Issues - Colton

Issues:

The association received a complaint about the construction at Colton school. Specifically, the operating hours for construction which started at 7:30 am on Saturday. Additionally, the project managers for the construction of school contacted the Association to set up a meeting to discuss other issues with the construction.

Resolution:

The association sent the contact information for the project manger to the complainant so they could express their concerns directly to the contractor which is step one in our complaint policy. The association met with representatives from the project manager to discuss issues with the construction which include the improper demolition, excessive vibrations and potentially toxic dust. A community meeting was held on March 31st to address these issues with residents and listen to their concerns. The project manager and contractor agreed to retest the soil for contaminants, remedy all claims from damage caused by the excessive vibrations, change the working hours to be more copasetic with the neighborhood, alter the method of removing the brick from the facade and look into alterative method for the pile driving. We are working on discovering the method by which residents may make a claim and will post that information here but suggest to all nearby residents that they take photographs of the inside and outside of their properties before construction begins again incase any damage is caused in the future.

Background:

The Recovery School District (RSD) has put forth plans to renovate Colton School. Community meetings were held in later 2009 and in 2010 to discuss the renovation plans and garner community input. After finalizing the plans, the RSD has begun construction which has included several phases of demolition.

It came to the attention of the Project Manger that the Contractor did not follow the specifications for the major structural demolition which may have caused damaging vibrations to surrounding residences. A stop work order was place on the construction while the situation was being assessed and would not be rescinded until after the community meeting.

At the meeting, the contractor admitted that they did not follow the specifications in the plans and that they would remedy any damages that were caused because of it. Residents also expressed concerns about the dust that was being generated at the site and being blown into the neighborhood. Specifically, a recent report about the high levels of lead in the soil which is a toxin to small children and animals have residents concerned for their families and pets safety. The contractor said they would retest the soil.

Additionally, the project mangers agreed to change the working hours to be more copasetic with the neighborhood, alter the method of removing the brick from the facade so as to create less dust and look into alterative method for the pile driving to reduce the vibrations as much as possible.

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Rumors/Misinformation:

None to Date