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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
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