Woodrow Wilson Building Committee

Woodrow Wilson Middle School Building Committee February 22, 2018 Minutes Present: Mary Bartolotta, Christopher Drake, Philip Pessina, Sheila Daniels, John Giuliano, John Phillips, Richard Pelletier, Vincent Loffredo, ​Michael Connor​. (C. Bonsignore, K. Byrd, T. Raczka, G. Nocera) Meeting Called to Order The Chair calls the meeting to order. A motion is made to approve the minutes of November 30, 2017; it is seconded. The Chair calls for the vote and it is unanimous to approve. Mr. Loffredo abstains from the vote. New Business The Chair states she sent a follow-up letter to the Mayor asking for a Professional Services Committee meeting. She has yet to hear back from the Mayor and is asking the committee for feedback regarding what to do next. Mr. Pelletier asks if he knows where we are supposed to go. The Chair replies he knows. She drafted a letter and he received it on December 5; she got a call just before Christmas and the Mayor would connect with her after the holidays. During that time, her mother-in-law passed on Christmas Eve and she thought he was giving her time. She spoke to the Director of Finance and asked how to be proactive about this. The chair also spoke with Superintendent and had a understanding that the Mayor had concerns about current funding . She asked for money from the City and from the Board of Education both and they both have approved funds. She had a conversation with the Mayor before the last Council meeting and he expressed concerns and she discussed the funding on the agenda and questions about the architect. She made it clear we needed a Professional Services Meeting. When she didn’t hear anything after the call, she sent the follow-up letter and had it hand delivered and time-stamped and she has not had communication since. Mr. Loffredo states the members of the Professional Services committee are Carl Erlacher, the Mayor and who else. The Chair responds the Superintendent of Schools and the Chair of this Building Committee. Either or both. They met with the Director of Finance and had a positive conversation and got a grip on the misinformation out there. We asked the Finance Director how he felt and he had no problem going to the committee. The Mayor is the one who has to do it. Mr. Drake state I am assuming something. Our goal is to have a new middle school operational in 2021. In order to get there, one of the major milestones is that we needed 24 month construction period and we wanted to break ground in 2019. The referendum passed in November and the earliest we would hear from the State is May, 2018 and we knew there would be this window between the referendum and the final approval and we knew we had to make some headway. It is almost March Page 1 and his concern is they will not meet the start of construction in 2019. Chair Bartolotta responds this is the time period that we wanted to use to get ahead and meet the timeline goals. This will have an impact on the City and the more time we lose, the more the project will suffer. The Mayor asked what the worries are and she rehashed them for the Mayor. What she will do is add it to the Council’s agenda to review. She asks if there are other questions. Mr. Loffredo asks you will put it on the next meeting agenda and you would give a report; Chair Bartolotta responds yes. Mr. Loffredo states that would allow members of this committee to come forward and that is an appropriate step. Chair Bartolotta states she cancelled meetings because we had nothing to discuss do to know approval from PSC. Richard (TSKP) offered to come tonight so we can try to stay ahead and she will try to remain positive and do what we can. She hopes that between this meeting and the Council’s, we will achieve something. We want a contract in place so we can have guidance in what we are doing. This is the time to negotiate a contract and we could take a survey with Minimum cost just in case we don’t get approved. This committee did a good job getting the application to the State. Mr. Loffredo asks you will put it on the next meeting agenda and you would give a report; Chair Bartolotta responds yes. Mr. Loffredo states that would allow members of this committee to come forward and that is an appropriate step. Chair Bartolotta states she cancelled meetings because we had nothing to discuss do to know approval from PSC. Richard (TSKP) offered to come tonight so we can try to stay ahead and she will try to remain positive and do what we can. She hopes that between this meeting and the Council’s, we will achieve something. We want a contract in place so we can have guidance in what we are doing. This is the time to negotiate a contract and we could take a survey with Minimum cost just in case we don’t get approved. This committee did a good job getting the application to the State. Ms Daniels states from past contracts, what is the protocol ​when problems such as this arise. She suggests a meeting with the Mayor, co-Chairs of the Committee, Facilities Manager and Superintendent of Schools prior to the next Common Council meeting in an effort to move the project forward and clear up the issues at hand. Chair Bartolotta replies the Superintendent did reach out to get the committee meeting ASAP. We are looking to get money in place. This is why I am bringing this forward for discussion. Mr. Loffredo asks if the Board of Education contribution has happened. Chair Bartolotta responds that she followed up on that and asked if we needed to have the money transferred to the City and the Director of Finance said no. He would speak to LInda (Board Business Manager) and they would have a separate line item and would put purchases through the Board of Education. The Chair states Sheila Daniels’ suggestion is a good one and she will follow-up and engage everyone in that conversation. Mr. Loffredo asks what the $50,000 will be used for. The Chair states to pay for Marie and for things like the survey and anything else that is proactive. It should be enough to carry us through the approval Page 2 process with the State of Connecticut. She states Richard and Randall are here to help us with the next steps. Richard S., TSKP, states they had communication with John Cross regarding the next steps. We talked about a survey which is appropriate at this time. You want to illustrate all the physical conditions at the school. And Milone and McBroom are working on the adjacent project and they could do the report. We could approach them for consistency in authorship. We did reach out to them and their fees will be less than $20,000. They did not say they would retain them. This was only done for information purposes only. The survey is critical and would be useful to the Board of Education to know the physical plant and it is usual to do this in a project like this because we will build a new school in front of the old one and it would be useful regarding such things as utilities. You can do the RFP for a surveyor or do one for us and we will get the surveyor. Mr. Drake states the next is for a contract with the architect. Richard states yes, that is one of the first steps. Another is for the Education Specs. I worked with Dr. Charles and she recruited from the school staff and Board of Ed members so a lot of the visioning was through her and now you have a new Superintendent. He asked Dr. Connor if he was aware of them and he was excited about refining them. We are talking about refining them; they have been created for the spects to support the education methodologies which is one of the things we talked about and it was creating spaces for a mentorship program. This is not creating rooms but tweaking areas so they are multifunctional. It might take outreach to the community. Randall states it might be getting the rest of the team on Board. I know you requested construction management and if that is the way you go, you can begin getting that together. Some discussion was about models to use. You have to make some of those decisions and you need to get that going as well. Chair Bartolotta states we all understand the big picture. We are looking forward to moving forward. Mr. Loffredo states one of the aspects is the City retaining the pool. The City has an interest as do we. We should look at how to separate that off. Richard, TSKP, respond we did include the separation of this facility in the budget for the project. Mr. Loffredo state the community has to pay for retaining that and does it need to be done now. Richard, TSKP, replies it can wait. Mr. Loffredo discusses if the School is going to be used for emergency sheltering. We are building a new facility; when they built the High School, they were told that after the fact that it was going to be used for sheltering. I am raising the question because it should be set up in a way to service the needs of the community . Richard, TSKP, responds it is not a big deal to plan the facility but the earlier it is considered, the better so you can keep public areas separate from educational areas. Other things could affect the cost like a generator. It would be a size issue. Using the term emergency shelter, it has to be a higher level than building than the typical school. You can call it a warming shelter. Mr. Giuliano asks why they couldn’t set up the area of the pool and small gym as the shelter instead of the school. Chair Bartolotta States it is the generator and the upgrading of that facility to house people that is her concern. We would have to explore that cost and that would be up to the City to do. We are only working on the new middle school. We will need to meet with Emergency Management people. It would be South Fire and Middletown Fire people. Mr. Cross states we have talked about this with the City. Mr. Pessina states we have discussed the pool and gym falling under Recreation services. Your idea piques interest. There was discussion of a generator at the Senior Center but it only can hold about Page 3 100 individuals. The Chair states we can’t impact the tax rate and we have to ensure the project remains a positive. We have to compare the proposals and see how it works. Mr. Drake states the priority list is how it benefits us. He discusses that there are less school projects and firms might be hurting for this type of work. It might benefit them. Richard, TSKP, responds yes. He discusses an Owner’s Rep and/or Construction Manager and doing an RFP Which takes some time and then it goes out, then interviews. All that could be happening while waiting for the State’s decision. Richard, TSKP, replies you can advertise that now. Chair Bartolotta states we have lost two months and we need to decide what we want to do. Do we want both. The Finance Department said they handled the high school project and we should invite the Director to our meeting to discuss. We can plan that for the next meeting. If we vote to have a manager and then that is the route we will follow. WE can tell Donna (Purchasing) this is what we want to do. Mr. Pessina states we have to be aggressive to keep the project moving; the longer the project is out there the more inflation there is. Chair Bartolotta states we can do more than one meeting a month. This has been a great conversation and the suggestions helpful. She asks if there are any other questions. The Superintendent asks about committee discussions regarding the School. Chair Bartolotta states once you have your focus, then you can go out to the community and asks that he communicate with Richard from TSKP. Richard responds you have to look at the Educational specs; you have to craft it to the original key intent and look at multiple use of areas. The Chair states the New Board has to be proactive on this. Richard, TSKP comments ultimately the Board will need to approve. Mr. Loffredo states on the timing; the last project the architectural design was done before it went out to bid. We would potentially be making decision earlier on. Richard, TSKP, states he doesn’t know if you used a general contractor or a construction manager. Mr. Loffredo states they had a construction manager and the design was done and everyone knew what was to be built. Richard, TSKP, responds a construction manager will be written with a two part contract: 1. Preconstruction services, They advise you and us on current costs and at the end of this part, you would have the full cost of the project. 2. You can opt to continue with the manager and go out to bid. That is when you get final prices. It is a two part contract. That is very valuable. Mr. Loffredo what is their qualifications. Richard, TSKP, replies they are professional buildings, usually an MS in construction. They are general managers who evolved into construction managers and you make your selection based on their qualifications. The general Contractor is based strictly on price. A Construction Manager will negotiate and recommend on your behalf. Mr. Pessina states the key topic is that and we need Carl. Chair Bartolotta states we need a discussion on both options. Richard, TSKP, you need to make sure it is a phased plan. Mr. Loffredo asks who does the hiring. Chair Bartolotta responds they will work with the City and will will do everything accordingly. They will learn the role of the City and the role of the Committee; they are not trying to do anything without working with the City and getting City approval. This is my first building committee and will do my best. Chris Drake has been my partner in this and we will continue working with everyone. We are not saying we Page 4 are going out to hire anyone; we just need to know the process. She states further if we need another meeting, she will send out dates. The Chair asks for a motion to adjourn. Mr. Pessina asks if the Chair will let the committee know if you get a meeting together. The Chair responds yes. Mr. Pessina moves to adjourn and is seconded by Mr. Loffredo. The Chair adjourns the meeting at 6: 52 p.m. Respectfully Submitted Marie Norwood Page 5