Chartiers Valley board rejects $158,500 change order in stadium renovation project

Chartiers Valley School Board voted against paying an extra $158,500 for a faulty aspect of the district’s high school stadium renovation project.

At issue during the board’s Aug. 22 meeting was the need to repair the base of the stadium’s track, which was damaged by heavy construction equipment as the $3.1 million project progressed.

Carrie Crawford, representing construction manager Thomas & Williamson LLC of Ross Township, explained that core borings taken before work began indicated conditions were sufficient to proceed.

“When those came through, we thought there was plenty of asphalt that’s currently there that we would be OK coming down, milling, and everything remaining intact,” she told the board. “When they started to mill, the damage started to occur.”

Board members agreed that fixing the problem is a priority, given the return of students to school on Aug. 30 and stadium sporting events scheduled for September. But they declined to approve the amount requested by the general contractor, Hampton-based TPK Inc.

According to a letter sent by Crawford to Chartiers Valley Superintendent Johannah Vanatta, one option is to remove the remaining material to about 8 inches’ depth; install 6 inches of material that was removed and salvaged from the football field base, plus additional stone; and placing 2 inches of binder topped with 2 inches of impervious wearing course on the surface.

“We have recommended that TPK fund a portion of this repair because some areas of the existing track were milled deeper than needed and rendered the binder more vulnerable to failure from wheel loads,” the letter states. “TPK has proposed to take a concession if this option is taken and will discount its proposed change order cost to $158,500.”

Patching the affected areas instead of replacing the entire track actually would come at a higher cost.

Conversation among school board members focused on which entity should foot the bill, ultimately leading to the change order’s rejection.

The project’s timing element, though, puts the district in a “Catch-22” situation, according to board member Lisa Trainor.

“We cannot do it in pieces, and then go back and do it again. It’s counterproductive and much more expensive,” she said. “The issue becomes a discussion over who’s responsible for that additional cost that wasn’t there in the first place, and how do we address that while still moving ahead, because we can’t delay that track any longer. It does impact the field. It does impact phys ed classes.”

And it impacts the Colts’ football schedule. The Sept. 1 home opener against Trinity Area will be played at Mt. Lebanon, a neutral site, but Chartiers Valley officials anticipated having the stadium ready to host Highlands on Sept. 15.

The school board is meeting at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 25 to address the situation.