Extra work needed to finish Latrobe Elementary School will cost more than $91,000, most of it to install a pump to move sewage from the new building to a nearby main.

School board members this week approved spending the money following a volley of harsh words between directors and residents over delays in the construction project and whether district officials have been sufficiently forthcoming about problems.

School directors hired Pittsburgh legal firm Dickie, McCamey and Chilcote, including attorney W. Alan Torrance Jr., at an hourly rate of up to $375, to provide advice concerning the project. Torrance has experience that he does not in the specialized area of construction law, said district Solicitor Ned Nakles.

Unity resident Greg Fumea questioned the pricey fee for Torrance. Nakles said fees reflect an attorney’s experience.

“Right now, we don’t know for sure if we’ll need the attorney,” Nakles said. “He has given us some advice…. We haven’t had need for extensive consultation yet.”

The district had planned to have the new $24.8 million school ready for the start of the 2018-19 academic year. Now, as it eyes a proposed opening of the building in late fall, Latrobe elementary students will report for classes Monday at the existing, aging school building several blocks away on Ligonier Street.

Greater Latrobe will pay an additional $65,932 to Vrabel Plumbing and an extra $9,338 to Westmoreland Electric, to install the sewage pump. Without the pump, “The slope would have been too shallow,” from the school to the sewage main on Lincoln, said Kurt Thomas, director of operations and planning. He said the problem was unforeseen since the local infrastructure was incompletely documented.

Raising the building elevation by 2 feet would have been another option, had the sewage problem been known in time, but would have cost much more than the pump, Thomas said.

Thomas said the needed pump isn’t contributing to the delay in the project.

Last week, project site manager George Dickerson told the board frequent rain had interfered with work on concrete, and district officials said they were switching to a flooring adhesive that would allow for a higher moisture content in concrete surfaces.

Swigart announced in a July 10 letter that the new elementary building would not be ready for the start of the school year, noting the district had started out with an “aggressive” construction schedule. School director Michael O’ Barto and Fumea on Tuesday criticized the school board and district officials for not making that announcement weeks earlier.

O’Barto said a public discussion at the school board’s June 19 meeting painted a rosier picture of the project than information discussed immediately beforehand, in a closed-door executive session that included Dickerson and project architect Hank Tkacik.

When questioned by Swigart at the June meeting, Dickerson said contractors hadn’t given any indication they would not finish the school on time.

“There was a lack of transparency,” O’Barto said of that meeting. “We went into a public meeting and sat there like a bunch of mushrooms…. We should have got up and said, ‘Hey, we have some problems. The school is not going to open on time.’ But we didn’t.”

Fumea suggested inclusion of Dickerson and Tkacik in the June executive session may have violated the state Sunshine Law. The law provides that all school board discussions be held before the public, with the exception of certain personnel, property and legal matters.

School director Dr. Michael Zorch took umbrage at any suggestion that board members hadn’t acted ethically. “We do a service for this community,” he said. “We work hard for this community.”

The board on Tuesday agreed to pay Nello Construction $8,960, Westmoreland Electric $1,596 and Vrabel $617 to modify sinks so they’re the correct height for kindergarten students. Westmoreland Electric also will be paid $2,918 to add an electrical outlet in the ceiling of the school’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) room. Nello’s extra work on windows will cost $1,968.

Even with the work added on Tuesday, the district is about $18,000 in the black when considering all change orders for the elementary project, Thomas said.

Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jeff at 724-836-6622, jhimler@tribweb.com or via Twitter @jhimler_news.

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