School Building Committee (2020)

School Building Committee (2020) Regular Meeting City Hall, R00m 319 100 Broadway, Norwich, CT And via ZOOM Tuesday, November 19, 2024 6:30 PM Committee Members Present: Chairman Mark Bettencourt, President Pro Tem Joe DeLucia, Alderwoman Stacy Gould, Sheila Hayes, Mark Kulos, Peter Gauthier, William Hull, Gregory Ballassi and Christine DiStasio. Committee Members Absent: Gregory Carabine and Cindy Beauregard. Ex-Officio Members Present: Bob Castronova (ZOOM), Acting Superintendent Susan Lesard (ZOOM), Mayor Peter Nystrom (ZOOM), and Bob Harris (ZOOM). Consultants Present: James Barrett and Greg Smolley from DRA; Jeff Anderson and Chip Natsis from Downes Construction; Jim Guliano and Mike Faenza from CSG. Citizens Present: None. I.Call to Order and Quorum: Chairman Mark Bettencourt called the meeting to order at 6:33 PM. II.Approval of Minutes: Alderwoman Stacy Gould made a motion to approve the August 20, 2024 regular meeting minutes as amended. Mark Kulos seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. III.Public Comment: Rob Harris stated that Norwich Public Utilities had done a lot of work to relocate the gas line for the Greeneville Elementary School, but they would not do the final tie over until April, which should be more than enough time to meet the site work target date. Rob Harris stated they would like to do the final tie over after the cold season ends so they can minimize the amount of time people would be unable to use gas for heat. IV.Report from CSG: Mike Faenza reported that the fourth state payment request for the Stanton Elementary School project was submitted and approved. Mike Faenza stated that at the November 12, 2024 Board of Education meeting the final plans, specifications and cost estimates for the Stanton project were approved. Mike Faenza reported that the DEEP Stormwater Management permits were submitted and the reconciliation of the construction document estimate was completed. Mike Faenza stated that the plan completion review item assembly was ongoing and local reviews had commenced. Mike Faenza stated that the review by Uncas Health Department for Stanton was complete as well as the Independent Code review and the Structural Peer reviews. Mike Faenza reported that the plan completion review meeting for the Stanton project was scheduled with the Office of Grants Administration for November 26, 2024. Mike Faenza stated that the next state payment request would be submitted following the payment of request number four. Mike Faenza added that the logistics of opening the new Stanton Elementary building had not yet been determined and as the project progressed the distribution of students and logistics of the moves to the new building would need to be analyzed to understand who would be moving to the new building from where. Mike Faenza reported to date $2,246,283.37 had been expended on the Stanton Elementary School project. Mike Faenza noted there was a budget change that month for the final contracting amount for the commissioning agent, which represented an approximately $26,000 savings from the original amount, so that was added back into the owner contingency for the project. Mike Faenza listed the same updates for the Greeneville Elementary School project. Mike Faenza reported that the plan completion review meeting for the Stanton project was scheduled with the Office of Grants Administration for December 2, 2024. Mike Faenza reiterated that the logistics of the building had not yet been determined and the need to analyze the distribution of students and those moves. Mike Faenza stated he was waiting on a proposal from MP Planning Group for assisting the committee or the district with the redistribution. Mike Faenza reported $2,231,008.69 had been expended so far for the Greeneville Elementary School project. Mike Faenza noted there was a similar budget change for the commission agent that showed a $27,330 savings from the original budget amount, which was moved into the owner contingency. Sheila Hayes asked what the plan completion review meetings would entail and if everything had been submitted for the Stanton and Elementary projects to ensure the review is complete so that construction can commence. Mike Faenza stated that the assembly of all the documents had commenced, many of which come from the construction manager and the architect. Mike Faenza continued that it typically takes up until a few days before the PCR meeting to have everything completed. Mike Faenza stated the Board of Education approved the final plan specifications and cost estimates, which he would be looking for approval on from the School Building Committee during this meeting. Mike Faenza continued that local reviews had commenced with Uncas Health District, the fire marshal’s office and the building department. Discussion ensued. Mike Faenza stated his team was doing everything needed to ensure things remained on schedule, and that he would keep the committee notified on any changes or delays. Mark Kulos made a motion to amend the agenda to include the votes to authorize the committee chairman to sign the approvals for the Stanton and Greeneville Elementary School Projects. Chairman Bettencourt seconded. All voted in favor. The motion passed unanimously. Sheila Hayes made a motion to authorize the chairman of the Norwich School Building Committee to certify the Norwich Building Committee’s approval of final plans, project manual and cost estimate for State Proj: 104-0118N John B. Stanton Elementary School - Phase 1 of 2. William Hull seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. Sheila Hayes made a motion to authorize the chairman of the Norwich School Building Committee to certify the Norwich Building Committee’s approval of final plans, project manual and cost estimate for State Proj: 104-0119N Greeneville Elementary School - Phase 1 of 2. Alderwoman Stacy Gould seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. Chairman Bettencourt stated that the recent significant developments had been in regards to dealing with DAS on the Moriarty and Uncas Elementary Projects, and that a meeting occurred earlier that day. ● Grant re-submittal for Moriarty and Uncas Mike Faenza stated the design team and construction Solution group have worked with district administration to complete the revised education specifications and space allocation matrix for the new Moriarty Elementary School building. Mike Faenza noted the demographic peer review that was conducted showed that a new full demographic report was needed, which yielded that the Moriarty and Uncas Elementary schools could be built slightly smaller than originally thought. Mike Faenza stated the educational specifications were then revised as required to conform to the new amount of students that are projected. Mike Faenza stated that the demographic report took into account enrollment data for eight years into the future. Mike Faenza reported that a meeting with OGA occurred that day to confirm information regarding the grant application for  the Moriarty project. Mike Faenza stated it sounded as they DAS felt the group was not ready for the projects to come about. Mike Faenza continued that he believed someone spoke to DAS about the fact they were not ready and said he has provided DAS with additional revised information as needed via email over the past few weeks. Mike Faenza stated he provided everything to DAS that was on their list and then they called to have the meeting earlier that day, on November 19th. Mike Faenza stated DAS is looking for a revised funding authorization letter explaining the local share of the funding for both projects. Mike Faenza continued they are also looking for the updated demographic enrollment report to be on a school-by-school basis, and that he reached out to the demographer for that information. Mike Faenza stated they were also looking for an additional cost estimate, which was an Excel version of the more complicated form that is uploaded to the public school constructive cost database. Mike Faenza stated he believed the way the projects were approved through referendum is outside of the normal process and DAS typically liked to have projects approved on a project-by- project basis for the funding authorization amount for each project is known. Mike Faenza stated all of the information should be provided to them before Friday of that week. Sheila Hayes asked for clarification of the purpose of the revised information being submitted. Mike Faenza explained it was being done to get the priority grant applications accepted for the Moriarty and Uncas Elementary projects, which would not occur until after the legislative session. Discussion ensued. Acting Superintendent Susan Lessard stated that following the meeting that afternoon DAS did follow up on the three things they requested, so she believed everyone was on the same page. Mike Faenza stated the updates for the Uncas Elementary project were the same as those for Moriarty. Mike Faenza stated the group meetings for the Uncas project had commenced and were ongoing with district administration. Mike Faenza stated that a request for a proposal for Construction Management Services for both Uncas and Moriarty would be required and they were currently projecting to advertise for that sometime in early December. Mike Faenza stated there would be several changes to that version of the package with a large emphasis on scheduling, as well as ensuring there is a baseline schedule and logistics plans at every estimated interval. V.Report from DRA: James Barrett reported that on November 12th the construction drawings and specifications for Greeneville and Stanton were presented to the Board of Education. James Barrett showed on screen examples of the documents presented. James Barrett reported that DRA was working through the list of PCR items needed for the Office of Grant Administration, and showed an example of that on screen for all to view. Greg Smolley stated that the checklist used by the state contained 80 items with some sub-items which Downes, DRA and CSG had divided amongst themselves to complete. Greg Smolley stated the items are then assembled and posted as one lump-sum to the state. Greg Smolley stated when they met with OGA they would go through each item line-by-line. Greg Smolley stated that in the past there were two preliminary meetings before the final meeting, but those had been removed, so all teams were working off of the final review form and developing anything that doesn’t show on there but does on earlier forms to hold onto in case it is needed in the future. Greg Smolley further explained things the state was looking for and the approach being taken. James Barrett stated that DRA went through the reconciliation meetings for the Greeneville and Stanton projects and preparing through the OGA meeting. James Barrett stated their documentation was complete. James Barrett brought forth a Professional Services Supplement (PSS) proposal numbered G-005 related to the geotechnical work that was acted on. James Barrett stated that SLR has produced documentation relative to boring blogs character of rock and how a bidder can consider utilization of the site. James Barrett stated that PSS G-005 is for pre-construction activities from now until the point someone is out on the site, where they feel with additional focus and documentation SLR can assist the process with limiting the amount of questions a potential bidder would have. James Barrett added this would hopefully increase the amount of bidders interested in the work. James Barrett showed the cover of PSS G-005 on screen for all  to view that was specifically for proposed additional preconstruction geotechnical review and documentation for the Greeneville Elementary School project. James Barrett stated he followed up with SLR after receiving the proposal to question why additional work was required after the study that was already done. James Barrett stated the cost estimators Downes and Carbella Construction both indicated the study was helpful and made it possible for them to lower numbers relative to site cost on the Greeneville project. James Barrett stated both of those estimators had the advantage of being able to work with the CSG design to review the materials and have meetings when necessary to answer questions. James Barrett stated that in their proposal SLR is hoping to continue to develop and simplify a recommended approach for bidders. Chairman Bettencourt stated it was a goal to increase bid competition for the projects so he thought it was in the committee’s best interest to consider the proposal. Sheila Hayes asked that when SLR is developing a recommended approach would they be considering cost savings. James Barrett responded that they would. James Barrett stated that SLR indicated they would conduct value estimating and value engineering to identify what they feel is the most efficient solution for the site. James Barrett noted this would be a recommendation so it would not tie the hands of the bidder. Sheila Hayes asked if the construction bidders would find the information valuable. Chip Natsis stated he felt it would be very beneficial as Downes had many meetings with SLR to understand the walls and situation at the Greeneville site. Discussion ensued. Greg Smolley noted the PSS was for an hourly not- to-exceed amount and based on the cost savings found after reconciliation of the budget, he was confident the return cost would exceed the expense cost of the PSS. President Pro Tem DeLucia asked what he projected the return on investment to be. Greg Smolley stated the return on the $175,000 that was invested in the seismic study resulted in an aprooximatel $1.3 million return in the understanding of the walls for Greeneville, so for spending $50,000 they could perhaps see a $500,000 return in understanding. Greg Smolley added there was the additional benefit in attracting bidders. James Barrett reiterated that the proposed PSS was for a not-to-exceed amount and if SLR did not need to expend the full amount of documentation they would stop at that point. James Barrrett stated there was not enough time to make the PSS part of the documentation that would be submitted to OGA on December 2, 2024 but DRA felt they could develop it as an addendum and release it to the bidders. Discussion ensued. President Pro Tem DeLucia clarified that the extra work was only required for the Greeneville site. James Barrett stated that was correct. Sheila Hayes made a motion to amend the agenda to include the vote on PSS G-005 from DRA. Alderwoman Stacy Gould seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. Sheila Hayes made a motion to approve DRA PSS G-005 as written with a not-to-exceed amount of $49,450 for the Greeneville Elementary School project. Alderwoman Stacy Gould seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. James Barrett stated that DRA had met with the working group, Acting Superintendent Susan Lessard, the two school principals and other team members as needed for the Moriarty and Uncas Elementary School Projects. James Barrett stated they were beginning to work on site diagrams and showed examples on screen for all to view. James Barrett explained the two- story and three-story buildable zone options for the Moriarty site. James Barrett showed a preliminary site analysis of the Uncas Elementary School and buildable zone options on screen for all to view. James Barrett discussed the potential circumstances for building a new school over the existing at Uncas versus in a different location to allow for the existing school to remain operable. Discussion ensued. James Barrett showed on screen for all to view the principles of design for the building programming that district administration would like DRA to adhere to for Uncas and Moriarty Elementary. Discussion ensued. VI. Report from Downes: Chip Natsis reported that after going through the reconciliation documentation with CSG the number for the Greeneville Elementary project came back $21,926 under budget and $542,231 under budget for the Stanton Elementary project. Chip  Natsis stated that the drawings allowed them to have a better understanding of the overall project scopes. Discussion ensued. Chip Natsis stated that Downes was working on putting together a preliminary set aside plan together for CHRO. Chip Natsis showed the proposed logistics plan for the Stanton and Greeneville Elementary projects on screen for all to view. Chip Natsis and Mike Faenza stated these were preliminary plans that were still being worked on. Discussion ensued. Chip Natsis stated that Downes continued to work on the constructability log through the bid process and was finalizing the scopes of work they would be going out to bid with. Chip Natsis stated they were looking for an update on the storm water permit. Mike Faenza responded it was submitted about two weeks prior to DEEP and that the permit was paid for and all submission materials were submitted. Mike Faenza stated he believed there was a 60-day statutory review period that DEEP is allowed, so he did not anticipate there being any issue with the stormwater permit prior to Downes putting bids out. Chip Natsis stated that upcoming items would be coordinating equipment delivery dates with NPU, the Stanton PCR meeting schedule for November 26, 2024 and the Greeneville PCR meeting schedule for December 2, 2024. Chip Natsis stated that looking forward they were awaiting final planning and zoning approval, PCR approval, and issuance of the DEEP permit. VII. Consent Agenda: Stanton CSG – Invoice #23006-020 - $10,555.02 DRA – Invoice #23012.00 #13 - $272,274.51 DOWNES – Invoice #S007 - $25,287.33 IES – Invoice #19733 - $1,200.15 Greeneville CSG – Invoice #23005-020 - $10,680.02 DRA – Invoice #23013.00 #13 - $264,643.39 DOWNES – Invoice #G007 - $25,287.33 IES – Invoice #19734 - $1,299.41 Moriarty CSG – Invoice #23007-007 - $14,624.61 Uncas CSG- Invoice #24024-001 - $15,967.07 Alderwoman Stacy Gould made a motion to accept the consent agenda including the above invoices. Sheila Hayes seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. Alderwoman Stacy Gould had to step away from the meeting during the roll call vote. The motion passed unanimously. IX. Discussion of steps / future action needed: Chairman Bettencourt asked at what point did the committee need to consider a construction manager for the Uncas Elementary School project. Mike Faenza stated he would have that RFP out to bid in early December. Mike Faenza stated the package would be bolstered by the additional support of pre-construction services added onto the project and he wanted to get more language added into the RFP. Mike Faenza stated the basis of that RFP would be the general basis of the RFP for the Greeneville and Stanton projects. X. Anything else to be brought before the committee: None. XI. Adjournment: Alderwoman Stacy Gould made a motion to adjourn at 8:06 PM. Mark Kulos seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. Respectfully Submitted, Katherine Rose