School Building Committee

Meeting Minutes Date: August 6th, 2020 Time: 5:00 PM Location: Virtual Meeting—Zoom School Building Committee Members Present - Eileen Donoghue, Ed Kennedy, William Samaras, Jeff Wilson, Jay Mason, Sokhary Chau, Connie Martin, Michael Fiato, Mike Vaughn, Christine Clancy, Conor Baldwin, Jim Cook, Dianne Tradd, MaryAnn Ballotta City Staff Present: Kara Keefe Mullin, Peter Cutrumbes, Phillip Geoffroy Perkins Eastman Consultants Present: Robert Bell, Joe Drown, Robin Greenberg Skanska Consultants Present: Maryann Williams, Jim Dowd Suffolk Construction: Rex Radloff, Chris Walenten Meeting called to order at 5:05 PM by E. Donoghue. Roll call showed 14 present. E. Donoghue put forth a motion to appoint Michael Fiato, new Head of School at Lowell High School, to the Committee. 2nd by Ed Kennedy. M. Fiato introduced himself and discussed his excitement for the building of the new high school. E. Donoghue introduced Councilor Chau and asked to begin the presentation of the design process, which will focus on details that have taken place between the current date and the last meeting. J. Drown began the presentation and provided a brief overview of what would be discussed. R. Greenberg discussed the process for gathering input on the design plan. They have been focusing on having user groups that include residents and staff. These groups have provided feedback. R. Greenberg also continued by highlighting the fact that they still have virtual meetings with City authorities. J. Dowd discussed the permitting process and says they have had no delays so far. The Conservation Commission approved the project on 5/27. On 6/1, the Planning Board approved the Site Plan Review and on 7/20 approved the removal of trees along Father Morissette Blvd. J. Dowd said they submitted their permit to NPS last week on how the project interacts with the National Park. There is also a Certificate of Appropriateness hearing coming up with the Lowell Historic Board. There will be a permit application for building demolition at 75 Arcand Drive in the fall. All permitting is proceeding as planned. R. Radloff introduced himself as the project manager from Suffolk. He spoke on the plan for maintaining school operations and not interrupting downtown life while the job is happening. They are developing plans for deliveries, student/staff exits and entrances, and safely diverting pedestrian and vehicular traffic. They will be using barriers and covered walkways for entrance and exiting, will have police details, and there will be additional signage. Their goal is to minimize presence outside of site. J. Mason asked a question on idling. He asked if there will be a sequenced arrival of materials and removal of debris from the site. R. Radloff answered by saying drivers will only idle at Cawley Stadium. All deliveries arrive there and then be moved to LHS site. J Wilson asked about provisions for wheelchair access while the project is ongoing. R. Radloff responded by saying every temporary measure will be ADA accessible. J. Drown gave an update on the bidding process. He said they are 50% of way through construction documents, which will be used for contractors to bid. He also discussed milestones they want to meet along the way: they just completed 60% of cost estimate documents (and will be using two independent estimators), the gymnasium early bid package will be going out 8/17, they will submit 60% of the cost estimate documents to the MSBA in Sept and 90% in October, and the bid documents final submission will be in February of 2021. E. Kennedy asked about the construction schedule and when ground will actually be broken. C. Walenten said the abatement and demolition of 75 Arcand Drive will be starting late October or early November. The gym/fieldhouse will then be going up, and will be finished by April 2022. C. Walenten said each phase will last roughly 18 months, and that demo is included as part of construction. Steel will be “coming out of the ground” in March 2021, and the project will be done by April 2022. C. Baldwin asked if the pandemic has affected costs of materials that are being procured. C. Walenten said it hasn’t effected costs, but that they have seen delays. Some additional costs have come up for sanitizing job sites. Meeting adjourned by E. Donoghue at 5:33 P.M.