Woodrow Wilson Building Committee

New Middle School Building Committee Minutes May 30, 2019 Present: Christopher Drake, John Giuliano, Kristy Byrd, John Phillips, Phil Pessina, Sheila Daniels, Richard Pelletier, Ted Raczka Absent: Mary Bartolotta, Stephen Zarger, and Gene Nocera Also Present: O & G Ken Biega and Dan Hertzler, TSKP Randall Luther, and Peter Staye, Facilities Director, BOE The Meeting is called to order at 6:02 p.m. Public Comment is opened at 6:02 p.m. There are no comments Public comment is closed at 6:03 p.m Vice Chair Drake states the version of the agenda is different from the one circulated so we need to formally amend the agenda specifically 4B, number 2. It originally read a new line item, but this amendment is just a transfer into the line item Mr. Pessina moves to amend the agenda with 4B, #2; Mr. Phillips seconds the motion. There is no discussion. The vote is called and it is unanimous to approve the change. The Acting Chair states the agenda is amended. Minutes Mr. Raczka moves for approval of the minutes of May 30; Mr. Pessina seconds. There is no discussion. The vote is called and it is unanimous. The minutes are declared approved. Approval of Bills The Acting Chair states there is a TSKP Bill in the amount of $193,333; he asks for motion. Mr. Raczka moves to approve payment of the bill; Mr. Phillips seconds the motion. Mr. Pessina asks if the bill was vetted. Staff states it is a monthly payment on the construction documents. Acting Chair Drake calls for the vote and it is unanimous to approve. Budget review; there are no questions. Staff explains it shows the payouts and the balance. Discussion and Approval of Builder’s Risk Insurance. Ken Biega states when you do this project you do this so if something were to happen during construction, you need an insurance policy. We took it from July 1 through August 30. 2021. This covers the construction. The critical part is all the way through the project and it was in the original project budget cost of $198,245 and we got pricing from your insurance carrier and have had the best success and it came in at $91,821 and we will make adjustments to the budget. Mr Raczka states the Risk Manager’s office saved you $100,000. Vice Chair Drake this insurance will be a rider to our current policy. Ken Biega responds it is held by the City during construction. Ms Daniel’s why is it builder’s risk. Ken Biega responds it’s always done that way. Sometimes we carry the risk but if the owner gets a better risk, we go with them. Vice Chair Drake states the motion is B2. Phil Pessina moves to approve a new Purchase Order for H. D. Segur for the amount of $91,821 and approving transferring $91,821 from the bond fund balance into line item 4471-33000-52110 Administration and to approve payment of invoice once the Purchase Order is in place. Rich Pelletier seconds the motion. There is no discussion; the vote is called and it is unanimous with eight aye votes by the following members: Christopher Drake, John Giuliano, Kristy Byrd, John Phillips, Phil Pessina, Sheila Daniels, Richard Pelletier, Ted Raczka TSKP Randall Luther updates the committee; they continue to meet to do presentations with faculty and staff. They had a sit down meeting with consultants and Peter Staye. Mr. Drake introduces Peter Staye as the Board of Education’s new Facilities Director. Mr. Staye gives a short bio stating he lives in Deep River and prior to this position, he worked in Manchester where we had a three building renovation project opening one building a year; he worked with TSKP as well as regular managing projects; worked at Wesleyan and then did director of utilities and energy conservation. He started on April 1. Mr. Luther continues his update regarding the meeting where they went over the building and hvac and NEAP systems. He states it was productive. There were some minor changes requested by Peter and they are similar to the systems done in Manchester. We completed the Phase I abatement demolition drawings and approved by the State. We issued 50%construction documents to O & G for an updated estimate for checking and we are still on budget. Last discussion was flooring. The base design is vct, standard to the district, John Giuliano stated it isn’t great for maintenance and the result is that because a lot of water is used for cleaning and if not done well, you can get water wicking into the drywall. It was suggested to look at different alternative flooring. Mr. Luther passes out a handout. The advantage for VCT is that it lasts forever; it is waxed and so long as you continue to wax, you never get to the VCT. He states there is a VCT with diamond technology which is a coating on the tile that is a hard wear layer and has a high sheen. It is an upgrade and if you use it in areas that take high traffic, then they recommend you use wax so I don’t see an advantage to that product. Another step up is LVT, a luxury vinyl tile. It has a film and it is sort of like plastic laminate. It doesn’t require waxing and maintenance is damp mopping or abrasives if really dirty. Our concern is that the warranty for normal wear and tear and because it is a thin film, a gouge will reveal the dark color and there is nothing you can do about it. He has doubts about the thin layer on it. Most of the damage to a school is when the furniture is moved in and the floors take a beating and I have reservations about this product. The next is a solid vinyl product. The nice thing is it is a tough material so if gouged it is the same color. Warranty is not robust. There is no maintenance other than damp mopping. You don’t have to wax but you can wax it. Maybe wax it once a year and may extend its life; we can discuss with the reps. It is fairly expensive but not uncommon so we can see if someone is using it. Mr. Drake asks New Middle School Building Committee May 30, 2019 1 if this would this lay down as one sheet, no seams. Mr. Luther responds except for VCT, we can get in sheet goods. We don’t recommend that; if it is a tile, we can pop up one tile and replace it. We recommend not using sheets. Linoleum is an intriguing choice; cork wood fiber, linseed oil and mineral pigments. You can get a 30 year warranty and the cleaning requirements are nominal, just mopping on a regular basis. Two drawbacks one is ambering - it will darken in the sun slightly. If you have a file cabinet on a piece and it is in the sun and move the cabinet, you can see the difference. Some manufacturers treat with a coating that would eventually wear off. It is not dramatic when it changes. The other issue is it is a little soft and if you have a heavy file cabinet with feet, it will indent the floor and they won’t come out. There will be locations where you have indentations for heavy loads. I had a conversation with Peter and depending on the committee’s thoughts, we are willing to hunt down some local places who use these products. We used linoleum in Greenwich and can ask their experience and we used solid vinyl in another school and see how it held up. Mrs. Daniels asks what about Guilford; Mr. Luther states VCT. Mr. Pessina asks Mr. Staye you built three schools; Mr. Staye said gut renovation and used VCT as the tried and true product. For the next school we were looking at other schools. They deferred to LVT. The local community college went with it and Peter was impressed with the product. He said the solid vinyl sheet is intriguing. We build schools to last 30 years, but I don’t know if will ugly out before we wear it out. It is not unwise to say we should replace floors on a different schedule. You might want to replace your floors every 15 years. He states the department in Manchester was behind LVT. Mr. Pessina asks if community college liked it and Mr. Staye responds yes, they were quite pleased. Mr. Drake states he was told it was better than ceramic or porcelain tile they used LVT and it is indestructible but as far as the application for the school, would you buy the stuff that adheres or the interlocking stuff. Mr. Luther states the tiles come in different sizes. It would adhere to the floor. Mrs. Byrd states they used it and I agree with you about those tiles. Mr. Luther if you have maintenance stock, you can pop the tile and replace it. Mr. Pelletier states if we buy x amount replacement would the colors be different. Mr. Luther states we would buy 2% in maintenance stocks exact dye lot. Mrs. Daniels asks a cost differential including the maintenance costs. Is anyone doing wood. Mr. Luther responds no. Rubber is another option, but very expensive; it is gripping and scuffs a lot so it always looks a little dirty. It is only a five year warranty. It is durable. The maintenance is kind of the same for all the other products except the VCT ones. Mr. Staye states if we did not have to strip and wax floors our summer would be half as long. Mr. Giuliano also states we would have less injuries. You have to clear everyone out of the room, apply the stuff and let it sit, strip the wax, rinse it and then decide if they have to do it again. You can only apply four coats a day and I like to let it cure before we put everything back in. Mr. Staye states you have to strip off the old wax and have to put on 6-8 coats of new wax for the same costs and the room is unusable. Mr. Luther states the school is a year round facility and if you are stripping and waxing, you have to empty each room and the building is unuseable. Mr. Pessina asks from the risk management, the employees are injured; Mr. Giuliano responds it isn’t us, it is everyone else who doesn’t pay attention to the signs. He asks if they looked into epoxy and is it very expensive. Dan Hertzler epoxy is not used in the classrooms; it is used in shops and home ec. Mr. Luther states one of the disadvantages is epoxy floors don’t give. Mr. Phillips states the base budget is VCT and it will have an impact on the budget and it is the start of creep. Is this budget friendly. Mr. Luther states we got the updated numbers from O&G and they reached out to some of New Middle School Building Committee May 30, 2019 2 their vendors and I was surprised at the $2.40 number for VCT. The reason why that is significant, the estimate is over $4 a square foot. Mr. Phillips our issue is project costs that we have to deal with on delivering the project to the public. Mr. Luther our initial thought is VCT for the base and think about alternates and when we talked this out and does VCT make sense. Maybe the base is LVT; we are getting an updated estimate and if the numbers are favorable and if we haven’t added a lot of stuff, this could be a design contingency item. We can table this and look to see what is ideal. O & G we can bid with the options. Mr. Phillips states we need more information on the budget before he can vote for changes. Mr. Hertzler states it will shake out when they are at the 90% estimate and have the ability to make that decision. It is important to get this feedback to see what value you put to the flooring. I do have a spreadsheet and epoxy floors at that time are between $10-$12 per sq ft. Mrs. Daniels could you expand the polished concrete. Mr. Luther states it is more expensive. Mrs. Daniels asks is the bulk of the floor concrete. Mr. Luther it is a different product and the big cost is the polishing. Mr. Staye states they used it in the caf in Manchester and it is easier to maintain and you use a different cleaning solution and I thought it was a showpiece. Mrs. Daniels states LVT vs solid vinyl what is the average life of the thin to solid. Mr. Luther it is warranted for 20 years for normal wear. Mr. Drake discusses the use of the product in their kitchen and normal wear and tear, it is done in a commercial grade and they understand the application there. Mr. Giuliano asks if the polished concrete is it standard or tinted or colored. Mr. Luther it will be tinted and it will be two or three colors. Mr. Hertzler responds that is $15-$17 per square foot. They limited the areas of pizzazz. Mr. Pessina asks should we put something else in these areas and take the money and put it into the flooring we desire. Mrs. Byrd is the concrete just in the front. Mr. Luther it is the main entrance and the caf. The caf takes a heck of a lot of abuse and it is there because it gets beat to heck. Mr. Hertzler states it is the best for the cafe area. Mr. Raczka you have to have something showy; you need to be competitive with other schools or you lose kids. Mr. Staye states middle school is where we began losing kids. Mr. Drake states I understand the role of the building committee and putting my BOE head on and my school is Farm Hill and it is the floor that gets the most complaints from teachers. It does make the school feel grungy. Mr. Giuliano states it is all VCT and used in the summer and it is hard to segregate areas in the school to get the floors done properly. Mr. Drake states something that can be cleaned with normal product it would make the buildings look nice over time. This is an educational conversation, but we don’t have to make the decision now. Mr. Hertzler we need to know your priorities; and the nuances of the discussion will be reflected back to his team. Mr. Giuliano states if we were to upgrade flooring, if we do it on the ground, the main floor, but the top floor doesn’t get as much abuse because most of the grit is off your shoes. Mr. Giuliano suggests using LVT on ground and main and use VCT on the third floor in the classrooms. He asks about the flooring for stairs; Mr. Luther they were thinking rubber. Mr. Staye adds go with a hammered finish and still has the grip and different to maintain. Mrs. Daniels asks on the concrete as terms of maintaining is it less or more. Mr. Luther states very little maintenance. If spilled and scuffed, you clean but there is no annual cleaning. Mrs. Daniels asks why not put it in as many areas as possible. Mr. Pessina replies it is the cost. Mrs. Daniels we should do what is in our best interests and less maintenance. It would be interesting to find the areas for it. Mr. Luther that is what we are doing. New Middle School Building Committee May 30, 2019 3 Mr. Drake states you mentioned the wicking; is it an issue in the corridors. Mr. Luther responds it is issue with waxing and drywalls. Our details show a ¼ inch gap between drywall and corridor that is supposed to be caulked and if it is done correctly, the drywall is above the water and wax. Mr. Luther states O & G will have preconstruction conference with the trades and from now on when we have VCT, we attend the drywall one and spot check it to ensure the drywall is not on the floor. Mr. Giuliano everyone has made good points on how we spend the money and we need to get a little further down the line before we pick. I don’t want to get away from the polished concrete and I do think it is worth exploring lower maintenance product. Mr. Hertzler states it came into existence because of the acoustical walls. It is done and how we keep acoustical separations. Concrete and Polished, there is a significant cost between one color and many and single color is where you want to go. Put multicolor where you want pizzazz. Mr. Pessina states we need to have the discussions and get the best we can in a financially responsible manner. Patick McKenna member of the public Mr. Drake asks him is one more environmentally friendlier than others. Mr. McKenna states look at materials and chemicals to maintain it but if you get rid of VCT you reduce off gassing on an annual basis as well as the use of chemicals. I would encourage you to think about more natural product for those reasons. Mr. Hertzler states looking at tile sizes is better than sheets. Mr. Luther states his goal is to get you out of VCT and stay within the budget. Mrs. Daniels asks you met with faculty and staff and can you give us some feedback. Mr. Luther states Mrs. Byrd can do it. Mrs. Byrd states for a department that holds half the people in the school every single day and gets foot traffic and it reminds me of the issues with MHS; we don’t have storage and to be honest we are not looked upon the same as other classes. Mr. Luther states there are three departments that they met with and are looking for more space. In the case of PE, this was an issue, when Dr. Charles wanted to get down to the square footage and we were significantly over and she paired everything down and there was negotiation with PE, but they agreed to play nice, but are not happy. They want more space. We made changes based on comments, but we didn’t do anything to make it bigger. Ms. Byrd states they have four people in one office for four desks and what happens to the other person; we don’t have health rooms and lockers and how will they fit into the locker room. It is utilized all day and night. Mr. Luther states the other two departments are music - they lost one of their band rooms and that was the new superintendent that made that change; the other one is science and science labs, they are at target square footage, but the director wants more space. Part is for storage so we are working at maximizing storage in the classrooms. The other is chemical storage and up to now they are not stored in the science rooms and we don’t have that separate room in every pod and they are not dedicated to science and science wants it dedicated. Part is administrative. One floor on each pod where there is not a room available for that purpose. All three are at the edge of their target square footage. Other than that, there has been a lot of stress from the Keigwin staff unrelated to the building design, but more to the building that will carry grades 6, 7, and 8 because many teachers don’t have the correct certification to do that. The administration is working on that. Mrs. Daniels in terms of what you shared in terms of other districts are there any conciliation comments you can give them. Mr. Luther states yes and no. That is some of what we are doing with them, but a lot of them will have impacts in the way they operate and PE is one of them. Currently they change for PE and with the girls there are privacy issues and with some boys so they use the old shower areas to change in New Middle School Building Committee May 30, 2019 4 and that works fine. We don’t have showers in the new facility or changing rooms; we have a locker room and there is no ability to provide that so they may not change for gym. That is an operational thing. It is a work around; most middle schools do not have changing areas, one did. It is unfortunate when your approach is driven by your facility. The facility will drive them to do something a certain way and that is too bad. It is a tradeoff. Mr. Pessina with the schools that didn’t have locker rooms am I to assume they go to PE, run around in their clothes and then go back to the classroom. Mr. Staye states he was aghast when they didn’t shower. It is remarkable to see what the PE classes do on that field; they do real PE but in Manchester they didn’t change. Mrs. Byrd states they are required to change. Mr. Pessina states the second half of his question when Dr Charles was here, there wasn’t a consideration based on what Kristy just said the most utilized area did not surface enough that the Superintendent didn’t understand that space was needed and you said administratively that has to change. Mr. Luther states that may be the solution; I wouldn’t clarify it that way. When we were up to the State on Phase I, they looked at Phase II and they were shocked by the size of the gym because it was far bigger than they typically allow and we need a letter by the superintendent why they need one so big. It is not fair to say it is small. You have a robust program because you are using a high school facility and taken advantage of it and they are forced to scale back. Mr. Staye states the gym space is the same and exactly what they want. It is the locker rooms, storage areas and offices which are smaller than they like. We can take it out of the gym. They say no. Mr. Hertzler states all the administration sizes are reduced. Noted for the Record Mr. Raczka leaves the meeting at 7:32 p.m. Mr. Drake states what is Keigwin. The building over there is now 180,000 and then add Kiegwin in and we are saying all that is all in 150,000 square feet. Mrs. Byrd with PE we have the whole school in there. She states it is like Wilson going to Keigwin. Mr. Drake there is a difference considering and rejecting and Dr. Charles went through shaving some from classrooms to give to science labs and these were issues when we did the original ed spec. Mrs. Daniels then you have the problem with MHS with smaller classroom and no space to expand the size of the classes. Mr. Drake when we went out to the voters, the State said 150,000 and we are a smidge over. Dr. Charles would have liked 162,000 sq ft but it would have knocked down reimbursement and increased construction costs. Mr. Giouliano states in creating space if you make the furniture and fixtures properly sized for the physical space, part of the problem is we shrunk the high school but we didn’t shrink the furniture. Mr. Luther states that is the biggest conversation we are having. Usually we have two walls of built in millwork and we are working on pilot at WWMS to see how it works and as we lay out the existing furniture it stopped how they could use the room. We are looking at putting things on casters so they can move things for the teaching moment. We went to Manchester to take pictures and had to move a bunch of stuff and it was easy because it was all on casters. We are looking at more mobility of stuff. MRs. Byrd states that would be helpful in PE. Noted for the Record John Phillips leaves the meeting at 7:41 p.m. New Middle School Building Committee May 30, 2019 5 O&G Dan Hertzler states they are out to bid on Phase I, with bids back June 10. They have had good meetings with staff about the buses and how it will work. We have had our first meeting to make it a smooth transition. Our Associate Superintendent was not thrilled with the temporary bus looping at the current WWMS. I asked to meet with her, Marco, and Cheryl Gonzales. Mr. Hertzler states we had a good meeting and everyone understands the operation changes need to be rolled out. The plan is in place and this is the best solution to get kids in and out safely from the school. He will follow-up before School ends and start that heavy renovation. Mr. Giuliano states they did it ten years ago; Mr. Staye asks with the same people. Mr. Giuliano states people forget because we did this. Mr. Hertzler states through the meeting the general impression is, it will get done and the team is taking it on that this is how it will happen. They met with WB Meyers to move everything out of the way. We will require a special meeting in mid June - 13th for approval of the bids for our packages. We need to move from that date with contracts. Mr. Drake asks how quickly after. Mr. Hertzler as fast as we can to get approvals and approvals at City Hall. Mr. Drake when are you demoing the auditorium. Mr. Hertzler had the 17th as start it will be the 19th. Mr. Staye states internally we have coordinated our moving schedules. Mr. Drake Phase I will start June 19th. Mr. Drake asks from City what will we want them to do. Mr. Biega states they will have to get a sign off on their end. Staff states to speed things along, the Committee should approve a new line item for the costs of Phase I. Mr. Hertzler states it will be about $2,500,000. Acting Chair Drake states he needs a motion to amend the agenda. Mr. Pelletier moves to amend the agenda to add in Construction, Phase I line item. Mr. Pessina seconds the vote. There is no discussion. The vote is called and it is unanimous to approve with six aye votes. Acting Chair Drake states the motion carries. Mr. Pessina moves to create a new line item in the budget entitled Phase I Construction in the amount of $2,500,000; his motion is seconded by Mr. Pelletier; there is no discussion. The vote is called and it is unanimous with six aye votes by the members present. Mr. Raczka and Mr. Phillips are absent. The Acting Chair states the matter passes. Mr. Hertzler states city hall has to concur to execute the contract. He will collect the bid packages, vet the prices and present 5 recommended lows. At that point, the committee will have to vote to allow O & G to enter into contracts and City hall will have to validate that. They will work with General Counsel. Peter Staye states he will reserve the space for the meeting on the 13th. Mr. Drake asks who can be at the meeting; if can’t get a quorum, we need at least six committee members. Looking at 6 p.m. Everyone present can be at the special meeting. Mr. Hertzler received the drawings for estimating. They hope it will be vetted in the next few weeks. Mr. Giuliano asks on the onsite areas for demo was there anything uncovered. Mr. Hertzler states no they walked through and nothing came from that and one item weighing on his mind is the air handler if it will be available in time. There is an opportunity to choose the vendor and it is whether it is available New Middle School Building Committee May 30, 2019 6 on the shelf. We have not made a change and if there is a problem, we issued a temporary unit, but there is a basis to find out if that item is available. It is not reimbursable. The state won’t pay for the renovation of the administration area. Motion to adjourn Mr. Pessina moves to adjourn and is seconded by Mrs. Daniels. The Chair adjourns the meeting at 8 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Marie O. Norwood New Middle School Building Committee May 30, 2019 7