School Building Committee (2020)

School Building Committee (2020) Regular Meeting City Hall, R00m 335 100 Broadway, Norwich, CT And via ZOOM Tuesday, April 16, 2024 6:30 PM Committee Members Present: Chairman Mark Bettencourt, President Pro Tem Joe DeLucia, Alderwoman Stacy Gould, Peter Gauthier, William Hull, Shiela Hayes, Gregory Ballassi and Cindy Beauregard. Committee Members Absent: Mark Kulos, Gregory Carabine and Christine DiStasio. Ex-Officio Members Present: Mayor Peter Nystrom (ZOOM) and Attorney Michael Driscoll. Consultants Present: James Barrett and Greg Smolley from DRA; Chip Natsis and Tom Romagnoli (ZOOM) from Downes Construction; and Mike Faenza from CSG. Citizens Present: Robert Harris, Norwich Public Utilities. I. Call to Order and Quorum: Chairman Mark Bettencourt called the meeting to order at 6:31 PM. II. Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes: Alderwoman Stacy Gould made a motion to approve the March 19, 2024 regular meeting minutes and the March 28, 2024 special meeting minutes as amended. Shiela Hayes seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. III. Public Comment: None. IV. Report from CSG: Mike Faenza provided an expanded packet to members which included updates for the Moriarty and Uncas school projects that he is working on the grant applications for. Mike Faenza reported that in regards to Greeneville, the project team was continuing with its working group meetings with that week’s focus on technology and the previous week's security. Mike Faenza stated that the RFP for the commissioning agent was advertised and questions were responded to. Mike Faenza stated that the solicitation response due date was April 17, 2024 and there was only one response received from Integrated Engineering Services. Mike Faenza stated that once that was released by the city purchasing agent he would release that to the committee members. Cindy Beauregard joined the meeting by ZOOM at 6:34PM. Mike Faenza reported that the scheduled delivery date for design development drawings for the Greeneville project was June 6, 2024, and that this timeline would not have an impact on the project completion date. Mike Faenze reported that all wetlands documentation for the FEMA map amendment was submitted for review. Mike Faenza stated that discussions with NPU regarding determining the utility connection fee and routing for the Greeneville project were ongoing. Mike Faenza reported that he was working with district administration to determine if any square footage efficiencies could be reached without impacting educational programming. Mike Faenza stated he had attempted to reach out to the district administration to get them engaged, as the window to make any possible adjustments was closing rapidly. Mike Faenza reported that he was continuing to work on combining the parcels on the  Greeneville site into one parcel for the project. Mike Faenza stated that he would continue to work with NPU regarding utility connection fees and would begin the review and selection of the commissioning agent. Mike Faenza stated he would follow up with city purchasing agent Bob Castronova. Mike Faenza added that within the update packet there were additional service requests for wetland mitigation construction services and geotechnical services for the Greeneville site. Mike Faenza stated that the updated project budget through the previous meeting was included as well, which totaled $825,902.28 spent on the Greeneville project so far. Mike Faenza stated that the Stanton project had similar updates; all FEMA map amendment information was submitted for review and discussion with NPU to determine utility connection fees were ongoing. Mike Faenza stated that his meeting scheduled with NPU for that upcoming Friday should help to clear things up. Mike Faenza stated that the updated expended project budget for the Stanton school was $860,643.23 as of the last meeting. Mike Faenza reiterated that an updated report for the Uncas project was included in the packet. Mike Faenza stated the end date was still to be determined and that resolutions for the grant application were submitted to Chairman Mark Bettencourt for approval at the next city council meeting. Chairman Bettencourt stated that the resolution for Uncas passed the previous evening. Mike Faenza stated the SCG-053 site analysis for a school building project form was in progress of being completed for Moriarty and Uncas. Mike Faenza reported that CSG will be scheduling meetings with the district administration to draft educational specifications for both the Stanton and Moriarty projects, similar to what was done for Stanton and Greeneville. Mike Faenza stated that CSG was also working with its estimator to determine the value of the grant estimates, which were due on June 31, 2024. Mike Faenza stated that all timeline dates coincide with CSG have all information needed within five days of that deadline. Mike Faenza clarified that a resolution was not needed for the Moriarty project as it was included in the first round of grant application resolutions with the Stanton and Greeneville projects. Alderwoman Stacy Gould made a motion to go out of order of the agenda in order to vote on the previous meeting minutes, which had been missed. Shiela Hayes seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. V. Report from DRA: James Barrett noted that the first of the three included professional service supplement requests, for additional geotechnical and subsurface conditions exploration for the Greeneville Elementary School project, was the most significant in cost. James Barrett stated that when DRA conducted initial geotechnical exploration at the Greeneville site they found evidence of substantial amount of the potential for ledge, given the configuration of the building. James Barrett stated it was the recommendation of SLR, their site civil landscape consultant, that additional geotechnical exploration is done to better understand the subsurface conditions. Chairman Mark Bettencourt asked if this was in regards to determining if a wall would be required for the site and what height, etcetera? James Barrett responded that was correct and that throughout the site there were a number of circumstances that would involve this type of information. James Barrett stated what was included in the schematic design estimate is an educated guess based on their consultant engineer observation at the site and input from both cost estimators. James Barrett stated that the exploration would seek to enhance the information already retrieved so that DRA can better know where they can utilize what is on site and where wall condition will be needed. James Barrett noted that typically this type of work is done with borings, but given the nature of the site and the topography the recommendation by SLR is to do some boring and use seismic refraction technology along the subsurface. James Barrett stated that SLR would set seismic readers at an interval along the anticipated abut line. James Barrett continued they would then set a charge at one end to get a seismic reading that will help them understand the profile of the ledge subsurface. Chairman Mark Bettencourt asked if they will be able to get the information needed with the seismic readings versus the borings. James Barrett stated that he had posed that question at multiple meetings and received the recommendation of doing both; the borings specifically at the footprint of the building where the most critical area is under the foundations and overall seismic testing of the site. James Barrett stated that this method allows for more points of information which would make pricing things out more accurately and help prevent numbers from elevating down the road. Chip Natsis noted that there were some areas on the site with 30-foot cuts and between two existing borings they are seeing ledge and solid rock. Chip Natsis stated that when going through the reconciliation process with the engineers they attempted to draw out where they believe there would be ledge and where there is not, so the SD estimate contained a percentage of those areas. Discussion ensued. Shiela Hayes to approve DRA Professional Service Supplement G-002 for $172,247 for Additional Geotechnical and Subsurface Conditions Exploration for the Greeneville Elementary School Project. William Hull seconded. Alderwoman Stacy Gould brought forth the question of whether the Greeneville site should be abandoned for the pursuit of a different property that will not incur as many development costs. Alderwoman Gould noted the committee did not know what findings the seismic testing would show. Chairman Mark Bettencourt.. James Barrett stated that a certain amount of what is underground was known and priced into the project, as an educated assumption by the contractors, engineers and estimators. Chip Natsis stated that Downes was able to save about 2 million dollars within the SD estimate when they were able to reduce the amount of concrete walls, and they would like to know further if different types of walls of that nature could be utilized. Peter Gauthier asked what the lead time for results would be. James Barret responded 12 weeks. President Pro Tem DeLucai noted that any large change such as moving the school location would require going back to referendum for the full amount of the project. Discussion ensued. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. James Barrett noted that the next professional service supplement for approval was for the development of wetland mitigation plans for the Greeneville site. James Barrett wished to note that the work done by SLR covered a large blush of disciplines such as site, civil and traffic. Alderwoman Stacy Gould made a motion to approve DRA Professional Service Supplement G-003 for $8,625 for Development of Wetland Mitigation Plans for the Greeneville Elementary School Project.Shiela Hayes seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. William Hull made a motion to approve DRA Professional Service Supplement S-00R for $8,625 for Development of Wetland Mitigation Plans for the Stanton Elementary School Project. Shiela Hayes seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. James Barrett discussed updates to the Cost Management Log following authorization by the committee at the previous meeting. James Barrett noted what items were being worked on and what was rejected by the committee. James Barrett showed sample cost management efforts on screen for all to view, such as the differences in how the windows were initially presented in the SD package. James Barrett stated they have reduced glazing by 20 percent by keeping fixed windows throughout the building and standardizing the window systems. James Barrett stated for the Greeneville school they have relocated the stage platform from the cafeteria to the gym; which was not an item in the Cost Management Log but came about after discussions with school administration in the working group meeting. James Barrett stated this would be a demountable platform with an access ramp that allowed for full use of the gym. James Barrett added that they are replacing the proposed Terra Slat terra-cotta system with an all brick face,  as both cost estimators indicated a brick system would be a less costly approach for the facade of the buildings. James Barrett showed examples of the utilization on screen for all to view. James Barretted noted that at the Stanton site the proposed parent drop off described in the SD package was reshaped to bring the drop point 85 feet closer in towards the canopy of the main entrance. VI. Report from Downes: Chip Natsis reported that Downes has completed the SD estimate reconciliation and submitted all of the value management ideas, which DRA was now putting forth and implementing in their drawings going forward. Chip Natsis stated that Downes would remain in touch with them and provide any ideas to assist them during the process. VII. Invoices: ● CSG - Greeneville #13- $10,680.02 Stanton #13- $10,555.46 Shiela Hayes made a motion to approve CSG Invoice #13 for $10,680.02 for Professional Services Rendered for March 1, 2024 - March 31, 2024 in regards to the Greeneville Elementary School project. Alderwoman Stacy Gould seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. Alderwoman Stacy Gould made a motion to approve CSG Invoice #13 for $10,555.46 for Professional Services Rendered for March 1, 2024 - March 31, 2024 in regards to the Stanton Elementary School project. Shiela Hayes seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. ● DRA - Greeneville #6 - $112,545.20 Stanton #6 - $123,568.00 Alderwoman Stacy Gould made a motion to approve DRA Invoice #6 for $138,345.20 for Professional Services Rendered for March 1, 2024 - March 31, 2024 in regards to the Greeneville Elementary School project. Shiela Hayes seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. Alderwoman Stacy Gould made a motion to approve DRA Invoice #6 for $168.498.00 for Professional Services Rendered for March 1, 2024 - March 31, 2024 in regards to the Stanton Elementary School project. Shiela Hayes seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. ● Downes Construction - Greeneville #2 - $7,115.05 Stanton #2 - $7,115.05 Shiela Hayes made a motion to approve Downes Construction Invoice #2 for $7,115.05 for Professional Services Rendered for March 1, 2024 - March 31, 2024 in regards to the Greeneville Elementary School project. William Hull seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. Alderwoman Stacy Gould made a motion to approve Downes Construction Invoice #2 for $7,115.05for Professional Services Rendered for March 1, 2024 - March 31, 2024 in regards to the Stanton Elementary School project. Shiela Hayes seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. VIII. Anything else to be brought before the committee: None. IX. Adjournment: Alderwoman Stacy Gould made a motion to adjourn at 7:31 PM. Shiela Hayes seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. Respectfully Submitted, Katherine Rose