2nd UPDATE: South Park case continues in court

By KEN FOUNTAIN
July 30, 2009
Posted: July 29, 2009, 8:55 PM CDT Last updated: July 30, 2009, 1:54 PM CDT

2nd UPDATE: The plaintiffs' attorney, Michael Getz, has been questioning John Reagan, senior estimator for Parsons, the project manager for the Beaumont ISD bond program, about the relative costs of renovating the South Park Middle School building and building a new one.

As a point of comparison, Getz asked Reagan about Houston's John H. Reagan High School, named after the estimator's great-grandfather.

Getz introduced photographs of the school, which underwent a large renovation project in 2004-06, and a newsletter put out by the construction firm that did the project. According to the newsletter, the 20,000-square-foot project cost approximately $30 million.

Under cross examination from Sarah Frasher, one of the district's attorneys, Reagan said he would not be able to rely on the newsletter's information to provide enough information for a professional assessment.

Getz also asked Reagan why an April 2007 assessment performed by 3DI (which was later bought out by Parsons) indicated that it would cost $42 million to renovate South Park, while the most recent budget is set at $33 million.

Reagan replied that construction figures are constantly in flux, and were especially so in 2006 through 2008.

Judge Bob Wortham called for a lunch break. Getz told The Beaumont Enterprise he hopes to complete the plaintiffs' case today. The district's attorneys have said they plan to call several witnesses, pushing the hearing at least through Friday.