DHEC "cherry picking"

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DHEC-OCRM has the responsibility to approve the design, construction, and operation of stormwater management ponds in coastal South Carolina.

DHEC approved the design of lagoons in Phase 5, Sun City Hilton Head, when DHEC approved the construction drawings. It’s a matter of record. DHEC-approved construction drawings call for all lagoons to be at least five feet deep. DHEC-approved construction plans also call for precast concrete outfall structures and other things as well. The design includes pipes connecting lagoons. The system won’t operate properly if pipes are clogged.

Now, DHEC-OCRM says that they don’t enforce depth of lagoons or the material that outfall structures are made of. DHEC says that they can’t require that the pipes connecting ponds be clear of silt. The DHEC-approved construction plans are clear on these requirements; but, DHEC “cherry picks” what they enforce, and what they don’t enforce.

Only in South Carolina.
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Pulte cuts corners

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A builder/developer has obligations to their customers.

Pulte’s customers were charged lot premiums for their houses on lagoons. Pulte sold lagoons as aesthetic amenities. But, post-Pulte lagoons look different than pre-Pulte lagoons here. That’s because Pulte cuts corners every chance that they get.

Phase 5 lagoons are supposed to have the capacity to hold 5 feet of water, according to the DHEC-approved construction plans. (The actual water level fluctuates, depending upon rainfall, and the weather (evaporation).) Pulte cuts corners, and makes them 3 feet deep. And, control structures are built so poorly that they leak. So, what’s the diff?

The difference is, in lagoons with a capacity to hold 3 feet deep of water, that dense aquatic growth can be expected during periods of low rainfall. So, the difference is looking out your living room, kitchen, or bedroom windows onto a body of water that’s clear (5 ft. deep capacity), or a body of weeds that looks like it needs to be mowed (3 ft. deep capacity). Nice job, Master Builder!

So, whether it’s lagoons, or roof truss connections, or stucco, or cracked and leaking foundation slabs, or leaking roofs, or whatever, Pulte has an obligation to their customers to build it right. As can be plainly seen, Pulte cuts corners.

Jon Cherry, who manages Pulte’s southeast region, has promised to fix the Phase 5 lagoons. Fix them right, Mr. Cherry--for your customers.
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When will the Master Builder finish?

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The Master Builder (aka "Master Scheduler") has promised to fix the Phase 5 lagoons. Initially, MB/MS said that they would be complete by mid August. Now, MB/MS says that they'll be complete by the time that the DHEC permit expires, in January 2010.

So far, MB/MS has adjusted the tops of lagoons 151 and 155 and repaired the leaking control structure and dredged part of lagoon 154. It took MB/MS 11 WEEKS to fix SMALL lagoon 164. In THREE WEEKS, MB/MS hasn't drained SMALL lagoon 150. Actual work fixing lagoon 150 hasn't begun.

Work on approximately 20 lagoons remains, including the larger ones. What do you think? Will MB/MS make January 2010? I wouldn't bet the farm.

Pulte's lips are moving

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What’s going on here? Since March when Pulte announced their lagoon “action” (inaction) plan, they’ve fixed one SMALL lagoon--#164. For the past TWO WEEKS PLUS they’ve been pumping out Lagoon 150 (another relatively SMALL lagoon--last night’s rain probably will set them back another week or two.) See Pulte's pathetic lack of progress in fixing these lagoons for yourself at http://schhphase5lagoons.blogspot.com/

One down since March—MANY more to go. Does Pulte want to fix these lagoons, or not?

ARROGANT (but then, we knew that)

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From the 6/3/09 Wall Street Journal:

"It's democracy, Pulte Homes-style. Last month, more than half of shareholders rebuffed three directors up for re-election. The directors submitted resignation letters, but this week the board said it wouldn't accept them. Huh? Michigan law doesn't require winning candidates to receive a majority of votes--only more than the rest of the candidates. And this year, there were no others. So the incumbents were legal winners.

Then again, every year since 2006, shareholders have backed a resolution for the entire board to seek re-election annually. So far, the board has ignored them."

King George III had nothing on Pulte Homes. Where are patriots when you need them?

Persistence

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Four years or so ago Pulte did a really poor job building lagoons here. New homeowners complained about their poor condition immediately upon moving in. Pulte ignored them. A few homeowners decided to persist. They went to Beaufort County. They obtained construction drawings using the Freedom of Information Act. They went to South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. They went to the Army Corps of Engineers. They went to their local, state and federal government representatives. They went to the press.

Pulte’s playbook says to ignore your customers as long as you can. For THREE YEARS Pulte continued to ignore their customers and the construction problems with the Phase 5 lagoons, until FINALLY, under IMMENSE pressure, Pulte is addressing the problems—not ALL of the problems, just SOME of the problems (Pulte playbook). The struggle continues; but, in the end, persistence WILL pay.

Master Builder

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from http://schhresidents.forumco.com/ :

quote:
Originally posted by Wes
"It was really great working with someone who understood the reasons for flow charts and critical path planning."

my response:

Dealing with Pulte has been such a pleasure! It started when I wanted to give them a "heads up" more than 3 years ago about the barely-attached roof trusses. They wouldn't talk with me! (And, I thought that I would be doing them a favor!) How do you spell "A-R-R-O-G-A-N-T"?

So in the meeting last Friday I said "You're 85 days into 156-day schedule and there's a LOT of work left to do. Do you have a CPM schedule?"

"What do you want that for?"

"To see how you're going to make your completion date. It looks like you're doing everything in series with one part-time crew."

"We didn't provide a schedule because you'd just jump on us when we didn't finish something on time."

"So you didn't develop a schedule? How do you know what your critical path is? Where did the 156 days come from?"

Allison Tucker holds up the Lagoon Action Plan briefing document and yells "IT'S IN HERE! THE CRITICAL PATH IS IN HERE!"

Like I said, there's NOTHING in that document that even REMOTELY resembles a critical path schedule. I thought that EVERYBODY in construction knows, and uses, critical path scheduling. Apparently, the Master Builder doesn't.


NOTE THE COMMENT. Nice. This anonymous coward can’t refute the facts, so he/she resorts to name-calling. Brave, intelligent, and a nice mouth. He/she claims to be my neighbor. How’d you like him/her for a neighbor?
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the truth about "lagoons"

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OK, folks, here’s the deal:

1. DHEC-OCRM’s regulations allow for shallow ponds, with resulting dense aquatic growth. This is perfectly acceptable to DHEC:

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(DHEC-OCRM’s regulations cover stormwater management (SWM) ponds in all sorts of settings, and for all sorts of projects: residential, industrial, agricultural, roads, etc.)

2. The function of SWM ponds is to remove pollutants from stormwater runoff before it pollutes downstream waters. Filtering pollutants from stormwater is hardly consistent with what one would consider an aesthetic “amenity”.

3. It’s Pulte who characterizes these SWM ponds as “lagoons”, and sells them (lot premiums) as amenities.

4. YOU are contributing to the problem by over fertilizing your lawns.

So, if you’re upset about how your lagoon looks, don’t blame DHEC-OCRM. Their regulations don’t distinquish between “lagoons” in residential developments and pollutant-filtering SWM ponds on an industrial site. Blame Pulte, who knows better, and sold you “a bill of goods” anyway. And stop over fertilizing your lawns.

Another fact to consider:

5. Pulte did a VERY POOR job building Phase 5 lagoons:

* Comparing as-built elevations to elevations called for on the approved construction plans, tops are too low and bottoms are too high by ONE AND TWO FEET--an ASTOUNDING amount to be off in such a flat area
* Missing embankments
* Missing or poorly constructed spillways
* No freeboard
* Missing weir
* Leaking control structures
* Steep and eroding slopes

VERY SHODDY.

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a Phase 5 lagoon update for my SCHH neighbors

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Some of you may be wondering what’s been happening since the Jan. 22 DHEC meeting at Magnolia Hall. If you judge what’s been happening by the reconstruction activity, or lack thereof, then you’d come to the conclusion: “not much”, and you’d be right.

Pulte developed an “action plan” (or should I say, “inaction” plan) that includes about half of the needed work to fix the Phase 5 lagoons. DHEC-OCRM, the state agency charged with approving the design, construction, and operation of the lagoons, hasn’t required Pulte to include ALL required reconstruction in their action plan.

There have been two meetings with DHEC since Jan. 22 in their office in Beaufort—one in March and the other last Friday. In addition to the meetings we’ve exchanged emails with DHEC staff.

DHEC has been playing “word games” insisting, on the one hand, that they only regulate storage volume, NOT pond depth, or other pertinent items, such as embankments, freeboard, compaction, trees in embankments, etc. On the other hand, DHEC-OCRM has conducted three compliance inspection reports since the Jan. 22 meeting at Magnolia Hall (3/24, 4/8, and 4/23). These reports cite violations and corrective actions for 22 Phase 5 ponds. Some ponds were cited for violations in more than one report. They cite problems with depths, water surface elevations, overflows, slopes, erosion, etc. All three reports allot 21 days for corrective action. Needless to say, the 21 days has expired for all three reports, and NOTHING has happened. DHEC-OCRM is a paper tiger.

I expect the “word games” to continue, ad nauseum. As far as the reconstruction is concerned, you’ll see what happens, and when it happens, the same that I will. As far as DHEC addressing other lagoons outside Phase 5, at the pace that they move, I’m not optimistic that this will EVER happen in our lifetimes.

Please visit http://schhphase5lagoons.blogspot.com/ and add your observations on the reconstruction. The more people who are watching and reporting on what’s happening with the reconstruction, the better.
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are you kidding me????

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A little lesson on critical path for Allison Tucker and the rest of the Pulte people. (I thought that EVERYBODY in construction knew about, and used, critical path; but, apparently not. This may tell you something about what Pulte people know about construction.)

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"It (CPM, or Critical Path Method) was developed in the 1950s by the Dupont Corporation at about the same time that General Dynamics and the US Navy were developing the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT). Today, it is commonly used with all forms of projects, including construction, software development, research projects, product development, engineering, and plant maintenance, among others. Any project with interdependent activities can apply this method of scheduling."

"This process determines which activities are "critical" (i.e., on the longest path) and which have "total float" (i.e., can be delayed without making the project longer). In project management, a critical path is the sequence of project network activities which add up to the longest overall duration. This determines the shortest time possible to complete the project. Any delay of an activity on the critical path directly impacts the planned project completion date (i.e. there is no float on the critical path). A project can have several, parallel, near critical paths. An additional parallel path through the network with the total durations shorter than the critical path is called a sub-critical or non-critical path."

"These results allow managers to prioritize activities for the effective management of project completion, and to shorten the planned critical path of a project by pruning critical path activities, by "fast tracking" (i.e., performing more activities in parallel), and/or by "crashing the critical path" (i.e., shortening the durations of critical path activities by adding resources)."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_path_method
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DHEC double talk

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Shannon,

Thank you for the site inspection reports that you furnished during last Friday’s meeting. After reviewing these reports, I must now admit to being totally confused with respect to DHEC-OCRM’s position regarding SWM ponds at Sun City.

I thought that I understood DHEC-OCRM’s position after DHEC-OCRM's February 20, 2009 letter to Thomas & Hutton (copy to Del Webb Communities). e.g., “Ensure the bottoms of all ponds are excavated to the appropriate elevation…it (Del Webb Phase 5 lagoon maintenance items) does not address all issues for non-compliance…nine phase five ponds were not listed and there is indication that at least ponds 149, 152, 161 and 162 are currently too shallow…some water surfaces may rise due to downstream connectivity but the water surface elevation will not rise if equalization pipes are clogged.”

Then, in the March meeting, and in a following series of emails, we were told repeatedly that “DHEC-OCRM regulates ONLY volume; DHEC-OCRM doesn’t regulate depth, or connecting pipes, or slope, or compaction, or embankments, or trees in embankments, etc.” This position (which seemed at odds with DHEC-OCRM's February 20, 2009 letter) seemed to be verified again at Friday’s meeting when you said repeatedly that "DHEC-OCRM regulates ONLY volume, NOT depth, etc." I came away from the meeting with the distinct understanding that a pond can be one ft. deep, and as long as sufficient storage volume is provided, that you’re OK with the one-ft. depth (and the resulting aquatic growth that can be expected from such a shallow pond).

I thought that I understood this current position until I got home and reviewed Richard’s site inspection reports. As you know, these reports cite problems with depth, slopes, erosion, water level, aquatic growth, etc. Now, I’m more confused than ever.

I bring this to your attention only because I was made to feel like a nitwit at the meeting because I “didn’t get” DHEC-OCRM’s position, which had been stated previously NUMEROUS times, that “DHEC-OCRM regulates ONLY volume, NOT depth.” Having reviewed Richard’s site inspection reports, in light of your statements during Friday’s meeting, and previous meeting and emails, I now feel totally vindicated in my confusion.

Regards,
Ray Koenig
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Master Builder

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The Master Builder builds houses with roof trusses that are barely attached, in a coastal area susceptible to hurricanes.

The Master Builder builds houses with stucco that was mixed with too much water and not enough cement. No control joints around windows, so that it’s susceptible to cracking. The Master Builder doesn’t know that stucco is a porous material that water penetrates; the Master Builder doesn’t provide a way for the water to get out of the cavity between the exterior walls and the interior walls.

The Master Builder builds lagoons with tops that are too low, and bottoms that are too high, by one and two FEET. (I wouldn’t have believed that it was possible to build something one and two FEET off in elevation in such a flat area, unless I’d seen it for myself.)

The Master Builder doesn’t use resource-loaded construction schedules that have been routinely used in the construction industry for more than 50 YEARS. (Allison Tucker, CPM (Critical Path Method) scheduling has been around since WWII, and is widely used in the construction industry. Don’t show your ignorance by waving a copy of Pulte’s Lagoon Action Plan and yelling “the critical path is in here”. There’s NOTHING that even REMOTELY resembles a critical path in that document.)

Some master builder!

And, then there’s how the Master Builder treats their customers. So what that the roof trusses are barely attached, and your roof blows off during a hurricane? So what that the stucco isn’t mixed right and isn’t applied right, and there's mold from the water trapped in the cavity between your exterior walls and your interior walls? So what that the lagoons are built 1 and 2 FEET off in elevation and there are birds walking around and plants growing in the middle of your lagoon? So what if we don't finish on schedule? You bought it—it’s YOUR problem.

Some company!
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sorry, folks; you're out of luck

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Sorry, SCHH residents who paid lot premiums for lagoon lots thinking that you were buying this:

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and you actually got this:

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You're stuck with it!

DHEC-OCRM doesn't regulate pond depth, along with a lot of other things. They only regulate volume. Never mind the fact that the construction plans that DHEC-OCRM approved call for ponds to be 5 feet deep, and as-built plans show that they aren't. And, never mind the fact that on 2/20/09 DHEC-OCRM wrote a letter to Thomas & Hutton/Pulte that says:

1) “Ensure the bottoms of all ponds are excavated to the appropriate elevation and that the pond depths are consistent with the pond depths shown on the approved plans.”
5) “ ,,,However it (lagoon maintenance document) does not address all issues of non-compliance. The following are examples of items not addressed:
a. Nine phase 5 ponds were not listed and there is indication that at least ponds 149, 152, 161 and 162 are currently too shallow.
b. Some water surfaces may rise due to downstream connectivity but the water surface elevation will not rise if equalization pipes are clogged.”

DHEC-OCRM says now that they only regulate volume.

So if your pond has the required volume, and is one ft. deep, and there are plants growing and birds walking around in the middle of it, then DHEC-OCRM says “we can’t help you.” DHEC-OCRM also says that it's your fault, and that you're violating the law by putting fertilizers on your lawns.

Pulte/Thomas & Hutton say: “too bad—we met DHEC-OCRM’s and Beaufort County’s requirements”. Never mind the fact that you paid a handsome lot premium to live on a ‘beautiful lagoon’ You bought it—now, live with it.

So, sorry, folks--you're "out of luck".

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"Stuck on stupid"

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During Hurricane Katrina a National Guard general used the phrase “stuck on stupid” on national TV. The general has it right. There are a LOT of people who are “stuck on stupid”.

When people are victims of shoddy construction, do they use the marvelous tools of today (free blogsites, HADD.com, etc.) to get the word out? No. Victims talk among themselves. Nobody hears them.

Do victims use the marvelous tools of today to provide and to receive REAL-TIME information? No. If they speak up at all (which they usually don’t), they use snail mail and printed newsletters—antiquated communication of the last, and previous, centuries.

GET WITH IT! Start a FREE blog. Speak up. Get and receive REAL TIME information.

Worse yet are the people who don't bother to be informed. They deserve what they get.

You’re right, General. The problem is that a LOT of people today are “stuck on stupid”.
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http://schhphase5lagoons.blogspot.com/

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my post to http://schhphase5lagoons.blogspot.com/

"Thank you. It takes more persistence than it should to get the OBVIOUS problems with these lagoons addressed COMPLETELY and CORRECTLY. Pulte has ignored the problems for more than 3 years. Beaufort County has been NO help. The Army Corps of Engineers has been NO help. South Carolina DHEC-OCRM, the permitting agency responsible for approving the design, construction, and operation of these ponds, should have required that these ponds be fixed LONG ago. Lastly, there are the SCHH residents, who, despite the prospect of having to pay for Pulte’s shoddy construction, sit idly by while others “carry the water” (excuse the pun) for them. Keep up the good work! Let’s hope that, in the end, MANY will benefit from the efforts of a FEW."
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