The Mt. Lebanon School Board has voted to create a community advisory committee to review the design plan for the pending $113 million high school renovation project and make recommendations to the board.

The 5-3 vote came during a reconvened meeting held last Thursday. Directors Elaine Cappucci, Susan Rose and Josephine Posti dissented. Faith Ann Stipanovich was absent.

Arguments in favor of the committee included that it provides an additional point of view at no cost and that members' due diligence could save the district costly overruns and delays.

Its goal, said board President Alan Silhol, is to review the design for errors, mistakes, or find "a better way to skin a cat."

Arguments against included the risk of a delay in construction bidding at a time when the marketplace is financially conducive to building projects.

Mrs. Rose said that another committee on the project was akin to having "too many cooks in the kitchen."

Resident Nancy Tashman questioned the need for such a committee at this late stage, calling it "an insult to the professionals you have hired and the volunteers."

During this process, the work of the architects, construction manager and district design teams will continue. That work includes finishing the design, which is tentatively scheduled to be presented to the board at its Dec. 14 meeting.

The maximum number of committee members will be 11.

School board members have until today to vote for 15 candidates from the 27 residents who applied before the Oct. 23 deadline. The top 11 vote-getters will appear for appointment at the board's discussion meeting Monday.

The committee will likely meet six to eight times over the next six- to eight-week period.

Superintendent Dr. Timothy Steinhauer will set the agenda and meeting dates and will attend all meetings. He will also determine which meetings require attendance by members of the design team.

Representatives of the local lead architectural firm, Celli-Flynn Brennan Architects and Planners, of Downtown, and the design architectural firm, OWP/P of Chicago, will attend the first three meetings for free. After that, they will be paid hourly contractual fees ranging from $130 to $275.

Representatives of construction manager P.J. Dick, of West Mifflin, will be paid $121 per hour.

The work of the committee will conclude following a presentation to the board at a regularly scheduled December board meeting unless extended by further board action.

The 545,255-square-foot high school building serves about 1,900 students in grades 9 to 12.

The oldest section of the school dates to 1928. The most recent renovation of some areas of the structure occurred in the 1970s.

The best-case "shovel in the ground" scenario is winter 2010. Construction will occur in phases over three to four years, said Dr. Steinhauer, so as not to dislocate students into temporary classrooms.

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