$3.1M facility slightly over budget

Officials say they’ve managed to keep as close as they can

As finishing touches are put on the district’s new $3.1 million storage facility, which is expected to receive a certificate of occupancy this week, budget totals show the project came in about less than half a percent over budget. Considering the challenges the project faced, the small budget excess is an accomplishment.

Construction on the 20,000-square-foot facility, which will be used to store paper and custodial supplies, among other things, faced budgetary headaches early on. When work first began on the project located near the middle school in early March, officials soon reported that an additional $200,000 of white clay needed to be excavated before the building’s foundation could be laid. While the budget did include a contingency of about $182,000 in case the project ran into unexpected costs, the clay problemused up thatmoney by the summer, according to Stan Johnson, executive director of operations.

“Over the course of the project we ran into additional change orders that have all been reviewed at public meetings,” Johnson said.

Then in August, Schuylkill Township informed the district it needed to increase the amount of water pressure heading into the building’s sprinkler system from 200 gallons per minute to 500 gallons per minute because the facility will

have high rack storage. The district wouldn’t have been able to reach that pressure level from the borough

waterline and the project would have been over budget by about $40,000, Johnson said previously.

To address the problem, the board agreed in September to install a new water line from the Phoenixville Early Learning Cen-

ter. It will receive a $26,000 credit for no longer needing a supplemental fire pump in the building. Plus an additional $669 credit because there’s no longer a need for electric to be supplied to the pump. In addition the district received a $36,600

credit choosing to use one of its employees to paint the interior of the building. In total, the district will receive a credit of approximately $64,000.

“Unfortunately due to issues with soil we are going to be modestly over bud-

get,” said board member Kevin Pattinson.

While the district waits for its certificate of occupancy from Schuykill Township, crews have begun moving supplies into the facility on palettes. Meanwhile, Johnson said the dis--

trict will continue to look for ways to keep bringing down costs.

“We’re doing everything we can to bring the project as close to budget as possible,” he said.