Roof Replace & Interim Quarters Cost For Apple Valley Library Hits $6.04 Million

The cost on the totality of the project to replace the defective 13-year-old roof at the Apple Valley Library has zoomed upward $2.2 million from the county’s commitment to repair it last June at an overall cost of $3.84 million to $6.04 million.
County officials are yet determined to leave the structure standing and proceed with the re-roofing.
In early 2015, a site inspection at the Newton T. Bass Apple Valley Library, located at 14901 Dale Evans Parkway in Apple Valley, confirmed damage to six of the building’s supporting trusses. When cracks were found in two further trusses a few days later, officials elected to close the library out of an abundance of caution. On May 5, 2015 the board of supervisors voted to fund drafting the emergency design for the replacement of the roof structure and related interior repairs, temporary relocation of the facility, temporary shoring, and costs associated with packing, moving and storing books, racks and furniture at the facility. On March 1, 2016, the board of supervisors approved spending $2,960,000 total on fixing the roof and temporary library quarters. The cost was to be defrayed as part of the maintenance and capital improvement component of the 2015-16 Second Quarter Budget. Three months later, on June 14, 2016, the board of supervisors approved an $880,000 increase in the project budget from $2,960,000 to $3,840,000, funded from discretionary general funding from the asset replacement reserve for capital improvements.
According to Terry W. Thompson, the director of the county’s real estate services department, the seriousness of the failure of the structure and its deterioration has become more apparent with time.
“In November 2014, library staff observed cracks in the truss system supporting the roof and reported it to the architecture and engineering department, now known as the real estate services department – project management division,” Thompson told the board of supervisors last week. “The project management division, in conjunction with Dahl Taylor and Associates, conducted an initial site investigation that revealed damage in six of the supporting trusses. Dahl Taylor began developing an analysis of the apparent failure immediately thereafter, conducting several additional site visits and completing a final report in late February 2015.”
Following a meeting to discuss the report with risk management, project management division and Dahl Taylor, Dahl Taylor developed a procedure to repair the six damaged trusses.
“A subsequent meeting and site visit was conducted at the library on April 17, 2015, to review the repair procedures, during which cracking was discovered in two additional trusses,” said Thompson. “In addition, further damage was observed on the initial six trusses, and shifting of the sprinkler lines was also observed. Based upon the recommendation of Dahl Taylor, the library was closed on April 18th, and the sprinkler system drained on April 20, 2015.”
To mitigate further damage to the roof structure, the project management division engaged SPS Inc. of Anaheim, California to shore each of the damaged trusses. Shoring of the damaged trusses was completed on June 10, 2015. The county completed installation of a temporary facility adjacent to the library in April 2016 to provide basic library services.
According to Thompson, “In May 2016, Degenkolb Engineers and Dahl Taylor completed the design for the replacement of the roof structure and related interior repairs. As a result of a building and safety plan check review, code compliance issues were identified related to Title 24 energy/lighting and fire/life safety requirements which were incorporated into the design.”
When the $3.84 million budget on the project was approved by the board of supervisors last June, the board also authorized the solicitation of competitive bids on the project. No bids were received by the July 21, 2016 bid deadline, Thompson said, which he attributed to “several factors, including difficulty in obtaining bids from steel subcontractors and the overall risks associated with the project.” Going to plan B, the project management division began negotiations with Kitchell/CEM, Inc. to complete the project. On January 11, 2017, Kitchell submitted a bid price of $4,000,000. The project management division last week recommended the board award the construction contract to Kitchell. The board complied.
The price components on the project now call for design costing $604,564; the temporary library, book moving & storage running the county $531,709; construction costs of $4 million; a construction contingency of $400,000; project management & inspection entailing a $300,327 expense, the county paying $20,000 for special inspection and labor compliance; and temporary shoring costing $183,400, putting the total at a projected $6,040,000.
The escalation in price registered with many as a reminder of the $29 million in construction cost overruns on the county’s High Desert Detention Center in Adelanto, which pushed the construction bill on the project originally slated at $90,951,937 to $120,419,790 between 2010 and 2014, which included a total of 29 change orders and contract amendments. Like the Apple Valley Library, which was originally constructed in 2004, the High Desert Detention Center was not built from scratch, but was a major upgrading effort at an existing facility, the formerly privately owned and run 706-inmate capacity institution known as Maranatha Prison. The expansion added 1,392 new beds. After the project’s completion, the county sued the architectural firm that worked on the project, Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum, Incorporated, based in Culver City, and Los Angeles-based Jacobs Engineering, alleging breach of contract and negligence in those cost overruns.
The Sentinel inquired of the county about the wisdom of attempting to salvage the library as it stands rather simply knocking it down and rebuilding from the ground up, given that the structural integrity of the roof might presage problems with the rest of the building. The Sentinel further asked, “What gives the real estate/engineering department confidence further cracks will not show up or manifest at a later date?”
County spokesman David Wert said, “The short answer to your primary question is that it’s no longer a matter of fixing the roof. Now it’s a matter of replacing the entire roof and the truss system that supports it. This matter began with a leaky fire sprinkler. Then it was discovered the sprinklers were leaking because one or more of the trusses supporting the roof and the roof itself had shifted, so it became a matter of perhaps just fixing a few trusses. Further investigation revealed all the trusses were damaged, but could perhaps be repaired. Eventually, it was concluded all trusses and the entire roof have to be replaced.”
Thompson told the Sentinel this week, “Much more than just replacing the roof is necessary and being done. The fundamental issue that caused the roof system to fail was structural failure of the truss system that supports the building, including the roof, which led to the decision of closing the library. I can tell you that building a new library today would cost more than $600 per square foot. The comprehensive repair scope of work for the long term structural integrity and viability of the existing library was less expensive (~$400 per square foot) and therefore the more cost effective and prudent manner in which to proceed. A great deal of analysis and care was invested by the county on behalf of the public before reaching this conclusion and decision.”
Thompson said that “Kitchell has worked with the department since 2010 and has been an on-call construction management services vendor since 2015 with an excellent work history on projects.”

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