Stachurski should step aside

Commentary by Joe Reynolds

The following is an open letter to OPA Board member Dan Stachurski and the entire Board of Directors:

Dan, I’m writing in regard to your recent comments about the reasons for delay in auctioning the commercial property, as well as your overall handling of the Community Center project.

On October 18^th you also told the membership and the board that you expected Blades Contracting to file the completed drawings for the Community Center building permit on November 20. Today is November 12. Given this is a design/build and Blades must provide a design to be approved by the board, when will the board approve the Blades drawings prior to filing them for a permit on November 20? There are also as yet unfulfilled promises that the community would see and have input on the drawings before final submission. All the community has seen is a DAL artist rendition of one side of the building, and a DAL-prepared proposed floor plan.

You also said bids for the complete site work package would be in hand by November 7th. Has that date been met? Will OPA have bids for what you describe as phase one and phase two of the site work? When will OPA have signed contracts for all aspects of the total project?

There is a severe credibility gap on nearly every aspect of this project. Dan, you have worked hard on this, but you have neither the background nor experience to handle a project of this type in an expedient manner that best protects the interests of OPA. You have even publicly admitted as to your on-the-job-training status.

In my view it is imperative OPA have bids on all aspects of the project, otherwise OPA is moving forward with only estimates – a dangerous course of action. At this point OPA does not have bids for the entire project and thus cannot say with any great degree of certainty what the project will cost. OPA has not set a date for auction of the commercial property, and is now talking about next spring to try and sell the interior lots. OPA is proposing a gym floor without proper resilient material to protect youngsters. OPA removed the stage area from the contract. OPA is considering a temporary gravel parking area in lieu of asphalt paving. OPA refuses to allow lot owners to even see the signed contract for the building. OPA decided not to include proper kitchen facilities as recommended by the Comprehensive Plan Committee. The list goes on. Details fall through the cracks, like assessments on the commercial property, for example. In the midst of all these Community Center issues, the board approves a $1 million pool cover.

The project has been totally mis-managed post-referendum. Is ANYONE surprised lot owners are concerned?

Perhaps you can single-handedly ramrod this project to some sort of completion. In the wake, however, may be a community severely divided, with scars lasting a long time. Support for funding of needed maintenance may be jeopardized. The ramifications of mis-handling of this project could have far reaching consequences.

Your actions since the referendum have become the focal point for those attempting to stop this project, and not without some justification. I respectfully suggest you step down completely from any further involvement in this project and ask the Board of Directors to appoint a three-person committee consisting of one other board member and two lot owners with some experience in construction. This committee would act as primary advisers to the General Manager who will properly act in his role as contracting officer for OPA.

This would be a bitter pill for you personally. However, Dan Stachurski has become as much or more of an issue than the Community Center. The focus of attention must be returned to the positive aspects of a new Community Center. For that to happen, Dan Stachurski must step aside.