School Building Committee (2020)

School Building Committee (2020) Regular Meeting City Hall, R00m 335 100 Broadway, Norwich, CT And via ZOOM Tuesday, December 17, 2024 6:30 PM Committee Members Present: Chairman Mark Bettencourt, Alderwoman Stacy Gould (ZOOM), Sheila Hayes (ZOOM), Gregory Carabine, Mark Kulos, Peter Gauthier, Gregory Ballassi and Cindy Beauregard. Committee Members Absent: President Pro Tem Joe DeLucia, William Hull and Christine DiStasio. Ex-Officio Members Present: Mayor Peter Nystrom (ZOOM), Acting Superintendent Susan Lesard (ZOOM), Attorney Michael Driscoll (ZOOM) and Matt Brown, Board of Education (ZOOM) Consultants Present: James Barrett and Greg Smolley from DRA; Frank Tomcak 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 6:31 PM. II.Approval of Minutes: Peter Gauthier made a motion to approve the November 19, 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: None. IV.Report from CSG: Mike Faenza reported that the fifth state payment request for the Stanton Elementary School project was submitted and once that was received they would begin on the next request. Mike Faenza stated the first PCR meeting for the Stanton Elementary School project was completed. Mike Faenza stated they were awaiting feedback from OGA before scheduling the next meeting. Mike Faenza reported that the PCR meetings for both the Stanton and Greeneville projects went well, and discussed some of the items that the state was looking for. Mike Faenza stated they would bring any documentation that needed revisions to the followup meeting. Mike Faenza stated a meeting to review site logistics during the Stanton project construction was scheduled for that upcoming Thursday with district administration and Stanton staff. Mike Faenza stated CSG was working with the state to have the followup meeting with OGA for PCR review. Mike Faenza noted the logistics of the opening of the Stanton building had not yet been determined and as the project progressed the distribution of students as well as the logistics of the moves to the new buildings would need to be analyzed to understand who would be moving to the new building from where. Cindy Beauregard arrived to the meeting via ZOOM at 6:36 PM Mike Faenza reported that a proposal was submitted to complete the redistricting of the district from MP Planning group, which was included in the packet he provided to members for review. Mike Faenza stated that $2,555,600.38 had been expended on the Stanton Elementary School project to date. Mike Faenza stated the monthly project update for the Greeneville Elementary School project  was the same, except that CSG was able to have the followup PCR meeting with OGA as well as the initial meeting. Mike Faenza stated the first meeting was held on December 2, 2024 and the state had time to meet again two days later. Mike Faenza reported that at the second meeting CSG provided the state some of the information that needed corrections and towards the end of the meeting they reviewed the drawings. Mike Faenze noted the process had been complicated a bit, as in the past the projects would require three review meetings that would build up to the final meeting. Mike Faenza stated the new process had the state reviewing things as a whole versus in a progressive after. Discussion ensued. Mike Faenza reiterated that the logistics of the opening of the building had not yet been determined and would need to be analyzed, as well as that a proposal for the redistricting was included in the packet provided to members. Mike Faenza reported that $2,532,919.07 had been expended on the Greeneville Elementary School project to date. Mike Faenza stated that the working group meetings with district administration and school staff for the Moriarty Elementary School project were completed over the past few months. Mike Faenza stated that all revised grant application information required by the state was submitted. Mike Faenza reported that CSG received communication stating that the Moriarty and Uncas Elementary School projects would be added to the upcoming priority list. Mike Faenza stated the working group meetings would continue and a draft for the Construction Manager RFP was completed. Mike Faenza stated that their goal is to post the RFP after the first of the year. Mike Faenza reiterated the points about the logistics of opening the building and the redistricting proposal. Mike Faenza stated an allowance usage for CSG in the amount of $1,293.75 was included in the provided packet for the work required to update the demographic report for the grant applications. Mike Faenza explained that updates were required to show school-by-school enrollment for the four school projects. Discussion ensued. Mike Faenza stated that the updates for the Uncas Elementary School project were the same as those for the Moriarty Elementary School project. V.Report from DRA: Greg Smolley reiterated that the OGA meetings were held for the Greeneville and Stanton Elementary School projects, and agreed with Mike Faenza’s assessment that they went well. Greg Smolley stated the corrections needed were of a bookkeeping nature; moving data from one document to another. Greg Smolley showed the committee prints of sample school designs for the Stanton project that administration requested so they could be hung up in the current school for the public to see. Greg Smolley stated DRA could do the same for the Greeneville project if there was a place to display the images. Discussion ensued. Greg Smolley reported that the DRA team was coordinating documents with Downes Construction such as specifications and drawings for the Greeneville and Elementary School projects. Greg Smolley stated DRA would be provided a review set to Downes Construction by the following Monday. James Barrett showed a working group timeline for the Uncas and Moriarty Elementary School projects on screen for all to view. James Barrett reported from October to December the schematic design was developed, and the goal in January would be on producing a schematic design set to put out for pricing. James Barrett stated that during December surveys were underway; the wetland extent consideration was being configured and finalized; and the traffic study was getting up and running. James Barrett showed on screen for all to view site options for the Uncas and Moriarty Elementary Schools. James Barrett stated that DRA would be recommending the hillside location for the Uncas project and the rear site quadrant location for Moriarty. James Barrett showed options for the Uncas Elementary School on screen for all to view, based on discussion with the working group. James Barrett stated for the Uncas project DRA was leaning toward the goal of trying to build new while still occupying the existing building during construction. James Barrett showed a closer diagram of the new Uncas building and site, which he stated utilized similar site considerations as the Stanton and Greeneville projects. James Barrett explained there would be approximately 130-140 parking spaces; 17 of those spaces for buses as well as space for three shorter buses. James Barrett continued the site would have two grass play areas; upper and lower elementary playgrounds; Pre-K at the first level with an exit to the Pre-K play area; service at the upper level; and  retaining walls as required. James Barrett discussed potential interior layout options and benefits versus negatives. James Barrett showed building layout options on screen to support the suggested site configuration. Peter Gauthier questioned if Pre-K would have to travel to get to the cafeteria. James Barrett responded that they would need to go up one set of stairs, but there was a larger space constraint in trying to move the kitchen to the lower level. James Barrett stated he would bring that item to the attention of the working group that upcoming Thursday for discussion. James Barrett stated the working group data was similar for the Moriarty project in terms of what they knew and what they needed to know. James Barrett showed on screen a similar analysis of four different approaches for the site configuration at Moriarty. James Barrett noted that administration had concerns with placing the school too close to the roadway. James Barrtted that the suggested plan is the ‘compact scheme’. Discussion ensued regarding maintaining the existing ballfield versus rotating it to correct it to a better solar orientation. James Barrett gave a general overview of the components that made up the suggested site configurations. James Barrett showed the proposed interior layout on screen for all to view. Discussion ensued. VI. Report from Downes: Frank Tomcak reported that for preconstruction Downes has fully developed the set aside plans for the Stanton and Greeneville projects, and had been in contact with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities state compliance office, who gave their approval on the set aside plans for both projects. Frank Tomcak showed a full detail of the set aside plans on screen for all to view. Frank Tomcak stated that 28 bid packages had been carved out for the Stanton projects along with approximately 29 for Greeneville. Frank Tomcake noted there was about an even split between the business, small business and non- small business packages packages. Frank Tomcak noted there was a need to fulfill the 25 percent set aside goal for small business enterprise, which is what the report illustrated. Frank Tomcak stated there was a meeting that Thursday with Norwich Public Utilities regarding coordinating temporary utilities. Chairman Bettencourt stated he spoke to corporation counsel regarding the sewer issues, and that originally the city planned to create enterprise zones for the schools. Chairman Bettencourt continued that the current plan was to do a rough equivalent whereas the utilities commission would carve out an exception for the pursuer of a school project, so the discount would be the same as expected before. Chairman Bettencourt continued that all should be implemented within the next couple months before the projects break ground. Frank Tomchak stated that Downes met with Norwich Public Utilities regarding Stanton and Greeneville a few weeks prior and planned to tap into existing utilities. Frank Tomchak stated they would update their logistics plan accordingly for gas, power and water. Frank Tomchak stated Downes was working to finalize bid packages while awaiting the progress of the PCR checklist. Frank Tomchak stated at the upcoming Thursday working meeting Downes would present the logistics plans as currently developed and noted there were limited options for Stanton due to the site configuration limitations. Discussion ensued regarding parking and the potential to partner in that with the synagogue next door. Mike Faenza stated he has been active in facilitating that effort. Acting Superintendent Susan Lessard stated she heard talk of vacating the kindergarten wing of the school, which would not be a feasible option with the space limitations of the existing school. Mike Faenza stated it would be ideal to evacuate the two portable classrooms since construction traffic would be very close to them. Mike Faenza noted the plans being presented the following day did not include that item but he was aware of it as a discussion point. Discussion ensued. Frank Tomchak stated that Downes was expected to solicit bid documents starting in January, assuming they can schedule a meeting with Bob Selmer after the new year. Frank Tomchak reiterated that the PCR approval was the most significant item on their list currently prior to going out to bid. Frank Tomchak added that he was aware the permitting process with DEEP was underway and he did not expect that to cause any hiccups on their end. VII. Consent Agenda: Stanton  CSG - INVOICE #23006-021 - $24,593.02 DRA - INVOICE #23012.00 #14 - $113,232.16 DOWNES - INVOICE #S008 - $11,393.67 STANTON - IES - INVOICE #19850 - $2,500.88 Greeneville CSG - INVOICE #23005-021 - $25,906.25 DRA - INVOICE #23013.00 #14 - $98,558.89 DOWNES - INVOICE #G008 - $11,393.67 IES - INVOICE #19851 - $2,298.24 Moriarty CSG - INVOICE #23007-008 -$11,464.61 DRA - INVOICE #24006.00 #1 - $131,613.25 Uncas CSG - INVOICE #24024-002 - $15,967.07 DRA - INVOICE #24005.00 #1 - $133,838.25 Alderwoman Stacy Gould had to leave the meeting. Peter Gauthier made a motion to accept the consent agenda including the above invoices. Mark Kulos seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. VIII. CM RFP timeline for Uncas and Moriarty: Mike Faenza stated the solicitation document was complete, pending final edits. Mike Faenza stated he sent a preliminary schedule to city purchasing agent Bob Castronova earlier that day. Mike Faenza stated that CSG was tentatively looking to issue the RFP on January 3, 2024 with a non-mandatory walkthrough scheduled for 1:45 PM on January 9, 2025. Mike Faenza continued that questions would be due by January 16, 2025 and an addendum would be issued the following week if there were questions to the solicitation. Mike Faenza stated the RFQ responses would be unlocked at the end of day January 30, 2025 which would give the committee a few weeks for review prior to the regular February School Building Committee meeting. Discussion ensued regarding the potential need to schedule a special meeting. Chairman Bettencourt stated a special meeting would be held prior to the regular February 2025 meeting to determine interview details. Discussion ensued. Mike Faenza stated the only difference between this solicitation for a construction manager versus the previous one was the design had already started and the schematic design will be completed while the RFP is out to bid. IX. Anything else to be brought before the committee: Mike Faenza stated in order to fulfill the requirements for the projects to make the priority list that year CSG had to work quickly to get all the needed information updated for the state. Mike Faenza stated CSG only had a fifteen day period to re-do the grant applications to be included within the current cycle. Mike Faenza stated that the complications arose from the fact that the construction projects were bundled into one referendum which was not directly how the state wanted to see things, whereas they would prefer funding authorizations be on an individual basis. Mike Faenza continued that because the city had previously issued a funding authorization prior to the Stanton and Greeneville projects, the state already had an authorization letter with the estimated data already laid out. Mike Faenza stated that in order to make the amounts work between the new funding authorization letter CSG presented to the state, the new values had to be disclosed. Mike Faenza stated this ultimately led to the state requesting a demographic update to show how the lower enrollment numbers were reached to support the new estimates. Mike Faenza stated the state accepted the update. Mike Faenza continued that to do those breakouts the demographer required extra funding for approximately six hours of time. Chairman Bettencourt stated that Representatives Derrell Willson and Kevin Ryan as well as  Senator Cathy Osten would be submitting schools three and four for the 80% reimbursement rate from the state. Chairman Bettencourt stated he was unsure about Teachers Memorial Middle School. Chairman Bettencourt stated he would like to put a space waiver in for the projects as well because there is extra square footage in the projects. Discussion ensued. Mike Faenza stated that in regards to the MP Planning Group logistics plan, which tied into the logistics of opening the buildings, enrollment would need to be looked at as the city was going from seven elementary schools down to four. Mark Kulos noted the priority to maintain equity distribution. Mike Faenza stated that MP Planning Group provided a cost to do a logistics plan for the four elementary schools at $45,000. Mike Faenza stated that if Norwich Public Schools desired to pursue optional middle school redistricting, which may be favorable to the district, there would be an additional $16,000 cost. Mike Faenza noted why he felt the middle school redistricting may be beneficial is because there is an increased enrollment at Kelly Middle School to support a lower enrollment at Teachers Middle School. Acting Superintendent Susan Lessard stated that district administration was currently working on that so she did not feel they would need the services for the middle schools. Acting Superintendent Susan Lessard stated the plan is to keep about 450 students at Teachers and 660 at Kelly. Acting Superintendent Susan Lessard stated they have developed a plan and they would be reaching out to the Board of Education. Acting Superintendent Susan Lessard added she had a letter drafted to families about potentially starting redistricting for sixth grade the following year to save costs on transportation. Chairman Bettencourt stated in that case the focus would be just on Pre-K through grade five. Mark Kulos asked what entity would be responsible for paying the cost of the logistics plan. Chairman Bettencourt stated that could be discussed and that it was a related project cost. Acting Superintendent Susan Lessard added there was a need to discuss an outdoor shed structure at each school for property maintenance equipment, and she was aware it may not be reimbursable. Discussion ensued. Chairman Bettencourt asked that the item be readdressed once the property maintenance needs of the district were better understood. X. Adjournment - Next regular meeting 1/22/2025 (Wednesday due to Monday holiday): Gregory Ballasi made a motion to adjourn at 7:51 PM. Cindy Beauregard seconded. The chairman called the roll of members present and all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. Respectfully Submitted, Katherine Rose