The School!
Paulette Elementary
Week 26
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The Cream of the CropI talk almost every week about a meeting I attend. I must confess I don't get to attend it as often as I would like. Someone emailed me to ask me what these meetings were about. Each week they tend to be about different things but they all have the same theme. It involves Director Goforth nickel and dimming the contractors. In each meeting he goes over the weeks figures and holds each contractor and his own school to the fire. At these meetings are also Glenn Coppock who has more numbers in his head that Rain Man. This gentleman is a walking memory bank of figures and contracts. Also at the meeting each week is Brian |
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 Oaks
to represent the school board. Sometimes additional people are there.
For instance one week the whole school maintenance team was there. They
got to give their input on issues at other schools and how they could
be prevented at our new one. Other school building projects have left a bad taste in the mouths of Union Countians and Mr. Goforth and Mr. Oaks are determined that our county learn from past mistakes. The project continues to be both on time and on budget. These meetings may be an inconvenience to contractors but they assure that no issue gets out of hand. Generally you can look at this website as you being able to attend the meeting. Most of what I write comes directly from there. As I said I don't always get to attend. But if I am not there Mr. Goforth, Mr. Oaks or Johnnie Beeler will always take some notes for me. I would like to take a moment to thank these men for their help. They are (as am I) committed to keeping the community up to date  and
in the loop. As you can see by reading archived articles it isn't
always good news. I have to say they keep us up to date with the bad
and the good.This week the contractors will finish the inside walls. In the video above you can see one of the painting contractors priming a wall. I originally thought he was painting but he tells me that this coat is a masonry primer. Watch the video it is quite interesting how he makes his strokes with the air sprayer. Did you know that we should paint in a "J" motion? Apparently, it keeps the paint even and avoids thin spots. Next time my wife wants to paint I'm going to hire these people. If she won't give me the money for that I may try the "J" pattern myself. When I was there the last walls were going up. A crew of 20 masons were hard at work laying block. Every so many blocks they pour concrete through the wall and reinforce it with rebar. Each row or line of block is also stabilized with steel. The subfloor for the gym is complete and ready for the hardwood. And the steps up to the stage have been poured. KUB is on site this week setting poles. Mr. Goforth has been trying to talk them into lowering their price. The stud framing has been started with most of it being overhead. The studs will be pre-made aluminum construction.  Several doors and windows have been set now. In figure 2 you can see one window-fire door being installed.I am told we are about 2 weeks away from pouring sidewalks. One issue that has come up is the drainage from the building. Mr. Goforth wanted additional drawings from the architects regarding flow of downspouts. His drawings were not clear on the flow and direction. We recently had an issue of drainage at the High School. It seems that when the high school was built the drainage went directly under the gym floor. Recently the drainage backed up and flooded the gym causing us to have to replace the gym floor. Mr. Goforth wanted the additional drawings and assurances from the contractors that this issue would and could not happen at Paulette. The fire and water lines have also been installed. One day in the near future I will try to get to the site and build a virtual tour of the building with it's new corridors. Without a doubt we have a group of people determined to get the best value for our tax dollar. This is why Knox County is using us as an example of how to do things right. |
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