Oakdale Gun Club Construction Representative

[froggpond1]

Hello I would like to introduce myself to all of you. My name Petar Poucki ( Pouch-key) or you can say Smith I don’t sweat the small stuff.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/petarpoucki/
http://www.meritus.me
http://www.meritus.me/category/testimonials/
My Company is Meritus Construction. I live in Woodbury MN
Here is the reader’s digest version of the past few months. (pardon the length)
I am member of Oakdale Gun Club and the fellow who stood up in the November 2012 member meeting and challenged Stan and the Board on whether this construction project should go forward or be suspended, or otherwise reviewed for it’s merit or lack of. As some of you may know many people in the room agreed with my line of questioning, and a motion was made to suspend the project. Objections were made about stop costs which turned out to be without substance. Since that time I have been battling the 2012 board in trying to obtain pertinent information about the project and was stonewalled until earlier this year. About the Time the new board members arrived.
Important to note is the recommendation of the CRC to appoint a Construction Industry Professional as Owners Rep or Club Liaison for construction. The matter was presented at a board meeting and the board unanimously voted Petar (me ) in as that person.
I immediately went to work on obtaining current pricing, and ferreting out details. Details which were not developed on the old plans. Budgets were coming in much lower than the previously stated amounts for each range. In part due to a reduced scope of work and to how the products were being purchased. Competitive antagonism was used to drive prices down. In unison I Arranged for OGC to hire the Architect and Engineer directly, obviously with board approval and facilitated 2 site visits with the Architect and engineer, which had previously never seen the site. I instructed the new team to make changes to the plans to accurately reflect site conditions, and changes per the CRC committee recommendations, some Range Best Practices rules and further to retest all contemplated geometry and recommendations to ensure their accuracy. 2 heads are better than 1

Upon reduction of the scope of work on each range, we were able to reduce the costs. Today we have a project which prices up at less than ½ of the original budget. Given a large part of that difference is in scope reduction. The balance of savings comes from detailing, purchasing, and instruction. Notably the contribution of the CRC led by Al Lierness and namely Sam Netherly made this current plan possible.

At this time we are scheduled to meet April 10th at the Oak Marsh Golf Club. This meeting is critical for a large member turn out and participation. We have a Conditional Use Permit and a CUP Amendment which is tied to the original plans submitted. We can use this submission for the permit re-application for a same or smaller project but we cannot add anything to it. So the smaller more manageable project fits. This CUP amendment expires May 1st 2013, after which time we would need to reapply against a whole new line up of Lake Elmo Board members and in the shadow of a failed start, we are cutting this down to the wire and time to act is now!
The questions for this meeting will come down to reviewing the whole project, and voting on the parts we start on. That is all that has to be decided right now. I do not see a cheaper alternative that meets all of the same criteria and safety elements this design defeats, and this design is also expandable. We have a large facility, solutions are large. Future range work can be reviewed in the future and I will make sure these meetings are published and time given for alternative ideas. Our club has been on notice of defects for over 12 months and has done nothing to defeat those shortcomings.

Please keep in mind I have only been on the job here since the end of Feb 27th
Things accomplished.
• Contract reviewed, presented, cancelled.
• Architect and engineer hired.
• Architectural visit to site for as built measurements, grade to be shot once snow is gone.
• CRC committee findings input to architect.
• Drawings amended and scope or work reduced.
• Short Range, 100yard Range, 50 yard Range, 200yard range, Comp range repriced- real subcontractor pricing.
• Steel sourced and price reduced by 65%
• Revised plans presented to the city, received approval upon submittal of special inspections report.
• Soil engineer proposal for special inspections initiated.
• Artful renderings created.
• Qualifying bidders in process.
• More to come!
I promise any future posts will be shorter!

[sjuhockey10]

Thanks for the info, Petar. Nice meeting and talking to you at OGC yesterday, hope to make it out for the meeting.

[froggpond1]

Thank you for the message. Looking forward to Wednesday evening.
Cheers
Petar