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The Times Advocate, 2005-03-02, Page 2828 Exeter Times–Advocate Wednesday, March 2, 2005 Regional basketball tournament Congratulations to the Zurich Public School boys basketball team who won the B championship at the South Region Basketball Tournament in Exeter Feb. 22. In a hard fought final, Zurich defeated Exeter by a score of 17- 1 1. Other schools involved were Hensall Public School, Exeter, Stephen and Usborne.Front L -R: Liam Price, Nick Schilbe.Middle: Josh Oke, Shawn Steckle, Marc Metzger, Mike Socholotiuk, Nick Elliott. Back: John Power, Mike Dietrich, Mat Becker, Jordan Eckel, Brendan Regier,Trevor Whitfield, Krista Hurley. (Below) Congratulations to the Zurich Public School girls basketball team who won the A championship at the tour- nament The girls went undefeated the entire tournament including the A final game against Stephen with a score of 30 - 18. Front: Kacie Erb and Kristena Hendrick. Middle:Taelor Douglas,Tamara Rzan, Jessie Geoffrey, Stacey Beierling, Katelyn Schade and Brittany Grenier. Back: Kerri-Lynn Case, Emily Ainslie, Danielle Daters, Rebecca Skinner and Jenna Beierling. (photos/ submitted) Late changes cause renovation cost over -runs on projects By Stew Slater SPECIAL TO THE T -A SEAFORTH — Almost $150,000 was added to the total cost of science lab renovations at Exeter's South Huron District High School last year, over and above the original tendered con- tract. At St. Marys DCVI, meanwhile, the Avon Maitland District School Board found itself paying $51,656 more than the expected price for fire code upgrades. The two projects were highlighted in a newly - instituted report from staff of the Avon Maitland District School Board, entitled "Tender Comparison of Actual Versus Tendered Prices." After the presentation of the report at a regular meeting Feb. 8, South Huron trustee Randy Wagler led a call by trustees that the com- parison become an annual event. The report included comparisons of 19 ten- dered projects from 2003-04. The bills for several — particularly those involving electri- cal, heating, ventilation and air conditioning upgrades — were at or near the tendered price. Others — mainly roofing projects — came in at less than the planned expenditure, if the "con- tingency" allowance was taken into account. On a percentage basis, the project which went the furthest above esti- mated cost was the rela- tively inexpensive repaving of a parking lot at Clinton Public School. $62,911 compared to a tendered amount of $53,788, or 17 per cent. The next two most sig- nificant cost over -runs, however, were the two largest construction pro- jects undertaken in 2003-04, at South Huron and DCVI. Percentage - wise, they were smaller than the parking lot but, in terms of money spent, those cost over -runs were both much more expensive. In delivering the report, business superin- tendent Janet Baird - Jackson explained that, in both cases, the cost over -run was caused by "change orders" — post - tendering alterations in the plans requested by either the board or the contractor. And she gave two main reasons why change orders might be approved: unforeseen shifts in the construction industry (such as a rapid price increase for con- struction materials) or a change in the "scope" of the work to be carried out. The project's scope may also be increased due to requests from the school's staff to carry out additional work while the building is out of commission for construc- tion. As an example, the business superintendent pointed to the decision to paint a gymnasium after a request from DCVI staff. At South Huron high school, an unforeseen requirement to remove asbestos — and the need to conduct this activity within a limited time frame — con- tributed to a significant increase in the amount of overtime hours paid. And when the science lab area was torn apart, it became apparent that additional support was needed for an existing beam — work that was- n't specified in the ten- der. Baird -Jackson's report concluded by listing sev- eral practices which will be instituted to attempt to minimize cost over- runs when compared to initial tenders. These include: reducing the tender approval time from the standard 60 days to 30 days, "to min- imize the impact of infla- tion"; give stronger emphasis to the contrac- tor's reputation during the tendering process; and, whenever possible, allow the work to extend beyond the traditional summer construction period, during which contractors tend to be busier and more likely to charge overtime hours. Bombers swept by Irish LUCAN — The Lucan Irish will wait for their next opponent to be decided after disposing of the Belmont Bombers in four straight games. After winning the first two games of the series at home, the Irish pounded the Bombers 11-1 Feb. 23 in Belmont, before finish- ing the series with a 5-2 win Saturday night in Belmont. In other series, Mt. Brydges leads Thamesford 3-1, Exeter is tied with Mitchell at two games apiece and Lambeth and West Lorne are even at two games apiece also. Hagersville swept Langton four straight as did Tavistock over Burford. Delhi and St. George are even at two and Pt. Dover leads Wellesley leads 3-2.