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: October 19th, 2022 Time: 6:00 PM Location: Mayor’s Reception Room School Building Committee Members Present: Tom Golden, Jr. (City Manager, School Building Committee Chair), Connie Martin (School Committee Member), Richard Underwood (Operations and Maintenance Director), Conor Baldwin (CFO), David Peaslee (Police Captain), Edward Kennedy (State Senator), Rodney Elliot (Former Mayor of Lowell), Maryann Manzi (LPD), Jay Mason (Community Member – Architect), Maria Sheehy, Benjamin Opara, Erica Harvey (Teacher) City Staff Present: Erik Gitschier (City Councilor), Austin Ball (Deputy CFO) Perkins Eastman Consultants Present: Joe Drown, Robin Greenberg Skanska Consultants Present: Maryann Williams, Jim Dowd Suffolk Construction Consultants Present: Rex Radloff, Pat DeBennedetto The order of business was as follows: I. Attendance/Roll Call Meeting called to order at 6:04 PM by T. Golden, Jr. Roll call showed 12 present. Manager Golden opened the meeting and welcomed those in attendance. J. Mason – Requested that on the minutes of meeting the answers to all questions raised by the committee and public be included. So moved.  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 II. City of Lowell Motion to accept and place on file the minutes from September 15th, 2022 SBC meeting, by D. Peaslee, seconded by E. Kennedy. The City then showed a short video in conjunction with Skanska and Suffolk to show the progress made in Phase 1 / the construction that will be upcoming. III. Suffolk/Skanska/PE Presentation: a. Phase 1 - Completion Update Rex – The major focus remaining with Phase 1 is the back of the building. Currently prepping for the concrete pad and the final paving. Will continue with the fall plantings as well as the remaining punch list items. The bleachers have been installed. b. Phase 2 – Construction Update Rex – Phase two work is ongoing with continuation of the takedown of the Field House Building currently about 95% done. Will mobilize a contractor in coming weeks to start pre-excavation work. Foundations will begin to take place the middle of November and last 6-8 weeks. Steel will have a soft mobilization at the end of December, columns will go up the first of the New Year. Ground improvements will begin in the upcoming weeks. Began process of removing the South Bridge, will continue this process to remove the rest of the structure in the next couple weeks. Mr. Mason – Have there been any surprises in the soils? Rex- Not yet, we’re equipped to handle if something presents itself. IV. Suffolk - MBE/WBE and Workforce Progress Rex - Discussed MBE/WBE and Workforce progress to date some highlights include; the total number of workers and workers hours climbed from last month. The percentage’s declined due to shifting from Phase 1 to Phase 2. Expected to climb back up the deeper Phase 2 goes. V. Perkins Eastman – Designer Update Robin – Targeting a Leed Gold certification. Highest concentrate of recyclable material is steel. Need 20 EPD’s in order to receive Leed credit, in conjunction with Suffolk have received over 100. Always  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 looking at construction air quality with emphasis on duct work. Also Suffolk has placed straw bales around all construction areas to prevent washout and reduce erosion. E. Kennedy- Is there a Phase where the numbers for minorities and female workers will go up and what is the likely hood of this happening? Rex- We are optimistic they will, currently Suffolk has a DEI consultant to try to increase the workforce. E. Kennedy- How many workers will be on site in the highest phase and which phase will this be in? Rex- 180-200 workers per day for the Freshman Academy. R. Elliot- Could the recycled steel be used as a source of revenue. Rex- No, the contractors bid this numbers with these figures in mind. J. Mason- The 103 products, can you give us a rough idea of how many total? Robin- Unfortunately not, we don’t have a full tally yet. VI. Skanska - Budget Update Jim- GMP has been finalized for a total of $305,210,277. Monthly invoicing sent to the city in the amount of $4.5 million. Currently going through all change orders. B. Opara- The change orders are part of original budget correct? Jim- Yes, they’re factored into the contingencies of each budget line item. C. Baldwin- Can you please elaborate on the GMP and what it is / what it means? Jim- GMP is the guaranteed maximum price which has been finalized with Suffolk. This is the maximum price that can be charged to the project and any monies not used will be returned to the city. J. Mason- Asked about the $1.4 million in change orders, and if they’re on track? Jim- Applied against the contingency budget line item, yes on track. VII. Skanska - Next Steps Jim – Continuing on Phase 2. Steel will be going up around Christmas time. GMP is going to the MSBA. Everything is on schedule. T. Golden- Any action items needed for next meeting? Jim- No action items. Questions / Comments: R. Elliot- Asked about the $97 million that has been invoiced to date, was this bonded yet?  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 C. Baldwin- Did permanent borrowing in fall of $59.8 million. Also did $21.2 million dollar in bond issue (BAN) in September as well, this was done in advance of the rate hikes. E. Gitschier- I know there is an RFI on the street for the solar panels any update on that? T. Golden- We received some information back from two parties, DPD has been working on it. Will reach out to Skanska to make sure the roofs have the capacity to have solar panels on them. E. Gitschier- Can you outline the difference between the new building’s and older buildings in terms of the solar panels? Joe- The new Gym and Freshman academy have the capacity to have solar panels on them, the older buildings cannot support the weight of the panels. J. Mason- Has the Freshman Academy been looked at to host solar panels? Joe- Have not yet been asked to conduct research for this yet. E. Kennedy- Is there a call in number for issues that may arise due to the construction? Rex- No call in number yet. T. Golden- If there are any issues please feel free to call the city manager’s office. Motion to adjourn by Senator Kennedy, CFO Baldwin. Meeting adjourned at 6:49PM