OGC Construction Project is a GO!!

[Seismic Sam]

Well, in nautical terms, a lot of very treacherous shoal waters were navigated since the April Members meeting, and the bank loan has been closed and all contracts have been signed last night at the Board Meeting. I think we are safely through and into deep water with no reefs on the charts, and headed downwind at full speed with all sails up and the boat heeled over and doing a solid 10 knots, which is hauling ass for a sailboat. (Just did that last week myself, with a 15 ton boat!) There will be a variety of range closures and other things which Safety and Security Director Bryan Strawser will post about in a bit, but that his baliwick and also he has a lot of details to go through to come up with the necessary full-blown safety plan for the construction period.

In the meantime, I can relate some of the fundamental rules to you, and the cardinal one is that this project has been compressed into the shortest possible time period for the sake of minimizing inconvenience, and maximizing efficiency and keeping costs down. As such, once the 100 and short range are closed, they will STAY closed until they are finished and ready for full occupancy and shooting. Now the one controlling factor on these closing dates is the arrival of the necessary construction materials, and nothing happens until the concrete and steel parts show up and are on site and ready to be erected. As such, a closing date cannot be predicted until the materials physically show up or are located on trucks nearby on en route. The construction entrance will be the gate East of the main gate, and DO NOT USE this gate to get into the club!! It's a solid rock 3"+ sized pieces, and it will take the bottom out most cars and/or mess up the suspension. It is for Construction Use ONLY!! The lower parking lot will be the staging/delivery area for all the precasts and steel, and it's going to get crowded in there, so be prepared to navigate carefully or park in one of the upper lots. Some matches will have to be shifted or cancelled for this project, and that is simply a price we have to pay to get the 100 and Short Range up to appropriate specs so the club can meet current guidelines and stay open in the future. There will be closing of some ranges during the constrction hours that are NEXT to the 100, and once again this simply has to be done to keep and bullets from hitting the crud in our backstops and bouncing over into the 100. This problem HAS been noted in the past during club and public hours, so it's a real issue that the construction personnel simply can NOT be exposed to. Safety ALWAYS comes FIRST at OGC, and the construction project is no exception. Like I said, more details will follow later from the appropriate authorities, but the blue sky exposure for the Short and 100 yard ranges is PERMANENTLY going bye-bye in 99 days or less. Then I think we can all rest a lot easier, and the future of the club will be on a lot more solid ground for a long time into the future.

[xd9]

That is good news. Good work guys.

[bstrawse]

Sam has put a ton of time into this effort. It is going to be awesome when it's completed - particularly the new short range!

Here's a brief breakdown of what was approved at the member meeting (by a vote of the members) earlier this month:
* Build new short range as proposed, replacing the current 3-4 position 7-10 yard gravel range. Range built to current NRA standards.
* Upgrade 100 yard range w/ new baffle system to bring in line with current NRA standards.
* Pay for project through spending $200k in existing funds in savings, and taking out a $1.05m line of credit through Lake Elmo Bank (this is the loan Sam references above).
* Draw $400k against the loan.
* Update the members at the December Annual Meeting w/ progress to date - and proposed ideas for 2014.
* Increase dues $5 a year for 3 years - reaching $100 / yr three years from now.

Bill Gacki, Treasurer for OGC, did a great job figuring out the best possible loan and financing structure - and deserves a lot of credit for our ability to approach this in a very sound fiscal manner.


Following the member meeting, the board has approved and taken the following actions:
* Approved the specific loan structure outlined above - and authorized the President to sign the loan documentation. The loan closed earlier this week.
* Opened bids and chose Construction Science LLC as the General Contractor for the project. Note this is *not* the same contractor for last year's aborted project. This contractor has ZERO ties to the OGC board whatsoever. Contract was signed last night w/ Contractor at the board meeting.
* Formally hired Petar Poucki, OGC Member, as Owner's Construction Representative. Petar will manage the project on OGC's behalf - reporting to the Board. Petar will be paid 2% of the contractor costs - or around $11k. This contract was also signed last night at the board meeting. Petar signed a new conflict of interest statement declaring that he has no other financial interest in this project - and no relationship w/ the General Contractor.

As Sam and I promised when we ran for the board in December, we'll continue to be as transparent and open as we can about all of the various pieces of this effort we are involved in. This is a *MUCH* better project than what was previously proposed - and one that has been managed in the open.

Let Sam or I know if you have any questions or concerns -
Thanks!
Bryan
OGC Director, Safety & Security

[bstrawse]

One other note - we expect to have our safety plan for construction figured out very shortly in terms of what ranges and areas will need to be closed during different phases of the project.

While the construction period is quite short, it will be unfortunately disruptive as we will need to close both the 100 yard & short ranges at different times - and adjacent ranges during some time periods as well. We'll do the best we can to minimize these disruptions throughout the process - and we'll try to share those closures as far in advance as we possibly can.

More to come over the next few weeks on this.

Thanks -
Bryan
OGC DIrector, Safety & Security

[SkyRock]

One other note - we expect to have our safety plan for construction figured out very shortly in terms of what ranges and areas will need to be closed during different phases of the project.

While the construction period is quite short, it will be unfortunately disruptive as we will need to close both the 100 yard & short ranges at different times - and adjacent ranges during some time periods as well. We'll do the best we can to minimize these disruptions throughout the process - and we'll try to share those closures as far in advance as we possibly can.

More to come over the next few weeks on this.

Thanks -
Bryan
OGC DIrector, Safety & Security

As long as the Comp, 50yd and SR are open on 7/19-22, there won't be a problem from my perspective. If any of those ranges are closed (or otherwise unavailable then), we need a contingency plan.

[Seismic Sam]

One other note - we expect to have our safety plan for construction figured out very shortly in terms of what ranges and areas will need to be closed during different phases of the project.

While the construction period is quite short, it will be unfortunately disruptive as we will need to close both the 100 yard & short ranges at different times - and adjacent ranges during some time periods as well. We'll do the best we can to minimize these disruptions throughout the process - and we'll try to share those closures as far in advance as we possibly can.

More to come over the next few weeks on this.

Thanks -
Bryan
OGC DIrector, Safety & Security

As long as the Comp, 50yd and SR are open on 7/19-22, there won't be a problem from my perspective. If any of those ranges are closed (or otherwise unavailable then), we need a contingency plan.

As noted in my OP, timing will NOT be known until all the stuff physically shows up, and then it's balls to the wall all the way to the end. Once the stuff shows up, you should hear something a few days later. Petar has this project wound so tight that he's planning on having the vertical columns up and ready first, and when the concrete wall panels show up, the crane will lift them off the flatbed and directly into place where the welders will weld the tabs into place, so the panels will never even touch the ground or be stored on premises for even a minute, much less a few days.

[SkyRock]

...
As noted in my OP, timing will NOT be known until all the stuff physically shows up, and then it's balls to the wall all the way to the end...

I understand that. I've been part of major construction projects in the past, so I realize how much THIS can affect the timing of THAT. I'm not critizing that.

What concerns me, is that we've committed range time to Glock, they've advertized nationally, and I'm not hearing anything other than, "We'll do our best." What I'd like to hear are some suggestions we could follow if the ranges are NOT available on the commited dates. That's my concern.

Got any ideas?

[froggpond1]

Hi Sky Rock,
The only responsible Answer I can provide is ,

I expect precast to be ordered and delivered prior to your date. As you mentioned you have been part of large projects and thus understand if something weird happens,dates can change.

I just posted an update under my name, take a look and follow up with me.

Since we did just sign up the contractor I expect more details this coming week.
As Bryan and Sam promised transparency, I too hold those values.

Cheers
Petar