Amesbury Elementary School Building Committee

Amesbury Elementary School Building Committee (AESBC) Meeting Minutes Date: November 19, 2020 Location: Virtual Meeting Time: 6:00 PM Next Meeting: December 17, 2020 at 6:00PM Attendees: Name Present Name Present SBC – Voting Members SBC – Non Voting Members Kassandra Gove, Mayor/Chair  Christine Chabot Paul Fahey, Chief of Staff  Lauri McAllister Peter Hoyt, School Committee  Bruce McBrien  Matt Bennett, Facilities Director  Elizabeth McAndrews, Superintendent  Angel Wills, CFO  NV5 (OPM) Shannon Nolan, AES Principal  Tim Dorman  Lynn Catarius, Director, Student Services  Tom Murphy Nick Wheeler, City Council  DiNisco Design (Architect) Joseph Spencer  Donna DiNisco Joan Liporto, Director of Finance & Ops  Vivian Low  Caulen Finch  Jim Shuttleworth  Bill Brown (BSI)  Brian Bacon (BSI)  1. Call to Order o Kassandra Gove, Mayor of Amesbury, called the Amesbury Elementary School Building Committee (AESBC) Meeting to order at 6:03 PM. o Mayor Gove provided a statement regarding the ‘Executive Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law G.L. c.30A, §20’ signed on March 12, 2020 which allows for the meeting to be held online and broadcast by ACTV Channel 18. Public comments can be made by email to Mayor Gove or through the ACTV Facebook live stream. o NV5 took roll call for attendance. 2. Public Comments o No comments were submitted in advance of the meeting or via the Facebook live stream. 3. Approval of Meeting Minutes 70 FARGO STREET, SUITE 800 | BOSTON, MA 02210 | WWW.NV5.COM | OFFICE 617.345.9885 | FAX 617.345.4226 PROGRAM MANAGEMENT - CONSTRUCTION QUALITY ASSURANCE - INFRASTRUCTURE - ENERGY - ENVIRONMENTAL  Page 2 of 4 o NV5 distributed the AESBC Meeting Minutes from the prior meeting held on October 22, 2020 as part of the meeting packet. o Vote: Motion by Peter Hoyt to approve the October 22, 2020 AESBC Meeting Minutes. The motion was seconded by Joan Liporto. Nick Wheeler requested that the minutes be modified to reflect that he did not vote on the approval of the September 17, 2020 AESBC Meeting Minutes. The motion, as amended to reflect Mr. Wheeler’s requested modification, passed with unanimous consent of all members present. 4. Approval of Commitments/Invoices o The following invoices were submitted for approval:  NV5 Invoice #186428 - $52,000.00 (OPM CD Services October 2020)  DiNisco Design Invoice #9362 - $1,372.80 (Traffic Consulting Services)  DiNisco Design Invoice #9359 - $245,000.00 (Designer CD Services October 2020)  DiNisco Design Invoice #9360 - $2,826.00 (MA LSP Consulting)  DiNisco Design Invoice #9361 - $22,888.17 (ConComm & Planning Board Review, Design Review & Add’l Doc) o Vote: Motion made by Nick Wheeler to approve the warrant totaling $324,086.97. The motion was seconded by Paul Fahey and following a roll call vote, passed unanimously. 5. Update on Design, Permitting and Schedule o An update on the design and permitting process was provided, which is summarized as follows:  The updated peer reviews have been received for the second round of reviews following the September submission of updated documents, calculations and mounding analysis.  A meeting was held with the Planning Board on Monday, November 16, 2020 where the key updates were presented as well as the waiver requests.  Another Peer Review Workshop was held the following day to review the Stantec and Bob Puff engineering comments as well as BSC Group wetlands comments.  The major comments have been addressed and the remaining were clarified and should be easily addressable. o The following open issues were discussed:  ANR Plan: Based on a request from the Building Commissioner an ANR plan is being considered to more clearly define the parcels from a zoning compliance perspective. The City’s legal counsel is reviewing and will determine if it is necessary or if they can be considered to be effectively merged under common ownership by the City. In either case, the intent is not to change any of the designated uses within the parcels.  Parking Along Western Site Drive: There was concern raised about striping parallel parking stalls within one of the two exit lanes in the western driveway for use during off  Page 3 of 4 peak hours. It was noted that the concern seemed to be around enforcing the no parking timeframe and blocking views to Woodsom Farm. Mr. Puff suggested that overflow parking for less frequent special events be managed as needed on a temporary basis without permanent striping. It was noted that the parking count was based on meeting the existing staff and visitor parking demand and it exceeds the minimum zoning requirement even with the elimination of the parallel parking spaces along the road. Having the parking lots on the same site will provide more efficient use for overflow parking during special events at each building. The design team confirmed that the site plan will be revised to eliminate the striped parking stalls.  Waivers regarding parking area: Landscaped islands were not proposed to provide for ease of maintenance. The also results in the quantity of trees within the parking lot not conforming with the requirements. Based on discussion with the Board and Peer Reviewers it was determined that the design should be modified to meet these requirements and eliminate the need for this waiver. A conceptual layout was presented which indicated that 8 parking spaces would be lost as a result, with 189 spaces remaining. There was discussion regarding the location of the proposed islands appearing somewhat random. The design team noted that it’s driven by the need to break out every 20 spaces but will take another look at it to see if they can be better coordinated. Locating trees within these islands will result in meeting the tree requirement.  3’ Offset required between curb and sidewalk. The current design provides a wider sidewalk of 10’ so that if a car overhangs, there’s still plenty of room for pedestrians. The reason for this is because the narrow strip can become a maintenance issue as grass is hard to maintain and may become a muddy surface in the wet months with foot traffic crossing from the parking lot to access the sidewalk. It was discussed with the peer review consultant that the concerns of lack of buffer could be mitigated by painting out the strip to provide a visual caution.  Waiver on pipe material and cover: HDPE is standard pipe material for this type of site project and the peer reviewer supports this waiver request from reinforced concrete pipe. The peer reviewer also indicates support of the limited areas not meeting the pipe cover requirements provided 2.5’ cover is met.  Eastern Site Drive: The original proposal included two exit lanes totaling 24’ wide, which also provides enough width for emergency vehicles. Concern was raised by the Board that there’s too much pavement in this area. The design team has reviewed and confirmed that the exit could be reduced to a single lane, however 20’ width would need to be maintained to meet emergency vehicle access requirements. This will be managed by striping a wide shoulder.  Site Lighting: Peer reviewer raised concern about light at exit/entrance points. The design team noted that the locations are determined to prevent light from spilling off site for LEED but that the photometrics don’t take into account the light that would be provided by the existing street lights on Lion’s Mouth Road. The Board is also looking for information on how lighting is controlled and schedule. It was noted that all lighting is dark sky compliant with full cut off fixtures. A meeting with Facilities, Public Safety and Open Space reps will be scheduled to review lighting controls and possible schedule  Page 4 of 4 considerations for dimming and turning off zones at certain hours. The goal is to strike a balance between safety, security and minimizing light levels. o Schedule: NV5 provided an overview of the current permitting timeline and bid dates. It was noted that the permitting schedule is the critical path holding up releasing the otherwise completed final bid documents. Based on the best-case scenario the current expectation is that the project goes out for bid January 13th, which is pushing occupancy into February 2023. Nick noted he has some comments on the 100% documents, which can be incorporated prior to releasing them for bid. 6. Proposed Next Meeting Date o The next meeting of the AESBC will be on December 17, 2020. 7. Other Business o Nick asked the design team to confirm if the intersection of Whitehall Road/Friend Street/Greenleaf Street was part of the traffic study area. He noted that there is a lot of cross traffic at this intersection where there is a slight offset and questioned what impact the school project may have. He also noted that there is a proposed modification of the channelized right turn from Friend Street to Whitehall Road as part of the City’s Complete Streets project. o Peter Hoyt voiced appreciation for Joe Spencer’s attendance at the Planning Board Meeting. Any other members with availability were encouraged to attend and confirm with NV5 in order to avoid constituting a quorum or post notice if required. 8. Adjournment o Vote: Motion made by Nick Wheeler to adjourn the meeting at 7:30 PM. The motion was seconded by Peter Hoyt. The motion passed by unanimous consent. -End of Minutes- These meeting minutes were prepared by NV5. Please notify NV5 within 48 hours of receipt of this document regarding any required corrections or clarifications.