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About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (July 29, 1982)
Thur» July 29 1982 (toc 2) SANOY (O r*.) POST -3 Leadership question still open at Welches by M IC H A E L P JONES Post Correspondent The confusion over who was the general contractor during the construction of the three-wing addition to Welches Grade School made it the most under- supervised project of its k in d , a c c o rd in g to a C la c k a m a s C o u n ty building inspector Depending upon who one asks, the general contrac tor of the 11 4 m illion Welches project could be one of three entities—the P o rtla n d a rc h ite c tu ra l firm , Richard L Gessford A Associates of Portland. G lynbrook C onstruction Company of Salem, and even the Welches School board C onfusion developed prior to the construction of the new facility when the school board and its a r c h ite c t, R ic h a rd L G e s s fo rd . sig n e d an amendment to the original 1165.000 contract This amendment, which was signed on Oct 11. 1979. allowed his firm to ad Sarah Whisner bom July 12 M ich a e l and R achel Whisner of Rhododendron recently announced the birth of their first child. Sarah Beth She was born July 12 at the P ortland Adventist Medical Center She weigh ed 7 pounds. 8 and a half ounces and was 19 and fiftheighths inches long Grandparents are Larry and Janice Craig of Sandy. Barbara Wing of Baldwin Park, Calif , and W illard Whisner of Hesperia, Calif Great-grandparents are G aylen and M a rg a re t Craig of Milwaukie, Paul and Dorothy Beck of Sandy and W illard and Goldie Whisner of Hesperia minister a 1256 963 con tingency fund, which was to be used for change- orders, soil and concrete testing, surveying and other unexpected coats If Gessford could reduce con tingency costs during the course of construction, the money left in the fund would be split, with the firm receiving 25 percent and the district 75 percent C o n fu sion developed over the actual role of the f ir m S chool b o a rd members believed when Gessford said he'd cover ‘ the w hole merryanne," he would be acting as the pro ject's general contractor Gessford contends he made no such agreement with the district He said he was merely going to ad minister the construction c o n tra c ts and change- orders The school board discuss ed the role of the general contractor at some length at an Oct 11 meeting in 1979 A tape recording of the meeting came to an end as the topic was being discussed The next taped portion of the meeting begins with the signing of the contract's addendum. Why the second ree or ding does not continue with the d is c u s s io n of Gess'ord's responsibilities as general contractor re mains a mystery Former Welches Grade School Vice Principal Earl P A rm bruster, who was operating the tape recorder, could not remember what happened to prevent the rest of the discussion fro m being taped "Maybe Welches has its own 18 and a half minute gap," Armbruster said After the addendum was signed the school board had its attorney, Lowell Njust, examine it from a legal standpoint He reportedly found the 75-25 percent agreement satisfactory. It wasn't until a year later, after an uproar from citizens concerning faulty construction and safety, that the school board learn ed the architect wasn't the general contractor Actual ly. no one was school d is t r ic t and Gessford s firm agreed to the 25 percent addendum, the architect accepted the re s p o n s ib ility o f the general contractor." said Fahrenkrug That school board up there got screwed," said Fahrenkrug. "T hey got taken in by that guy and I think the school board's at torney up there was sleep ing at the controls He got suckered into it too " ARCHITECT BLAM ED E m il T F ahrenkrug, superintendent for Glyn brook C o n s tru c tio n of Salem, blamed Gessford and his partner, Leon Hamblin, for the problems in a 1961 interview Coor dination of the various con tr a c to r s and sub contractors was supposed to be the responsibility of the general c o n tra c tr, which was, according to F a h re n k ru g , the a r chitects When the construction problems finally surfaced, Fahrenkrug said Gessford successfully got the school board "turned around and buffaloed." making them believe he was not the general contractor "F ro m the moment the "He (the general con tr a c to r * is the c o m m a n d e r ." sa id Yeaman chitects) maybe came up once a week for a half hour and that's it." G a ry Yeam an. a C la c k a m a s C o u n ty building inspector who was assigned to the project, said in a 1961 interview the reason for the construction problems had to do with the confusion over just who was the actual general con tractor The m ajority of the con tracts. such as those for ex cavation, plumbing, elec tr ic a l, flo o r c o v e rin g , s u rv e y in g and p a vin g should all have been under his control, Fahrenkrug said "He was being paid to oversee the whole project,” said Fahrenkrug " I told (W e lch e s S chool Superintendent Kenneth Blackburn) I thought the school was being ripped off, because they’d (the a r Yeaman said from the very beginning there was a problem with coordination between contractors and subcontractors He said the lack of supervision makes it one of the worst projects he's ever witness ed in Clackamas County BURGLAR FIRE SECURITY ALARMS Gresham Alarm In business s in e * 1 960 ------------------------------------ Inc. 39373 Proctor, P.O. 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