Cc: Marc Elrich <marc.elrich@
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2015 3:25 PM
Subject: BCC Middle School #2 - URGENT for Thursday BOE meeting
Dear Mr. Rice –
Thank you for your 23 July letter [click here] to Ms. O’Neill regarding BCC Middle School #2.
Since we last met in June, other Rock Creek Hills parents and I have had
the opportunity to meet with Dr. Zuckerman three separate times. He listened to our concerns, engaged his
staff and visited the site personally. Although
he continuously indicated a commitment to listen and make change, his response(attached -click here) received last week was wholly disappointing. Through a screen of lists of meetings,
standards and codes, he basically ignored the concerns of both the community and
other County officials. Bureaucratic at best, but almost insulting to our
intelligence. Yes – we know there were
many meetings. But were they
effective? Did they actually address
concerns raised, or simply document, nod and ignore? Add green roofs and architecturally
appropriate surfaces for retaining walls to your list of broken promises and
missed opportunities to improve the project.
In the meantime, MCPS has
received construction bids and has notified Maryland Department of the
Environment that they intend to commence with the plans as they currently
stand.
This Thursday, “construction
contracts” is a topic on the Board of Education meeting that would result in approval for this project
to go forward. Before that happens, however, I encourage you
to question the status of the project and the resolution of all the issues at
hand. Two additional issues are of
particular concern that I would like to highlight: traffic safety, and budget authority and
conformance.
Traffic
Safety
Many traffic and safety issues are
generated by an (total future) influx of 1,200 students to the area. Although a traffic study was conducted, it
only addressed the capacity of Connecticut Avenue and its intersections. It did not
examine other roads leading to, or immediately connecting to, the proposed
site. Attached [click here] is a graphic synopsis of
the issues impacting the closest intersections.
To our knowledge, there is no similar circumstance in Montgomery County
that has a school of this size served by a local road network that has:
- similar volume of extant commuter traffic (upon which the school traffic will be overlaid),
- winding and hilly roads that are narrower than required,
- insufficient queuing capability,
- intersections with limited site lines,
- bridges with limited load capacity, and sidewalks that are not to code
- non-existant neighborhood sidewalks.
This is truly an “accident” waiting
to happen, when frustrated parents and anxious kids try to navigate this labyrinth
before the first bell. Additionally, at
the Feasibility Study presentation, it was noted (but not highlighted) that although
parking is sufficient for the initial student load, it is not for the full future
student capacity. The same phenomenon
will also occur with traffic…it may only be “bad” the day the school opens, but
will become irreversible once the school is fully loaded. Because none of these problems can be
resolved by MCPS planners or budgets, they have stated that these are not their
concern. I contend that it is incumbent
upon MCPS and its leadership as the proponents of the project to ensure that
these issues are addressed, budgeted, funded and resolved within Montgomery
County government and budgets. Anything
less than this should be considered to be turning a blind eye on safety, and
perhaps negligence.
Budget
Authority
Based upon analysis of bids
received to date (see attached), it appears that the project is already
dangerously close to, if not over, its
approved budget of $52.3M (CIP 2015-2020).
This assumes that only the lowest bids are awarded, as requested, which typically
commits the owner to quality and cost issues during construction. No construction awards have yet been made,
more bids for components of the construction are yet to be received, and construction
has not begun. There is no place for cost
to go but up. Fundamentally, it appears
that this project is destined to exceed its approved funding [click here], at the same time
MCPS has bid options to build out (un-budgeted, unapproved) expansion space by
constructing almost $2M in additional “shell” space with the base construction
bid. Constructing this space now,
although tempting, is tantamount to committing to a future of increased traffic
problems and pressure on school common spaces which remain inadequate for the
full 1,200 student population.
While I wholeheartedly agree with
the intent of your letter, it is focused the future of MCPS school planning,
using BCC MS #2 as example. Without immediate
action, Montgomery County is committing to build a school that even you describe
as being “disappointing”, still having known and acknowledged deficiencies. The concerns of both the community and the
Planning staff still exist – they are not past tense. They have not been resolved.
Rather than this being known as the
last school planned, designed
and built with a process that is neither collegial nor constructive, it should
be seen as the turning point in legacy thinking, with deficiencies corrected in
a collaborative fashion. Does Montgomery
County want to be known for knowingly spending more than $52M for a school that
its own staff considers to be "disappointing"? Is this the new “standard” for our County?
Prior to awarding construction, and
heading down an irreversible path, MCPS should be made responsible to:
- investigate, find solutions and manage execution of traffic issues, both on and “off-site”,
- provide a true budget lay down of total project costs to the County, including construction contingency for this project, roads and traffic improvements, land acquisition (to replace lost park space), and all “soft costs” indirectly associated with project completion,
- justify additional cost, and gain CIP approval, for additional unbudgeted “shell space”,
- provide an accurate construction timeline (the project is already 2 months behind approved schedule, and not yet awarded) and
- explain the short and long term (25 year aggregate) impact of any schedule delay.
Although it is late in the game, there
is still time to make a difference. I
hope that you have the ability to make a difference for our students, your taxpayers
and the reputation of our County.
Thank you for your consideration,
Rick
Richard L. Bond, AIA
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