Brownsville board reluctantly pays bills
BROWNSVILLE – Delays and change orders relating to the renovation project in the Brownsville Area School District have led to some board members refusing to vote to pay contractors involved with the project. Although the bills are being paid, during Tuesday’s board meeting, directors Andy Dorsey and Nena Kaminsky voted against payment to any of the contractors related to the project.
Director Stella Broadwater agreed to pay the contractors, albeit under protest. Broadwater said she wanted a paper trail so the board can later take action. Broadwater questioned why general contractor Kusevich Contracting Inc. is not meeting deadlines and why there are so many change orders.
Broadwater referenced a Sept. 21, 2004, meeting in which the board was given assurances that the new gymnasium project would be completed by Nov. 7. The completion date was later pushed back to December and beyond, and the project is still not complete.
When Broadwater expressed frustration that the gym project is not complete, Superintendent Larry Golembiewski pointed out that representatives of architect Michael S. Molnar Associates have said Kusevich is ahead of schedule on the total project. Golembiewski said the board has no legal boundaries with which to go after Kusevich because the architect is signing off on the project.
John Evans, chairman of the building and grounds policy committee, said several months ago he wanted to not pay any of the contractors, but didn’t get board support for his decision.
Dorsey said he is not going to vote to pay any of the contractors until he receives an explanation for the delays. “I’m not going to vote (to pay) until we get answers,” he said. Dorsey also said that he believes Molnar, Kusevich and representatives from Maccabee Industrial Inc. should all attend the next meeting of the building and grounds policy committee so the board can get answers. A meeting of the building and grounds policy committee is scheduled for today.
Kaminsky suggested that if Molnar keeps signing off on whatever Kusevich does, maybe the board should make a motion to fire Molnar. The 2 1/2-year, $23 million project includes renovations to the high school/middle school complex.
During the meeting, the board approved the following payments relating to the project: $19,178.95 to Maccabee; $192,585.45 to Kusevich; $59,527.95 to John Hall Inc.; $68,306.24 to A-1 Electric; $1,116 to Commercial Appliance Contracts; $4,716 to Maffei Strayer Furnishings; $63,578.97 to Kewanuee Scientific Corp. and $18,289.80 to Allegheny Educational Systems.
The board also voted to authorize Molnar to submit PlanCon Part I to the Pennsylvania Department of Education for renovations/additions to the high school/middle school complex and to authorize Molnar to advertise and receive bids for the multi-color wall finish system as a supplemental contract for the renovations and additions to the high school/middle school complex.
In other action, the board voted to authorize the superintendent/administration to submit the appropriate documentation to the Pennsylvania Department of Education to rename the Redstone Middle School as the Brownsville Area Middle School.