At the Pine Bush School District Board of Education meeting on June 24, representatives of CS Arch, the architectural firm responsible for the installation of the modular structures that will enlarge the Crispell Middle School, gave an hour-long presentation of the somewhat mysterious chain of events that has lead to a distinct problem for the district.

According to the presentation, CS Arch had contracted with Rohr's Construction to provide the two modular units. They had sent Rohr's the drawings with the required specifications.

In March 2008, the drawings came back with some significant changes from the requested specifications. The most important of these was a switch from metal ventilation ductwork to fiberglass duct-board.

Fiberglass duct-board has less-than-smooth surfaces and is difficult to clean in the event that dirt builds up inside, and in such a case, mold can grow. Considering the Pine Bush School District's previous difficulties with mold, this is a hot-button issue with the school board.

In addition, the new drawings showed 15 amp electrical circuitry instead of the 20 amps specified.

The drawings were refused and a request went back to the contractor for new drawings with the specified ductwork and circuitry.

However, despite this, the next time they saw drawings of the units in early May, they were still incorrect — still specifying fiberglass duct-board. The electrical circuitry was still 15 amps, too.

They sent them back with urgent instructions to change both of these items to accord with the original specifications.

However, it would seem that this did not do the job. The units were being manufactured by Mark Line, a well known builder of modular structures of various kinds, with plants in Indiana, North Carolina and Ephrata, Pennsylvania, where the Crispell units were made.

The completed units contain fiberglass duct-board and 15 amp circuitry, which, while being to code, does not fit with the specifications from the district and the architects.

During their presentation at the board of education meeting, the blame seemed to be laid squarely at the door of Mark Line. This led to comments from board members about the presumed arrogance of a large manufacturer, its decision to ignore the district's specifications and its delivery of units that, though built to code, were decidedly not what had been ordered.

However, when Mark Line's Ephrata Plant General Manager, Rodney Young, spoke with the Journal, he said that he, in fact, has "approved drawings" for the modular units that were built. Furthermore, he pointed out that Mark Line didn't achieve their position in the business or their reputation for quality work at attractive prices by refusing to comply with client specifications. "That would simply be a very poor business model," he said.

Young then provided another piece to the puzzle. The order for the units came to Mark Line from William Scotsman, a national dealer in mobile buildings, modular classrooms, storage products and similar structures. William Scotsman is a large concern with as many as fifty locations across the country.

Calls to Rohr Construction and CS Arch were not returned as of press time.

As to where the miscommunication and misunderstanding has occurred, that remains unclear at the moment. Somewhere between CS Arch and Mark Line, something has clearly gone awry, and not only are hundreds of thousands of dollars involved, but so are the kids and faculty of Crispell Middle School, who were looking forward to having those extra classrooms come September, an expectation that now seems very unlikely.

* UPDATE *

The General Contractor, Rohr's has informed Mark Line that they will not accept the modular units. Rohr's is now seeking another manufacturer. The problem with the already poured concrete footings for the Mark Line units may not be as difficult as first suspected, and another manufacturer may be able to make the units to fit to those footings.

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