School Building Committee (2020)

School Building Committee (2020) Regular Meeting City Hall Room 335 100 Broadway, Norwich Tuesday November 15, 2022 6:30 PM Committee Members Present: Chairman Mark Bettencourt, Alderwoman Stacy Gould, President Pro Tem Joe DeLucia, Gregory Carabine, Peter Gauthier, William Hull and Gregory Ballassi. Committee Members Absent: Christine DiStasio, Cindy Beauregard and Mark Kulos. Ex-Officio Members Present: Mayor Peter Nystrom and Bob Castronova. Citizens Present: None. I. Call to Order and Quorum: Alderman Mark Bettencourt called the meeting to order at 6:35 PM. II. Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes: William Hull made a motion to approve the September 20, 2022 regular meeting minutes. Alderwoman Stacy Gould seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. III. Public Comment: Mayor Peter Nystrom thanked members and all those who have worked on the process of the school building project. IV. Discussion regarding referendum results: Chairman Mark Bettencourt stated he felt the fact that it would cost the city more to do nothing with the buildings was a big push for voters. Chairman Bettencourt discussed the time frame of the project and scheduling over the past few months. Chairman Bettencourt noted there was significant opposition, however the referendum vote passed by a decent margin. Chairman Bettencourt discussed involvement from students, families and members of the committee, and thanked all who worked to support the passage of the vote. V. Breakdown of initial phase. One designer or more: Chairman Mark Bettencourt discussed options for alternate designers and obtaining an owner's representative for the project. Chairman Bettencourt stated he spoke to Robert Castronova regarding potential next steps.  After discussing next steps, Chairman Mark Bettencourt came back to item five of the agenda to discuss what would be the initial scope of the first RFP-Q. Chairman Bettencourt questioned if the draft RFP-Q should be for a single school and address the other schools as things progress. Alderwoman Stacy Gould suggested the committee submit a copy of the overall project timeline with the RFP-Q. President Pro Tem DeLucia stated in his experience after the RFP-Q is distributed the committee rank submissions and then decided who to interview, during which time applicants submit a sealed envelope containing their proposal for the entire project, which would not be opened until after a representative is chosen by the committee based on their skill set. Discussion ensued regarding creating additional RFP-Q’s for the additional schools after the first step of the project. President Pro Tem DeLucia questioned if the committee’s first step should be to retain an outside architect-based counsel to assist in determining how to break up the project properly. Discussion ensued regarding hiring an owner’s representative for all schools versus addressing the issue as the project progresses. Gregory Carabine suggested hiring a design-build firm. Bob Castronova stated he would contact the state office who would be providing the reimbursement for advice on how to proceed. Bob Castronova also noted that the South Windsor RFP-Q that was discussed was for a single elementary school. VI. Next steps: Start RFP/Q process for design: Bob Castronova, City Purchasing Agent, stated that Norwich is in line for considerable reimbursement from the state, but to ensure those funds are received there would be strict guidelines to follow. Bob Castronova discussed consulting a firm that is experienced with the process. Bob Castronova stated that he and the city comptroller Josh Pothier were reviewing a school building project done in South Windsor a few years prior and noted that the district had acquired an owner’s representative. Bob Castronova explained an owner’s representative would be well versed in what needs to be done during the project right up until the final audit for compliance by the state. Bob Castronova stated it would be good to hire someone with expertise, experience and personnel available to work on the project. Bob Castronova stated that things such as hiring an architect would be further down the line as there were items that would need to be submitted to the state prior to that point. Bob Castronova stated it was his opinion that the committee send out an RFQ/P for an owner’s representative that would serve as an expert and provide guidance through the entire years process of the project. Bob Castronova stated he had a copy of the South Windsor RFP-Q that could be used as a template. Bob Castronova discussed the hiring process for an owner’s representative, which would be similar to the process that was used to acquire DRA for the first step of the project. Gregory Carabine asked if an owner’s representative would serve for the entire project or a single school. Bob  Castronova responded that the committee could have the option to keep the representative on board after tackling the first school if they were satisfied with the work done. Chairman Mark Bettencourt noted that he believed the project timeline showed multiple schools being addressed at the same time. Bob Castronova stated the owner’s representative did not have to be on board for all of the schools as each would have its own audit process. Bob Castronova clarified that any hiring of representatives would be decided by the committee but the process would be assisted by the representative. Bob Castronova stated there was not available personnel within the city departments to oversee a project of this magnitude. Discussion ensued regarding the oversight of any owner's representative that would be hired. VII. Anything else to be brought before the committee: Chairman Mark Bettencourt stated that a December meeting may not be required depending on the timeline for the draft owner’s representative RFP-Q. Bob Castronova stated he would like to reach out to some contacts for feedback before providing an estimated date for the draft RFP-Q. Bob Castronova stated he would follow up with the committee after doing that in regards to the next meeting. Bob Castronov asked if the schools would be designed the same. President Pro Tem DeLucia responded that a combination of schools would be the same design and that some would have individual designs based on the nature of the project. VIII. Adjournment: William Hull made a motion to adjourn at 7:19 PM. Alderwoman Stacey Gould seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. Respectfully Submitted, Katherine Rose