02
THE OBSERVER | WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2013
BOE okays ‘audit’ for Kearny High project West Hudson Publishing Company’s Fastest Growing Free Weekly Newspaper Established 1887 Family Owned & Operated
Mary Tortoreti President Robert Pezzolla General Manager
ADVERTISING Natalie Rodriguez - Ulloa Classified/Asst.to GM Kim Pezzolla Sales Rosemary Bennett Sales EDITORIAL Jim Hague Sportswriter Melissa Bastek Copywriter Ron Leir Correspondent Karen Zautyk Correspondent ART DEPARTMENT Michelle Rybeck Graphic Designer
39 Seeley Ave. Kearny, N.J. 07032 Phone: 201-991-1600 Fax: 201-991-8941 www.theobserver.com
Deadlines Display Ads Thursday by 4PM Real Estate Thursday by 12PM Obituaries Monday by 10AM Classifieds Monday by 4PM
By Ron Leir Observer Correspondent
classrooms, a five-story it would take to finish the atrium and a new cafeteria project, Ferraro said: “We’re has been delayed by disputes trying to get the south buildKEARNY – between school board staff ing done by the end of the and the contractor, who was calendar year and get the y a 5-4 majority, the “terminated for convenikids [those who’ve been takKearny Board of ence” last year, and by the ing classes in outdoor trailEducation voted last town Construction Departers] back in the building.” He Monday night to hire a ment’s enforcement of rewas reluctant to look beyond New York auditing firm for vised building and fire safety that. a fee capped at $75,000 to codes. The school board also Ferraro said that the New undertake a “construction ended up firing the original York auditing firm was the risk assessment” of the $44 architect on the project. only company that respondmillion Kearny High School Ferraro, who wasn’t hired ed to the district’s Request Façade and Noise Abatement until after the project was for Proposals. He said he’d Capital Projects. alerted the firm to the soAs the district prepares for well under way, said: “It’s my understanding that over- licitation and asked if they’d the opening of the fall term, aside from the audit, it will have a new assistant superintendent of schools aboard for the first time in years and it will be undertaking a new state-mandated evaluation procedure for teachers and administrators. Referring to the high school project audit, Superintendent of Schools Frank Ferraro told The Observer that D’Arcangelo & Co. of Rye Brook, N.Y., is, essentially, being asked to “confirm whether what we’re doing is right.” He said the company’s fee averages out to about $220 per hour. Photo by Ron Leir The job, which began in BOE okays ‘audit’ for Kearny High project 2010 with the expectation it would take three years to sight could’ve been a little be interested, only because complete, is only 18% combetter. This audit will give he’d previously worked with plete with an estimated $7 million expended, according us another set of eyes on the them when he was an adminproject.” istrator for the Greenburgh to Ferraro. The project is Asked if there was a time(N.Y.) Central School Disbeing funded by grants from trict 7 on a student transporthe Federal Aviation Admin- line on the audit, Ferraro replied: “I want to say six to tation project. istration, Port Authority of eight months.” “We ended up saving New York and New Jersey As to the financial viabil$600,000 by switching and N.J. Department of Eduity of the project, Ferraro school bus vendors and docation. said: “We’re going to make ing some re-routing,” Ferraro While the façade and sure that the grant funding said. window portion of the job will continue. At this point, “The work they did in has proceeded well enough, I have no reason to think Greenburgh should be very an ambitious but daunting similar to what they’ll be interior construction project that’s not going to happen.” Asked how much longer doing here,” Ferraro said, in aimed at creating additional
B
five day weather forecast Wednesday, July 31
Thursday, August 1
Friday, August 2
Saturday, August 3
Sunday, August 4
Inside Editorial .............................06 Around Town ....................12 Real Estate ........................22
Partly Cloudy
Scattered T-Storms
Partly Cloudy
Mostly Sunny
Partly Cloudy
82˚ 78˚ 86˚ 84˚ 83˚
Obits ...................................25 Classifieds .........................26 Business Directory ...30 & 31
terms of evaluating protocols and controls applied by the district in the project. As part of its 21-page proposal submitted to the board, D’Arcangelo & Co. said it would “determine whether proper procedures were observed” during the project and “determine that anticipated funding for the project is still available and the total amount of funding for the project [and] assess whether the school district complied with the terms of grant(s).” D’Arcangelo will also “consider whether the available funding to be used to complete the project is in accordance with the revised scope specifications as proposed.” The board, which is now serving as its own general contractor (in consultation with Epic Management, its construction manager), is expected to advertise for bids for completion of work in the high school’s south building by early August. As part of its audit, D’Arcangelo will “verify that costs incurred on the project to date are accurately supported and documented” by reviewing billing, change orders and the grant budget for the job. When it’s done with the work, the company will “provide detailed findings of any unusual, unnecessary, or unexplained cost variances” and “recommend improvements for internal controls over capital projects.” Board member Cecilia Lindenfelser, who cast one of the four votes opposing the auditor’s hiring, told The Observer she voted “no” because “we only had one comsee ASSESSMENT page
11
Check back here for Upcoming Promos!