.

A jury ultimately will determine the final cost of the land.

Crouse said he is not worried the land cost could drive budget decisions — and cuts — down the road.

“That’s still to be determined, and we’ll only deal with that if we need to,” Crouse said. “I think we can go off on wild suppositions about the difference between fair market value and what somebody wants for property, but the reality is until we have a number established by a jury.”

The board meets again at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 25 at its education center, 780 Shoreline Drive, Aurora.

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IMHO time to stop srewing around with BB and go North

[EagleDad]

Where do you propose wvhsparent, and what is the cost?

[ilove204]

IMHO - its just time to stop screwing around period!!!!!!!!!!

[wvhsparent]

eagledad said:

Where do you propose wvhsparent, and what is the cost?

I said it before....80+ acres at Eola and Molitor The AME church.....They did give a price to the SB (which they never disclosed), but they got the land in 2003 for 8 million. I bet they could offer the church half of what they are trying to get BB for and the Church would make out well.
another thought I had was I wonder how much the land at Rt 59 and Ferry is cgoing for (S/W corner) could the SD buy that and swap the church for it?

I have been talking to a lot of people up in the north (and a couple of aldermen) they all agree a northern site would be better. One arguement before was it's (BB) central location...all well and good when it's the ONLY facilty not 1 of 3.

I bet you if they (the SB) wanted to, they could have negotiations done with AME before the end of the year and actually have funds left over.
But I am realistic and due to certain egos this will never happen.

[bob]

I thought the church has already stated that the SD would have to buy their land plus another piece of land for their new church.

[momof3]

The news on construction costs has not been good - the following Tribune article discusses how commercial building costs have jumped 36% in the past 2 years - woulda shoulda coulda - if the first ref had passed, we would have the land and be under construction by now. However, IMO it seems the most prudent thing to do is follow the lead of the big developers and get this thing under construction and finished ASAP - via quick take, if need be. (Although I was talking to a salesperson at the Lowe's last week and he said some materials are starting to fall due to decreased demand - new housing starts are dropping - for example, he was saying that 8' 2x4s were up over $3 each and now are back down to around $2.50. Hopefully that bodes well for the new hs costs.)



Builders draw up new budget
Stone replacing marble, projects on hold as expenses engulf developers
Chicago Tribune (IL)
August 27, 2006
Author: Susan Diesenhouse, Tribune staff reporter
Estimated printed pages: 5

On the banks of the Chicago River, developers of an office tower at 300 N. LaSalle St. plan to lift the steel and concrete into place with two cranes, rather than one. And the building's glass curtain walls will be assembled from big modular panels rather than pane by pane to help shave about six months off the construction schedule.

This is but one lap in a race against soaring costs in the construction industry.

Overall, commercial building material costs in the Chicago area have jumped 36 percent in the past two years, said Phillip Waier, principal engineer for R.S. Means, a division of New York-based Reed Business Information. The composite cost of materials such as steel, concrete and copper wiring jumped 16 percent in 2004, 8.7 percent last year and are projected to rise about 8 percent this year, he said.

[wvhsparent]

bob said:

I thought the church has already stated that the SD would have to buy their land plus another piece of land for their new church.

That was Howie speaking from the wrong end and/or Hooker misquoting.
M2 addressed that before with me and I thought with you too.

[204parent]

We should all take the time to thank our local CFO members for delaying this project!!!

[ilove204]

how so?

[EagleDad]

If it's mininformation, I' like to know the source, because I was under the impression that the church would sell only if the SD bought them new land AND built them a new church.

[wvhsparent]

204parent said:

We should all take the time to thank our local CFO members for delaying this project!!!

Not standing up for CFO.......The SB had a hand in the 1st failure too....

[wvhsparent]

eagledad said:

If it's mininformation, I' like to know the source, because I was under the impression that the church would sell only if the SD bought them new land AND built them a new church.

Again that was on of those little Hooke/Howie interviews where I think Howie's brain was in neutral.

It was addressed in M2's report on why they chose BB, which had a few other glaring problems, which I brought up to him.
I tried to search for the report, but I think the SD cleaned up the website and a lot of those documents are no longer there. What I recall about the AME site was the SD claimed they priced it high, but never disclosed the price.

[mommygator]

No only did Howie say that to the papers, but he and I directly spoke and he also told me that part of the church's negotiation was that the SD would have to find and pay for another parcel of land for them. So, you can see how this gets around.

[blankcheck]

What am I missing here? (Again, not part of CFO, just a concerned parent/taxpayer) Why doesn't anyone see this. The cost of the High school is going up, the property on which they want to build is anyones guess as to what that cost will be - yet everyone keeps saying it will be allright? As a parent, I look at it this way. I want to build a house, however I have no clue what the land will cost to build the house. I go ahead anyway with building until a third party decides just exactly what that cost will be. Once decided, I am OBLIGATED to pay that cost.

Now you can tell me the jury does not decide - OK who does? You can tell me the market will never allow 600,000/acre, but who knows for sure? It could anywhere between 257,000 and 600,000. So we just "agree" to all of this? It's a crap shoot as far as I'm concerned- only they are using OUR money not theirs. How can all of you just go along with all of this and not be concerned? I for one am because it sounds like a half baked plan. Would anyone of you enter into an agreement like this if it were your own family? Highly doubt it.

OK - That is the conservative coming out again. Guess I should stop listening to WLS (Don & Roma forgive me:)

[bob]

only they are using OUR money not theirs.

They only use your money if one decides to live here. The great thing about America is you don't like the local gov't , one can always move.

You can tell me the market will never allow 600,000/acre, but who knows for sure?

Who knows if we will live tomorrow?