School Building Committee

Office of the City Manager City Hall • 375 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 P: 978.674.4402 • F: 978.970.4007 www.LowellMA.gov Thomas A. Golden, Jr. City Manager School Building Committee Meeting Meeting Minutes Date: August 18, 2022 Time: 6:00 PM Location: Mayor's Reception Room School Building Committee Members Present: Tom Golden, Jr. (City Manager, School Building Committee Chair), Mike Vaughn (MCPPO), Connie Martin (School Committee Member), Joel Boyd (Superintendent of Schools), Richard Underwood (Operations and Maintenance Director), Michael Fiato (Head of School), Conor Baldwin (CFO), Maria Sheehy, Benjamin Opara, David Peaslee (Lowell Police Captain), Erica Harvey, William Samaras (Former City of Lowell Mayor), State Senator Ed Kennedy, Rodney Elliot (Former City of Lowell Mayor), Maryann Manzi (LPD) City Staff Present: Shawn Machado (Assistant City Manager), Austin Ball (Deputy CFO) City Councilors Present: Councilor Erik Gitschier, Councilor Kim Scott Perkins Eastman Consultants Present: Joe Drown, Robin Greenberg Skanska Consultants Present: Maryann Williams, Jim Dowd Suffolk Construction Consultants Present: Rex Radloff, Meeting called to order at 6:24 PM by T. Golden, Jr. Roll call showed 15 present. City Manager opened the meeting and welcomed those in attendance. The order of business was as follows: I. City - Accept Minutes of June 2, 2022 Meeting Editor’s note: This item was deferred to the next meeting. II. Suffolk / Skanska / PE- Schedule: a. Phase 1 Completion Update b. Phase 2 Construction Update c. Phase 2 High School Campus Logistics Discussed site walk thru that took place at 5:30pm (before meeting). a. Phase 1 - Completion Update  Office of the City Manager City Hall • 375 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 P: 978.674.4402 • F: 978.970.4007 www.LowellMA.gov Thomas A. Golden, Jr. City Manager SBC Meeting Minutes August 18, 2022 Meeting Page 2 of 4 Rex- Reviewed construction progress to date via photos in presentation, see attached. Focused on main gym, kitchen and locker rooms and finishes throughout. Putting finishing touches on gym and outside landscaping, "punchlist" to be completed in next couple weeks. Bleachers will be coming in, and will be installed around school hours to not interfere with learning. The striping in the gym is ongoing, Ramon Rivera striping will be completed by Wednesday (August 24th). A final cleanup of the area will be done. b. Phase 2 – Construction Update Rex - Reviewed Phase 2 logistics, see attached presentation. Abatement of 1980's building / Fieldhouse beginning to commence, will be shifting to bulk demolition. Saw cutting on the building has begun and will continue until the take-down of the building. Bulk demolition will continue through October. Potentially will begin steelwork in early winter. c. High School Campus Logistics Rex - Shared new plans with faculty of LHS, gave teachers plan for new movement throughout building. A jersey barrier will be going in next week adjacent to the school. III. Suffolk - MBE/WBE and Workforce Progress Rex- Discussed MBE/WBE and Workforce progress to date. Numbers are improving and hoping to continue to improve. IV. Perkins Eastman – Designer Update Joe- Begun by speaking about acoustics in the music room and the gym. Informed us there will be a new elevator being put it for ADA compliance. Temporary administration spaces will be in C house. Students on LHS sports teams will help students navigate through new building and construction. V. Skanska - Budget Update Jim- Reviewed Project Budget status to date, see attached presentation. Explained that Change Order’s will be funded from Owner Contingency that is part of the updated $381.9M budget, therefore when people see “Change Orders” that doesn’t mean the $381.9M is being exceeded. The current change orders to date are at $0.00, however they have $25k pending and $705k incoming. These change order will be charged against $21M contingency budget. Currently, at a 5% burn rate on change orders, expecting to up-tick in Phase 2.  Office of the City Manager City Hall • 375 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 P: 978.674.4402 • F: 978.970.4007 www.LowellMA.gov Thomas A. Golden, Jr. City Manager SBC Meeting Minutes August 18, 2022 Meeting Page 3 of 4 VI. Skanska - Next Steps Jim- Will work with school faculty to welcome back students the last week of August. Questions: Senator Kennedy- Asked about how change orders are approved. Jim- First it has to be submitted with all documentation, then it moves into a two step vetting process by different managers. If it is approved by first group of managers it then goes to the second group for final approval. Former Mayor Elliot- Can you give us an example of a change order? Rex- An example would be adding a floorbox in the Gym. Former Mayor Elliot- Are they currently any large change orders? Jim- They're a couple for approximately $100k. Former Mayor Samaras- Asked if a tour can be provided for the community of the new construction. (Senator Kennedy second this question.) Mgr. Golden- Will work with LTC to get something setup for the community in the upcoming weeks. Councilor Gitschier- Inquired about the burn rate relative to the contingency budget Jim- With each phase the expected burn rate will go higher, the new renovation that is starting in phase 2 will use more of the contingency than in phase 1. Comments: Superintendent Boyd- Informed public that despite all the new construction the School Department's number one priority is education. If he believe the construction needed to be stopped due to students educational needs not being met, then it would. Manager Golden- Asked if they were any more comments/questions. They were none. Motion to adjourn by R. Elliot, 2nd by Senator Kennedy. Meeting adjourned at 7:08PM