Menu
R-6 construction projects moving along; supply chain issues of concern
Thursday, March 10, 2022
A worker with Slinkard Painting touches up paint on a wall in the gymnasium Thursday at Sikeston R-6 School District’s new Lee Hunter Elementary currently under construction.
Leonna Heuring/Standard Democrat
SIKESTON — National supply chain issues are putting a wrench in many construction projects throughout the country. So far, Sikeston R-6 School District has managed to avoid these issues with its two building projects currently underway.
During Tuesday’s regular monthly board of education meeting, officials learned there is a possibility the projects could be impacted by supply chain issues, and for at least one project they won’t know for sure until later this month.
Cory Bextermueller with Navigate Solutions provided updates for both the Lee Hunter Elementary and Bulldog Hall facilities.
“For Lee Hunter, we had an original duration of construction for 14 months,” he told the board. “Our notice to proceed was back on March 2021, and substantial completion is spring 2022. The contract currently is $11.8 million. We have some allowances built in these contracts and contingencies we’re still tracking. We had some budget meetings that we went through today, and we are still in a great position.”
Currently, construction-wise, the finishes are ongoing, Bextermueller said. MEP — mechanical, electrical and plumbing — devices are being installed, he said.
“We’re moving forward everywhere we can,” Bextermueller said. “With the mechanical/electrical rough-ins, there is some overhead still going in there, but, for the most part, that is coming to a close. We do have supply chain concerns.”
Bextermueller said Navigate Solutions along with S.M. Wilson and Co., Kiefner Bros., and DeCota Electric Supply are working to mitigate those challenges and maintain the schedule as they move forward.
“The project has been going extremely well up to this point,” Nick Martin with S.M. Wilson told the Board. “We’ve been doing everything possible we can to get our electrical switch gear, and there’s not an amount of money or anything we can do to speed it up, but we are looking at a March 21 promise date from them.”
Martin said they are remaining hopeful the electrical switch gear arrives by the promise date.
“I don’t think there’s a reason to set off a whole lot of alarms yet,” Martin said. “… It’s been an unfortunate situation — not just for us, but a lot of contractors are dealing with this all over the country.”
Board member Rebecca Steward asked what switch gear was.
“It’s your main power distribution throughout the whole facility,” Martin said.
Phillip Kiefner with Kiefner Bros. addressed the Board, too, reassuring the Board they could make the challenges work.
“It may not be the exact construction completion date we were given originally, but we are working through those issues,” Kiefner said.
Kiefner noted the wood floor in the gymnasium is one project that would be impacted should the project be affected by supply chain issues.
“The building has to be acclimated for a certain period of time, usually two weeks or so, before you can set the wood down,” Kiefner said. “Then you set the wood down, and you have to let it sit for four weeks so it gets acclimated to the space, and then you’ve got another four to six weeks of installing and finishing that wood. Then, after it’s competed, we have to go back and put bleachers in and wall padding in.”
There are some overhead jobs crews can do beforehand, Kiefner said, but the gym is the factor of making an August completion. However, the good news is crews can still potentially work on the gymnasium while school is in session, if that would even be needed, he said.
“It can’t be helped, I know,” Steward commented.
Monique Rice with DeCota Electric Supply in Sikeston said they’re doing everything they can.
“This is due to lack of raw materials. This is due to labor force. There are multiple factors right now across the country that everyone in this room is aware of that is delaying materials and, unfortunately, cannot be helped,” Rice said. “If we could locate the materials from another manufacturer or if there’s another plant, we would be on it.”
Rice said the promise date, unfortunately, can change, and although they’re hoping it doesn’t, they won’t know for sure until 8 a.m. March 21.
“Once we get S.M. Wilson’s completion date, we have to do some waxing of floors, and it may be a couple weeks to where have to work with district staff and vendors to get the waxing completed for furniture installation, and then we do have some IT installations,” Bextermueller said.
The goal is to potentially have a ribbon cutting in August.
For Bulldog Hall, again, there’s an original construction duration of 14 months, Bextermueller said. May 2021 was the notice to proceed, and substantial completion is spring 2022, he said. The project timeline was staggered by a month of Lee Hunter. The original contract was $5.6 million.
“We were reviewing those budgets again today, and they’re comparable of those figures,” Bextermueller said. “We’re still in great position with our contingencies and allowances.”
Wall framing is ongoing, and drywall was expected to start Wednesday, Bextermueller said. Brick is not quite 50% complete but it’s moving along, he said.
“With the supply chain concern, Kiefner has some very similar challenges,” Bextermueller said. “The big difference between this building and Lee Hunter is the size of the building which really changes the size of the gear. It changes the size of the service coming in, so this building had a lot more opportunity to find solutions beyond what we already had.”
Kiefner also spoke about how they’re addressing supply chain issues at Bulldog Hall.
“We’ve navigated the waters in just about everything,” Kiefner said. “To date, it’s been great. We were hit with a similar curveball. It came out of nowhere. We were checking in weekly, and they said: ‘Oh, by the way, you’re not going to get your main (electrical) panel until July.’ So what we’ve done is we have secured a temporary refurbished unit that allows us to continue to construct the building, so to speak, because all the trades are on site as well as you’ll be able to start school on time.”
The caveat with that is, Kiefner said, is when the panel does come in, they will make that switch over Christmas break.
“We think that’s a very feasible, viable option, and we’re confident moving forward,” Kiefner said.
Board Vice President Chad Bles asked how long the switchover process will take.
“The electrician indicated a three or four day window to make the switch,” Kiefner said.
Board member Ben Alcorn asked about making the switch over the summer break.
“They’re telling us (a promise date of) July 25, but who knows?” Kiefner said. “… The panel that we’re proposing is in the building right now, and we’ll be pulling wire this weekend and should have power.”
Bextermueller said schedules will continue to be updated as needed.