Hempfield considers hiring 'owners rep' to navigate stalled high school project

Hempfield Area School District may consider hiring an outside professional to lead the district through its increasingly expensive high school revitalization project, board members said at a meeting Monday.

The district is considering hiring an owner’s representative — someone to navigate the project as an independent fiduciary, said board member Vince DeAugustine, chair of the district’s buildings and grounds committee.

“An owner’s rep will help us protect our tax dollars and get this project on the right path again,” DeAugustine said, “An owner’s rep serves as an extension of the district and acts in our best interest … I think an owner’s rep can be hired as a member of our team, with the insight and knowledge that pertains to every aspect of our project.”

Last month, board members rejected all bids for the high school project after the bids came in millions of dollars over budget from SitelogIQ’s initial estimates. SitelogIQ blamed labor shortages and supply issues for the leap in cost. Construction was pushed to next spring at the earliest.

The district will take a vote to advertise for possible candidates on Sept. 25. Board President Paul Ward said the move would serve to gather information, including how much an owner’s representative could cost the district.

Purpose of the role

Hiring an owner’s rep would help Hempfield Area leaders focus on education, and would offer expertise and advise on the best way to ask questions of SitelogIQ, DeAugustine said. He noted that he had previously asked the district to hire a person in this role earlier on in the project, but was turned down.

“I think everyone’s aware that this project was supposed to have shovels in the ground in June, shovels in the ground in July, August, and as we sit here today, we spent quite a bit of money and really have nothing to show for it,” he said. “I don’t think we can really expect our superintendent of education, our business manager, and a board member or board members to oversee an $140 million project.”

DeAugustine said that as far as he knows, the district does not plan to stop working with SitelogIQ, but that an owner’s representative would help as “somebody inside who can help navigate us through this project.”

“In my mind, we can trust SitelogIQ as our construction manager and at the same time bring in an owners’ rep,” said Ward. “I think it’s due diligence, especially with what we’ve just experienced with the way the project had turned as far of the bids. I think it can’t hurt to have additional opinions. That doesn’t mean that we have a lack of trust.”