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Home My WebLink AboutSan Bernardino - Letter from Mandeville (Closed Session Item B)June 25, 2025 Dear Members of the San Bernardino City Council, I hope this message ﬁnds you well. I am writing on behalf of Mandeville Modular to formally address the outstanding invoices due (Invoice Nos. 151689 and 200512), to outline several ongoing challenges aﬀecting project progress at the San Bernardino Hope Campus, and to respectfully seek the City’s support in helping move this vital project forward. We have approached this work in the spirit of partnership and collaboration, striving at every turn to deliver on our commitments and accommodate evolving project needs. Unfortunately, it increasingly feels that these eﬀorts have not been fully reciprocated by CREDE or, at times, by the City, leaving Mandeville in a diﬃcult position as we work to keep the project on track. Throughout this process, Mandeville Modular has remained deeply committed to being a collaborative and solutions-oriented partner. We have fully fulﬁlled our obligations under the Design Services and Purchase Agreement dated December 4, 2024, and have worked diligently—often beyond our contractual scope—to maintain momentum on the project. Speciﬁcally, our invoices (151689 dated May 7, 2025, and 200512 dated June 5, 2025) reﬂect services rendered and deliverables provided in strict adherence to the approved phased work plan (Exhibit B-2). These include completion of the Schematic Plan Phase, Design Development Phase, Final Working Drawings & Speciﬁcations Phase, and corresponding project management services through May 2025. In line with Section 3.10.4 of our contract, payment for these phases is due within thirty (30) days of submission. To date, no deﬁciencies have been identiﬁed that would justify withholding payment on these invoices, and we respectfully request the City’s support in ensuring these are processed promptly. It is important to share that while we have maintained our commitment to collaboration and ﬂexibility, we are increasingly encountering challenges that make this eﬀort feel one-sided. Mandeville has accommodated numerous requests that extend beyond our contracted scope, including the design and integration of a commercial kitchen at no additional cost, as well as support for budgetary tracking and reporting that is not required by our agreement. We have done so in good faith to support the project’s broader success, but these accommodations are contributing to strain on our team without reciprocal clarity or support. Moreover, despite our collaborative intent, Mandeville has at times been left out of key project coordination opportunities—such as Owner-Architect-Contractor (OAC) meetings—and has not been consistently informed when critical project leaders are out of oﬃce, creating further uncertainty in communication and decision-making. It is important to highlight CREDE’s contractual obligations under its Professional Services Agreement with the City, dated December 4, 2024, and the extent to which these obligations have not been met, resulting in signiﬁcant delays to the project. CREDE, as Development Manager, is responsible for providing timely and competent project management services, ensuring adherence to project schedules, and facilitating clear and consistent communication among all stakeholders. However, CREDE has failed to issue or circulate an updated and ﬁnal project schedule despite repeated requests and despite it being a fundamental requirement for proper project coordination. As it stands, the only approved schedule remains the original project schedule executed alongside the contract in December 2024. The absence of a current, ratiﬁed schedule has caused widespread confusion and disruption, impeding our ability to align factory production timelines and on-site preparations. Furthermore, Mandeville submitted a $0 change order in March 2025 to formally document the City-induced delays—delays that have now exceeded 120 days. Despite our good faith eﬀorts to gain clarity on revised start dates and milestones, CREDE has repeatedly vacillated on key dates and has not facilitated ﬁnal approval of this change order, further exacerbating project delays and ﬁnancial exposure. These delays and mismanagement issues are further compounded by CREDE’s failure to provide an updated project organizational chart, as required to ensure transparency and accountability in communication lines. The original organizational chart contains outdated contacts, and the lack of a revised document has signiﬁcantly hampered clear and timely correspondence between the various consultants, contractors, and City representatives. This omission violates the basic duty of care expected of CREDE under its agreement with the City and under standard project management practices. We must also address the performance of CREDE’s assigned Project Manager, whose lack of experience as a Project Manager have materially hindered progress. The ongoing indecision, contradictory directives, and unreasonable requests from CREDE’s Project Manager meet this threshold. This is further underscored by the Civil Design Proposal that CREDE’s Project Manager transmitted to Heith Bibby, President of Mandeville Modular, which notably requested 100% upfront payment of their contract. This request not only departs from standard industry practices but raises serious concerns regarding ﬁnancial stewardship and risk management on this publicly funded project. Mandeville Modular has consistently demonstrated collaboration and ﬂexibility well beyond our contractual obligations. We have diligently attended and contributed to weekly design meetings, though it is important to note that our contract does not stipulate these as the exclusive or mandatory forum for resolving broader project execution matters. Speciﬁcally, Section 3.7.8 of our Agreement speaks to coordination of services, with an expectation that the City and its agents will provide appropriate forums and guidance to resolve major outstanding items such as project scheduling, organizational structure updates, and scheduling of factory inspections. Given these circumstances, Mandeville Modular requests immediate action by the City to resolve these matters. Speciﬁcally, we seek (1) immediate payment of Invoices 151689 and 200512 in accordance with the terms of our contract, (2) ﬁnalization and execution of the outstanding $0 change order to formally account for project delays to date, and (3) the scheduling of a comprehensive project coordination meeting led by the City to ﬁnalize the project schedule, organizational chart, and address other outstanding items essential to project delivery. We want to emphasize that Mandeville remains fully committed to this project and to our partnership with the City. Our sole objective is to deliver a high-quality facility that meets the community’s needs. We respectfully ask for your leadership in resolving the administrative and contractual obstacles that are preventing progress. We look forward to your conﬁrmation of payment processing and to receiving a proposed date for a coordination meeting at your earliest convenience. Should the City require any additional documentation to facilitate these next steps, we stand ready to provide it. Sincerely, Mandeville Modular