OUP Construction Update #4

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One University Place Construction Update 4

01/15/16

One University Place construction continues on the front building. Due to the cold weather, most of the work is being down in the lower parking area which is heated. Electrical and concrete work is being done in this lower level. Concrete block is being installed for first floor exterior walls. The target date to have the front building enclosed is now mid-February. City building inspector Terry Goerdt has inspected and signed off on every required inspection.  This building is expected to be completed in late summer, 2016.

Utilities work (storm sewer and sanitary sewer) is progressing on the west side. The large sanitary sewer piping for the front building has been installed on the North Side of the building. Mechanical and electrical hookups to that system will begin.

MMS Engineering has submitted Public Improvements Plan  for review of a left turn lane on Melrose and Sunset/Melrose intersection improvements. Also attached to this report is the portion of the January 2016 City Engineer's Report to City Council that relate to the OUP project. The City Engineer refers to the Public Improvement Plan in his report, and also specifies the timeline for review of the plans, public comment, and steps required before approval.

OUP Construction Update 4

Make Sure You're in the Saddle...

The first meeting of  the newly elected city council was held last night. We had some lively discussion and interesting moments as we started our new term together. Wally Heitman in his Mayor's Report mentioned his hopes for more civility and wishes for all of council to work together for the benefit of the community. I thought Wally did quite well in his first meeting. I heartily agree with his sentiments and will continue to do all I can to make it happen.

The title of this post is the first half of a quote attributed former UH City Councilor Yon Schoenmaker. The last half of the quote is

...Before You Apply the Spurs!

We seemed to have a case of that as the very first council item on our agenda was to discuss hiring a project manager to oversee the construction phase of the One University Place Project. I find this to be a very interesting way to start our term.

One University Place (OUP for short) is a private development built on private property. As such this project is subject to all of the requirements of any private construction. Inspections are a vital and continual part of the process. The good news for us, is the the City of U-Heights has an excellent building inspector. He holds more certifications than any other building inspector in Johnson County, and is recognized as one of the best in the state of Iowa. He also works for the City of Iowa City and has had much experience in very large projects over the past five years, Plaza Towers, Park@201 downtown etc. and the University of Iowa Fire Inspector routinely consults with him for advice on how to conduct inspections at  Hancher, the Music Building, Peterson Residence Hall among others. 

Regardless, there will always be inspections at OUP that he is not licensed to conduct, and those officials who are qualified have already been identified and utilized as needed. Our inspector is the one who already certified the building plans, and awarded the initial building permit. He is very familiar with the project.  

Despite this, there is interest on council in hiring an independent project manager to oversee construction. This would have to been done at additional cost to the city. No other community around us does this for a private project. Project managers are typically used only when it is a Municipal project, and the city is paying for the building. 

Fortunately our inspector was at our meeting last night so he could introduce himself to the city councilors who had never met or talked to him. I asked how often he stops at the OUP site and his answer was typically 4 times a week. He also said that when the weather was better he stopped as often as 3 times a day. I asked if there had been any problems or issues with inspections he has already conducted and the answer was no. My very strong impression is that this project is very well supervised and is within the time and technical abilities he has to devote to this.

A fellow councilor said he "knows a guy," recently retired, who would be well qualified to be an independent project manager for us. For our February meeting we will be informed as to details of the job, availability and price. Given the fact several times later in the meeting there were questions about bidding all work to be done for the city to ensure good pricing, we might want to consider that too.

My thought right now is that spending city resources on a job that won't improve results, or solve with a major problem, is going to get us thrown off the horse.