President's house running over budget

[bisonmike2]

Bismarck Tribune had their yearly big editorial calling for Chapman's head today - and they wrote that before the $1.8 million figure was announced.

There has to be better communication between NDSU and the legislature than that (if there is a way to communicate without violating open meeting laws.)

Edit: Oh, I see, to get to $1.8 million you have to include furniture, parking, and anything tangentially related to the new house. Not sure that is a good figure then. If so, then UND is about $200k over budget. The difference is that it sounds like UND used tax money to cover all but $20k of their overruns.

It would have been 1.2 million but Chapman insisted they use $100 bills to stuff his pillows and couch cushions with. I heard a rumor that the fireplace will be fueled in the winter with stacks of 20's, again another Chapman request. /sacrasm

[met1990]

The legislature subcommittee announced today that a significant part of the cost overrun was due to "bitch-proofing" the roof in case Lakes came over and it started raining.

[Amused]

It would have been 1.2 million but Chapman insisted they use $100 bills to stuff his pillows and couch cushions with. I heard a rumor that the fireplace will be fueled in the winter with stacks of 20's, again another Chapman request. /sacrasm

Solution to overrun: Rent out the house for one month to BCBS for sales incentive meetings. It's win/win.

[NorthernBison]

You are spot on, NorthernBison. This is a public relations debacle. Why give the people who want Chapman run out of the state ammunition?

Folks were complaining about replacing the house since people first started begging to get the job done back before Chapman was even around so you knew it was going to be bad publicity from the beginning - this lack of communication just made it monumentally worse.

Not sure where the breakdown occurred though - who managed the project and what was Chapman's role in it?

Heh, on the other hand, the REA cost about 100 times as much as this house... and it exceeded its stated budget by at least $60 million (probably much more than that).

I don't really care what they spent on the project. Clearly, there was considerable support for a needed improvement. I think they probably decided that they should lay ALL the cards on the table and make sure that nobody could accuse them of sweeping some costs under the table. That might be the reason for the second jump in cost. The only other explanation is gross incompetence.

The gigantic problem with all this goes deeper than the PR debacle. There needs to be a real effort to make sure that fences are mended with our elected officials. I don't think this is the first time that the Development Foundation has been involved with a spending controversy and somebody had to go to Bismarck for a "sit down". Remember the building downtown? That removed any question about keeping people in Bismarck aware of what was happening and the necessity of asking for permission rather than forgiveness.

My biggest concern is the impact this will have the next time NDSU goes to Bismarck asking for whatever.

The impact of this could have been altered by managing things differently.

[bisonmike2]

Solution to overrun: Rent out the house for one month to BCBS for sales incentive meetings. It's win/win.

That's a good one. I'd also propose that if a health care plan gets passed we could rent out the house to the Death Panels. I mean, they're gonna need a place to meet right?

[lakesbison]

Re: President's house running over budget

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The legislature subcommittee announced today that a significant part of the cost overrun was due to "bitch-proofing" the roof in case Lakes came over and it started raining

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Ill pay the rent. whats the price???

[bisonaudit]

I don't really care what they spent on the project. Clearly, there was considerable support for a needed improvement. I think they probably decided that they should lay ALL the cards on the table and make sure that nobody could accuse them of sweeping some costs under the table. That might be the reason for the second jump in cost. The only other explanation is gross incompetence.

The gigantic problem with all this goes deeper than the PR debacle. There needs to be a real effort to make sure that fences are mended with our elected officials. I don't think this is the first time that the Development Foundation has been involved with a spending controversy and somebody had to go to Bismarck for a "sit down". Remember the building downtown? That removed any question about keeping people in Bismarck aware of what was happening and the necessity of asking for permission rather than forgiveness.

My biggest concern is the impact this will have the next time NDSU goes to Bismarck asking for whatever.

The impact of this could have been altered by managing things differently.

If you're sitting in Fargo why would you ever ask those smucks in Bismarck for permission to spend your own money, rather than forgiveness? If you do that the result is both a PR hit and no progress. At least if you're doing it this way you get something for the pounding you have to endure from the do nothings.

[NorthernBison]

If you're sitting in Fargo why would you ever ask those smucks in Bismarck for permission to spend your own money, rather than forgiveness? If you do that the result is both a PR hit and no progress. At least if you're doing it this way you get something for the pounding you have to endure from the do nothings.

Maybe because you don't own the Campus. The new construction had to be approved by the State because the taxpayers will be responsible for maintaining it in the future. They knew better than to start the project without getting approval which was quickly granted. Somehow, nobody thought it was important to inform the Board that the project was going to end up costing nearly double what was approved.

Maybe I'm overreacting but I'm concerned that this could cause problems the next time NDSU asks for something. If somebody wants to stick a knife in your back, why would you hand them a long pointy sharp one?

I don't know if anybody truly broke the rules or merely bent them. If they broke them, then they might be turning in their keys. Bottom line is that somebody is responsible for authorizing the spending of nearly $800,000 of somebody elses money. They either signed off on something where they didn't have authority or they failed in their oversight.

[bisonaudit]

Maybe because you don't own the Campus. The new construction had to be approved by the State because the taxpayers will be responsible for maintaining it in the future. They knew better than to start the project without getting approval which was quickly granted. Somehow, nobody thought it was important to inform the Board that the project was going to end up costing nearly double what was approved.

Maybe I'm overreacting but I'm concerned that this could cause problems the next time NDSU asks for something. If somebody wants to stick a knife in your back, why would you hand them a long pointy sharp one?

I don't know if anybody truly broke the rules or merely bent them. If they broke them, then they might be turning in their keys. Bottom line is that somebody is responsible for authorizing the spending of nearly $800,000 of somebody elses money. They either signed off on something where they didn't have authority or they failed in their oversight.

So then the relevant question should be: "What's the impact on projected maintenance costs?"

The mistake wasn't not telling the board (unless we added significantly to the future maintenance obligation). The mistake was blowing the budget.

I'm not saying it isn't a SNAFU. All I'm saying is if options are A: overrun a budget that doesn't contain a dime of taxpayer money without informing the board in order to get the building you need or B: tell the board you're going over and take a halfassed finished product as a result. That's an easy choice. A every time. You know your going to get your ass handed to you either way, you may as well get something for the trouble.

[bisonbills]

Being a Construction Management major, I find it pretty crazy that a project of this size could grow twice the size of it's original budget. Estimating and cost control are huge parts of our job. Many jobs run over budget, but twice the original estimate?

I couldn't care less how much it cost. I could have been $3 million. It doesn't matter to me. It just seems embarrassing to see it go so far over budget and it gives the NDSU haters ammo.

I will now take my beating. Thank you sir may I have another?