5.10. SR 10-13-2003MEMOEANDUM
Item ~ 5.10.
TO:
Mayor and City Council
FROM:
DATE:
Pat Klaers, City Adm~tor
October 13, 2003
SUBJECT: Public Safety- City Hall Project Update
On Wednesday, September 24, 2003, city staff department heads met to discuss new and ongoing
issues associated with the public safety and the city haH-utilities construction projects. On
Wednesday, October 1, 2003, a public safety - city hall - utilities construction project meeting was
held with I~caus Anderson (I¥~), Tushie-Montgomery (TM_A), Serice Construction, Inc. (the
contractor for the public safety wall), and city staff. At both of these meetings the focus was on the
completion of the utilities building, including assuring that adequate heat is available this winter, and
steps that will be necessary for correcting the roof/wall leak problems that we are experiencing in
the public safety building.
Regarding the public safety building, the contractor has decided upon a course of action that KA,
TM_A, and city staff all found to be acceptable. This course of action includes removal of some of
the bricks, placement of a rubber membrane in the wall, sealing the crack in the wall, and
replacement of the thru-wall flashing. Please see the attached cover letter from Sandy Anderson,
President of Serice Construction Inc. In many respects, the wall should be more leak proof than
originally designed once it's gone through this redesign and reconstruction. Ultimately, if this action
does not result in the elimination of the leaks, then the wall will need to come down in the spring
and be replaced. Both I~ and TMA have indicated that this work on the wall will not result in
unusual maintenance expenses or activities by the city and that the city is not getting a damaged or
substandard product.
Regarding the utilities building, a concern was raised that the one-year warranty period has already
started as of when city staff moved in last summer. This is true for the general building but many
items will not come under warranty until the btfilding is finalized and when the utilities move in late
winter/early spring 2004. As of today (Thur.), the heating units in the utilities front entry area are
being installed. Also, the office heating and cooling is interconnected with the city hall system so
during the summer we were working out "the bugs" to have air conditioning and now we have
worked out the bugs so that heat is being provided. Our building maintenance employee Gary Lore
has been working with the Kxaus Anderson construction manager and everything appears to be in
good shape for this upcoming winter.
Regarding the city hall reconstruction project, the walls are going up and we have reached an
agreement on the heating and cooling duct-work and the heating/cooling individual units that are
throughout the building. In 1993 some "value engineering" was completed in order to save money.
However, some of these changes did not make it on the f'mal drawing. Accordingly, the bids for this
reconstruction project were made and submitted without all of the information on existing
conditions being known. Additional ductwork and heating units are required for this reconstruction
project and this will be done by way of a change order. The cost is approximately $31,000. If this
lack of ductwork and heating units would have been known at the time of the bidding of the project,
this cost would have been included and approved at that time. This type of unexpected expense is a
true building contingency expense. Not too many additional surprises are expected with this
reconstruction project and to a certain degree, I am pleased that there have not been more surprises
as reconstruction is very difficult once the tearing down of walls and analysis of the structure begins.
S:~Council\Pat~ Updates~PublicSafety.doc
SEP. 29. 2003
3:46PM
SERICE [NC
NO, 5O8
SERICE CONSTRUCTION, INC. ORPORATED
7109 Cahill Avenue East
Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076
Phone (651) 451-9310 Fax (651) 451.1221
September 2g, 2003
Attn: Don Stutesman
Kraus-Anderson Construction Co.
200 Grand Avenue
S~ Paul, MN
Re: Water Infiltration Elk River Public Safety
Elk River, MN
Don:
This Letter is In response to the continued water infiltration @ Ell< River City Hall. As was discussed @
Our meeting on site(9124/2003), the water is believed to be coming in @ a horizontal crack in the brick mortar
joint at the bottom of the piers between the openings in the elliptical wall. The water is running down
the cavity and is penetrating through the thru-wall flashing into the building,
It is our belief that with most of the elliptical wall bearing on masonry below & the center portion that is leaking
bearing on a beam, a control joint @ each end of the beam should relieve the pressure of differential
movement & prevent future horizontal cracks(From Left to right- center of pier 4 & center of pier7).
Our proposed solution to remedy this problem is as follows:
1) Remove 2 courses of brick @ the brick ledge on the both sides of the elliptical wall & remove the copper
thru-wall flashing.
2) Install self-adhesive membrane waterproofing flashing in place of the copper.
3) Relay the 2 courses of brick.
4) Grind out the horizontal brick joint that is cracked & tuckpolnt it.
5) Sawcut in a vertical control joint c. ontrol joint at center of pier 4 & pier 7 - Front & Back sides.
6) Caulk the control joint. ~'
7) We will warranty the work for 10 Years.