Exposer of Waste in City Government – Destroyer of Marxist Lice
Another nugget popped up today – from the City Council Packet of October 8th of this year (page 60)…Azbell gets a check! Looks like they get about 50% of the contract up front. Must be nice. Can’t wait to see what this REALLY ends up costing…besides the reputations of several incompetent employees.
As reported in the Lampasas Dispatch today, Council voted unanimously to ignite another $16,417 in taxpayer funds. ASJ Construction change order #3 to raise the ceiling 9 feet and repair/replace a bunch of duct work was approved this week.
This sure doesn’t look like a project that will be done “mid December”, does it? That’s because it isn’t anymore. The completion date has been pushed back yet again and “City officials now hope the building will be ready for use in early 2019,” according to The Dispatch article.
Nice and vague! They HOPE the building will be ready in ‘early 2019’. Gives them a ton of wiggle room – AND lots of time for more change orders!! Cha-ching!!
An additional $50,000 has been added to the Old City Hall debacle project as “contingency for possible expenses related to window treatments, landscaping and ‘additional improvements‘ [BLANK CHECK ALERT!].
Yes….it is a “contingency” amount. I am willing to bet that not only will the entire $50,000 get spent, but another $15,000 on top of that if/when they decide they need ‘window treatments’ as fancy as the ones in Dallas or Austin.
The City is in receipt of “pay request #3” from the contractor, indicating 54% of project complete (they anticipate mid-December finish…HAHAHAHAHA). Oh, and “there is some seeping on the walls, but he [who is he? Doesn’t say] has consulted with the mechanical engineer”
Sounds like another disaster in the making. Vague proclamations of seeping on the wall while an unknown person is supposedly looking into it.
How big is the pile of money they have set on fire now? I’m seriously losing track. Hold on while I peruse my own investigation notes….
…..ok. Looks like we are getting very close to $1,500,000.00 now. Between the change orders, the roof suddenly needing to be fixed (which JNW failed to notice when they collected $18,000 from Finley to do a structural analysis), now this $50,000…plus more to come.
Remember back in April of 2015 when city council was fighting over this entire project and $375,000 was set aside? Then the first estimate came it at $750,000? And Misti Talbert was all gung-ho for this train wreck anyways?? Saying she “couldn’t make an uninformed decision”? I sure do.
So we went from $375,000 to $750,000 and now to DOUBLE THAT at $1,500,000.00 and STILL not done.
I hope that when we fall into a recession (possibly next year) and sales tax receipts plummet and the city is staring a huge deficit in the face (because they will NEVER cut City Hall fat $100k salaries, we know that) and your taxes get raised YET AGAIN….well, I hope everyone remembers who was behind this colossal waste of money.
But hey, at least you can go look at your $100,000 TV sets hanging on the walls of your $1,500,000.00 City Hall for two hours twice a month during council meetings! Woo hoo! Money well spent. Perhaps we should name it the Misti-Talbert-Finley-deGraffenreid-Azbell-Memorial-City-Hall so nobody forgets the great minds behind this project.
I guess Finley finally had to respond to the well-documented instances of Old City Hall cost overruns, waste and no-bid A/V contracts presented here in meticulous detail and using City Council’s own minutes. He did so in today’s Lampasas Dispatch (Sept 25, 2018). This was smart of Finley – the end of the fiscal year is in a few days, and the new budget will be presented soon…no doubt with large spending increases. Best explain how all these millions are actually for the community and not for City Hall employees.
Of course, I have to rebut his rebuttal with some facts that were ignored or left out:
First claim: The “approximately $1 million the city is spending to remodel”
Response: It’s actually $1.4 million and counting [using information from City Council minutes and detailed on this blog]. While $400,000 might not be a lot to those in the upper echelons of city government who are pulling down well over $100,000 per year in salary and benefits, it certainly IS a lot to the average Lampasas taxpayer who makes around $29,000 per year and who is footing the bill for this debacle. It is also 40% more than you state in the article…and they aren’t done yet. Expect more money to be spent.
Second claim: Finley uses the words “Buy Board” constantly like some sort of magic immunity phrase. He claims they went with Azbell and didn’t bid the project for several reasons…one is the magic Buy Board [we don’t have to because they are pre-approved…nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah!] and the other is supposedly because “if the city didn’t use the Buy Board method, they would have had to spend an additional $10,000 to obtain a professional design for the system,” according to the article.
Response: I give you one date – August 25, 2014. You DID go out and get three bids. The lowest was Broadcast Works at $33,983. Azbell came in at $41,184 (still a far cry from the $94,683 Azbell is currently charging). Whitlock was $54,411.
Furthermore, as stated in the minutes from that meeting, the Broadcast Works bid specifically required the company to “work in conjunction with the architect, general contractor, and sub-contractor, in addition to attending pre-construction meetings” – which SURE makes it sound like they were going to do EVERYTHING themselves and wouldn’t require the extra $10,000 “to obtain professional design” that Finley is babbling about now as he re-writes history.
Even if it WAS true, the original $33,983 PLUS another $10,000 still only comes to $43,983. Which is FAR less than the $94,682 king’s ransom that Azbell is charging them currently.
So why weren’t the magic “Buy Board” words invoked back in 2014? Why did you get three bids the first time? How did Azbell’s initial $41,000 bid (which was rejected) morph into $94,600??
Maybe Finley would try and use the excuse that, “well, we changed venues”. The problem with that excuse, is that it is debunked in black and white in Council’s own minutes on August 24, 2015. It clearly states that “Monica Wright has discussed the change of location with the IT vendor for the A/V system, and it appears cost should be equivalent to quotes received for the previously proposed Council chambers.”
Oops. No help there either.
So, no matter how much lipstick Finley puts on this pig, the facts remain:
What about Finley’s final argument in the Dispatch, that “this is for the community”? Well, we’ll get into that in the next few posts. I’m glad Finley brought up the LEDC (Lampasas Economic Development Corp) in his Dispatch article, because they happen to be my next example of egregious waste.
Some fireworks and big questions are unearthed in this chapter….just slog through a few uneventful entries first….
Jan 9, 2017: Staff held initial meeting with Byron Hendrix, Hendrix Consulting Engineers. Hendrix met with City staff, reviewed plans and toured the facility. He said “his firm was capable of providing anything from a ‘basic’ set of plans to a more complex and thorough design”. City staff was generally impressed with his firm and approach and was hopeful that a proposal could be considered by Council by Jan 23.
Jan 23, 2017: deGraffenried presents Council a packet with the negotiated scope and fee for MEP services by Hendrix Consulting. The scope includes design and clean-up of electric feeds for the entire building, performance specs for the fire sprinklers and alarm, complete MEP for second floor and partial MEP for first floor. This will be a one-month project but would depend on plan specs by the architect. Councilman Williams moves to award Hendrix the MEP contract for $16,500. Seconded and carries unanimously.
Feb 13, 2017: deGraffenried provides Council a hard copy of the Old City Hall plan set. City Staff reviews the architectural plans, including structural plans, on Jan 31 and provided comment to JNW.
Discussion included timeline of bidding that could take 30 to 60 days and preference to bid by division and have City oversee the project, which would be a savings to the City. Talbert moves to authorize the project as presented…seconded and passed unanimously.
And here it finally is……
MARCH 13, 2017: Monica Wright explains to Council that the A/V system for Old City Hall will cover the main chamber area, executive session meeting room, and second meeting room. Wright says City Staff has been working with Azbell Electronics on a concept and design for this project that will be brought to Council at a later date. Chris Anelundi from Azbell is present for this meeting. Finley also reviewed MEP for the project.
[WOW!! Here it is…the very first mention of Azbell Electronics in the minutes going back 4.5 years. On Aug 25, 2014, Monica presented three bids for the AV system and Azbell was NOT the winner. The winner was Broadcast Works (who is still in business, by the way) and the price was $34,000. From that point until this day, there has NEVER been a mention of Azbell having the contract or anything about a price change. You can see EVERY post concerning the AV system for the last 4.5 years on this blog – starting with Part I of this series.]
So many questions! WHY is Azbell involved right now and not Broadcast Works? Who is the “City Staff” who have been working with Azbell, and why? Finley? Monica? Who authorized this? When did it start? There is STILL no mention of Azbell costing $100,000.00 so it must not have happened yet. After reading through 1000 pages of minutes, I watched City Council get bids on EVERYTHING (even $12,780 for 100 stacking chairs) so why is Azbell appearing now? If Azbell is a “buy board” company and other bids aren’t needed, then why did they get three bids the first time back in August of 2014? Why doesn’t City Council ask these questions NOW in March of 2017? I’d love to hear the answer – SOMEBODY has to know.
Furthermore, Monica and Finley keep yammering about “Azbell is a buyboard member so we don’t need other bids,” yet the LAST time they sent out bids for this very same job, Azbell was NOT the lowest bid and the bids varied wildly between $34,000 and $54,000 – so a competent person with an IQ over 90 should realize that since they weren’t the low bid last time, there is DEFINITELY a benefit to getting bids on this project, since it is quite likely Azbell’s bid would not be the lowest this time either.
March 27, 2017: Finley deGraffenreid reports that MEPs continue progress at Old City Hall. The City is planning to run emergency/backup power to the project – specifically the elevator. The city has also received the proposal for audio/visual equipment and is currently reviewing specs and scope of work.
June 12, 2017: Finley says the MEPs are 99% complete…that Bryan Ellis (building inspector) and Monica Wright are reviewing the plan set [what the hell does Monica have to do with this part??] They are in the process of drafting bid packets for Old City Hall.
July 24, 2017: City staff met with engineers from Hendrix Consulting to review and make final changes to Old City Hall rehab plans. Staff will finalize bidding documents in next few weeks with a construction start date of hopefully mid-September.
Sept 25, 2017: Finley says Old City Hall plans have been finalized…and they have received bids on phone cable installation, fiber relocation and audio/visual components [so where are the bids?]. He is putting RFPs together by division and hope to move into the building in 2018.
Oct 23, 2017: [This is unrelated, but…] applications are being received for the new Assistant City Manager position ($90,000 in salary and cost to taxpayer of $122,000 after including benefits and pension). The city received FIFTY-FOUR RESUMES. [I stand by my constant assertions that government salaries are TOO HIGH in Lampasas for MANY positions. Clearly, there is a LOT of interest at that salary – ergo, it is far too generous].
Nov 27, 2017: Finley says the basement demolition is completed at Old City Hall. Fire Marshall has been reviewing the space with fire suppression contractors to determine plans and pricing. Space is available for Council to tour.
Dec 11, 2017: City staff will begin utility work to bring the fire suppression line, emergency power and wastewater line. They have identified 13 different disciplines that will need to be bid and contracted including framing, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire suppression, finishes, insulation, drywall, plaster, data, flooring and millwork [OK – you will get bids on literally EVERYTHING except audio/visual??? Or does “data” cover that? Seriously…it REALLY looks like the fix is already in for Azbell. A/V is conspicuously left out of this list. How about it, Finley?? To paraphrase an old Wendy’s commercial from the 1980s: WHERE’S THE BID?]
Jan 8, 2018: Finley wants to update Council in anticipation of bid awards…share comments…review estimates…review trades/specialties that will need to be procured soon. Finley then gives some info out: $600,000 earmarked for this project…$86,348 already spend…bid docs prepared by staff. Partial estimates to date:
So we now have a number getting very close to the current [August 2018] $96,000 screw-job from Azbell. Clearly, somebody has taken it upon his/herself to just pick Azbell and unilaterally squander a ridiculously huge amount of money. We know it is ridiculous, because back in August 2014, Broadcast Works WAS AWARDED A BID FOR A/V for $34,000…City Council at the time VOTED ON IT!!!
Again…I ask Finley and Monica: how was this decided?? Why was this not re-bid? Why was Council not informed of any re-bids especially since the cost nearly TRIPLED. I ask City Council (especially Talbert and White since they were there in 2014 and voted to award $34,000 to Broadcast Works) WHY WAS THIS $83,000 NUMBER NOT IMMEDIATELY QUESTIONED RIGHT HERE ON JAN 8TH??
As an unrelated aside, also at this meeting, Finley is being grilled about the Water/Wastewater Lab/Shop by White and Talbert. Specifically, Talbert is asking how “a project that started at $400,000 is now going to cost the city $1.2 million”. [It sure seems like the price of just about every project TRIPLES in a short span of time. I’m going to call this The Finley Factor.]
Feb 12, 2018: Finley says there is a general lack of bidding interest in demolition, framing, and special construction scope. He’s asking for direction and possibility of revision of scope into one bidding package.
A contractor was invited to explain. Lesley Greer of A&L Sanchez said there were a lot of discrepancies in the bid, and without a General Contractor for all of the project, it stalls the project. She said that most bids similar to this project are bid as one with a GC that leads the project [you may recall that the City chose to NOT have a GC run this project to try and save some money – I sure recall it. Seems like SOMEBODY should have known that going into this.]
Finley asks Council to let him bid this as one package and also to rescind all plumbing and HVAC/Electrical bids. Council agrees to this.
March 12, 2018: Finley reviewed a status update of projects earmarked for funding with the 2016 CO (Certificate of Obligation) Issue. Discussions include the need to increase funding on the Old City Hall project [surprise surprise…the Finley Factor strikes again…how high will the number get??]
In the next, and final chapter, we watch the cost for this project balloon to over $1,300,000.00!!
For the first part of 2016, the Azbell/City Hall turd remained buried in the corner of Council’s litter box…having been covered in gravel and forgotten temporarily. It seems that many Council turds follow this pattern: heavy activity, major screw-up, turd gets buried (but never thrown out – see: civic center or LEDC Business Park) and is then uncovered later, when they try in vain to polish the turd with more money. Nobody seems to learn that you CAN’T polish a turd.
The Old City Hall/Azbell turd was again unearthed in the May 23rd minutes, with our old friend Jennifer Walker – The Architect.
May 23, 2016: Jennifer Walker (JNW Architects) was present at the meeting. She said the Old City Hall building is in good condition. She reviewed fire protection codes, accessibility, means of egress and elevators – then reviewed her summary of requirements and recommendations.
Council asked Walker for a timeline. She thought she could have architectural plans to Council by next month and anticipated construction to begin Jan 2.
July 25, 2016: Finley provides Council with revised floor plan. John Walker, JNW Architects, is present. After review, Council approves with exception of excluding the stairs.
August 8, 2016: Budget workshop shows Renovation of Old City Hall at $400,000 in anticipation of use of CO (Certificates of Obligation).
[Also, Finley states that based on Operating Budget by Major Accounts, City worker benefits are approximately 40.8% of salary expense (24.3% is retirement, FICA and worker’s comp while 16.5% is health insurance) – something to remember when they create new positions out of thin air that “only” pay $65,000. You need to add another 40% on to that to see the REAL cost to the taxpayer.]
Sept 26, 2016: More budget workshops – Old City Hall rehab estimated cost $600,000 [no, you are not imagining things…it seems to go up in price every time it is mentioned]. Also deGraffenried explained that Council is asked to consider the attached Ordinance that would authorize the issuance of bonds to support the renovation of Old City Hall [among other things]. [Proposed City Operating Budget is $26,659,526.00 – just an FYI]
Oct 10, 2016: Finley gives Council a copy of the “scope of services” proposal from JNW Architects for architectural services for Old City Hall. Total cost is $38,500 – the breakdown is $20,000 for construction drawings “for construction in compliance with the City’s requirements” and another $18,500 for “structural analysis and provide documentation” of said analysis. Jennifer Walker was present for meeting.
Council asks about a time frame and feels a clause should be inserted to hold them to a deadline. Walker says 6-8 weeks…12 tops, if there are any unforeseen issues. Harrison moves to approve proposal with the insertion of a 12-week deadline [roughly mid-January of 2017]….seconded by Talbert and carries unanimously.
Oct 24, 2016: Bids are received for demolition plans as specified by JNW Architects. Quote are received from two local contractors:
Councilman Harrison moves to award contract to RKJ…it is seconded and passes unanimously.
Nov 14, 2016: Demolition work is done in 14 days and 20,000 pounds of weight is removed from building.
deGraffenreid brings bids to Council on elevator equipment and installation. Bids were:
Harrison moves to accept bid from RKJ – not the lowest bid – because “they are local and have done previous work for the city” [I get the local thing…but that’s $23,000…ouch]. Seconded by White and passes unanimously.
Nov 28, 2016: Requests for qualifications have been published and distributed for Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) services.
Dec 12, 2016: Seven RFQs received for the MEP work (can be found in minutes). deGraffenreid said than after review and scoring done by City staff, the highest ranked firm is Hendrix Consulting Engineers out of Round Rock, Texas….and “asked Council to allow City staff to negotiate with them. Once the City has a cost amount, it will be brought back to Council for consideration.” McCauley then moves to authorize…Harrison seconds and motion passes unanimously.
[That is all info in the minutes for 2016. Part V will follow and things get quite interesting there….it will cover 2017 and show this project balloon over a million dollars and counting]
Things were quiet for a bit after the previous fireworks. When I go through every single page of minutes, I not only read them all the way through, I also use keyword searches to make sure I didn’t miss anything – keywords like “Azbell”, “Monica”, “chambers”, “civic center” and maybe a couple more, as I am finding waste in other areas as well.
August 24, 2015: This is where things get a bit confusing. Near as I can figure, they were already renovating “Old City Hall” before all this Council Chambers mess and maybe decided that instead of building an entirely new structure JUST for city council, they will locate inside newly renovated “Old City Hall” which seems so logical, I don’t know why any other ideas were even entertained.
Regardless, we see from the minutes that “Old City Hall: city staff has met with a potential elevator shaft contractor, as well as an architect and structural engineer. After the elevator has been specified and located, staff will begin soliciting trade services for plumbing, electrical and HVAC. Monica Wright has discussed the change of location with the IT vendor for A/V system and it appears cost should be equivalent to quotes received for the previously proposed Chamber project”
[OK – so it appears the original $34,000 bid from Broadcast Works is still alive. There has been no mention of any other deal or re-bidding of anything – gotta assume they are still talking about Broadcast Works here]
September 28, 2015: Minutes state “Update on Council chambers” – since the “Council Chambers” project is supposed to be dead, I have to once again assume they actually mean “the council chambers inside soon-to-be-renovated Old City Hall”. Again, the way all this is worded is somewhat confusing. But the minutes tell us that “the audio visual vendor toured the building and saw no problem with doing the work” – and also that “Mayor Toups wants to know the probable total cost of this project before proceeding any further” [not sure if this means the cost of the ENTIRE City Hall renovation or just the council chambers portion – confusing, as it seems to be a habit of some of these people to get halfway through a project before discussing cost.]
Council member Harrison [who apparently has a learning curve that looks like a flat line] said he preferred working with JNW Architects [remember them?] since “Council had worked with them before on the previous plan” [yes they did…on a plan that resembled the Bay of Pigs invasion].
Council member McCauley preferred NOT working with JNW Architects because of all the screw-ups on the last project – “which was very costly “[circle gets the square, McCauley]
November 23, 2015: Finley hands Council a proposal to let JNW Architects [again??] cash yet another $18,500 check for “architectural services” for Old City Hall. Toups, not unlike a cow who has wandered into an electric fence one too many times, is wary of Finley bearing gifts…he asks “how many more ‘architectural services’ would need to be done after this phase and how much more cost could the city be looking at” [good question!!]
Jennifer Walker of JNW Architects [who could have played the Serpent in the garden of Eden to some acclaim] said that it depended on what was found and she couldn’t really give an amount, since no building plans exist [blank check alert!!!]. Finley backs her up: no floor plans can be found….just a few schematics.
Mike White [also clearly wary of the proverbial electric fence shock] states that “with so many unknowns, it could turn into an open-checkbook project [ding ding ding ding!!]
That is it for 2015….stay tuned for Part IV