AVON FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY RENOVATIONS & ADDITION PROJECT
BUILDING COMMITTEE MINUTES
MARCH 4, 2010
I. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 AM by Chairperson Diane Hornaday in the Avon Room Town Hall Building 1. Members present: Chairperson Diane Hornaday, Diane Carney, Janet Stokesbury, David Goldsholl, Scott Boos and J. Tad Kuziak. Member absent: Barbara Leonard. Also in attendance were Assistant Town Manager Blythe Robinson, Town Manager Brandon Roberston, Library Director Virginia Vocelli, Assistant Library Director Donna Miller and Architect Peter Wells.
II. MINUTES OF PRECEDING MEETINGS – Feb. 9, 2010, Feb. 17, 2010
On a motion by Mr. Goldsholl and seconded by Mr. Kuziak, the members accepted the February 9, 2010 minutes as presented. None opposed.
Ms. Stokesbury corrected the spelling of Mr. Hyland of the New Britain Museum of Art on page 2. Mr. Goldsholl motioned and Mr. Kuziak seconded and all agreed to accept the February 17, 2010 minutes with the correction. None opposed.
III. COMMUNICATION FROM AUDIENCE
None.
IV. COMMUNICATION FROM COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Ms. Stokesbury asked if we could add the upcoming March 26th State Bond Commission meeting to the agenda. Ms. Vocelli offered that she was waiting to hear from Representative Kevin Witkos as she felt he was the best choice to accomplish getting the Library project added. Ms. Hornaday added that she was also in contact with our representatives working to meet with the Governor who sets the agenda. Mr. Wells felt we had a good chance as Avon has already secured the local funding. He had spoken to Mary Louise Jensen of the State last week and was told that Avon and Sherman were at the head of the list because of the local funding. Ms. Vocelli said the agenda would be available the week of our next meeting (17th) and that once you were on that list, you were in.
V. CONSTRUCTION MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
Ms. Robinson discussed the work she and Mr. Boos coordinated to present to the two firms FIP and Enterprise Builders in order to obtain further clarification on pricing and their final proposal. Both firms adjusted their cost as well as the length of time to complete the job. FIP believed it could complete the job in 12 months compared to Enterprise Builders completing it in 13 months, whether the Library vacated the space or not. She also asked them to commit to a price for general conditions regardless the time of completion: the sooner they finish the job, the more they keep vs. the longer the job takes, there’d be no increase in price. Both firms considered staying in the building during construction which would lower the moving out cost but can create more costs in temporary partitions, additional moving costs
from one side of the building to the other, or utility costs for example. Overall, the cost would be cheaper to stay but other inconveniences of operating the Library during construction would need to be considered. Both firms are relatively equal in price had Enterprise proposed the same time period, otherwise, FIP is the lowest due to the fact that they plan to complete the job in 12 months and fix their general conditions to the timeframe. Ms. Robinson added that they both agreed to base their fee on actual construction costs. Ms. Carney commented that both firms were virtually equal in price. Mr. Boos added that Enterprise stood to lose the job because they felt it would take one month longer to complete. Mr. Kuziak stated that each firm was asked the same questions and responded as such. Mr. Boos said that these were basically their final offers.
Ms. Stokesbury discussed staying in the Library during construction vs. moving to a temporary location. She felt the cost savings would be substantial and considered the bigger picture this year, whereby the Town’s budget will be very difficult. She also liked that the Library is presently located in walking distance to two schools while the proposed temporary site is not. Mr. Boos clarified that the two construction manager proposals we have are based on the Library moving whether it took 12 or 13 months to complete. He said staying would affect the fee and time to complete the job – construction manager fee and general conditions would both increase. Mr. Kuziak reminded that during FIP’s presentation, they said they would do the job in 12 months even if we stayed in the Library, that they were very
clear on this point. Ms. Stokesbury agreed. He also said that they were the only presenter that said they’d go and talk to the neighbors. Mr. Wells was concerned that they’d use the Sunnybrook side during construction which he said should only be used occasionally as to not upset the neighbors. Ms. Carney remembered that Enterprise had said they would use the Country Club Road side for entry and exit during construction.
Mr. Boos felt a decision had to be made to select a construction manager whether we moved or stayed and then explore further whether the price would remain the same. Ms. Hornaday said it wouldn’t really matter whether the project took a little longer to complete but that the price remain the same. Ms. Robinson offered to phone the two firms to clarify price while remaining in the Library during construction. Mr. Goldsholl asked that the answer be made in writing. Ms. Hornaday agreed that we may have to give up the move out of the building in order to save money. She shared Ms. Leonard’s concerns that Library services could be compromised. Mr. Kuziak reminded the members that the decision to move had not been made at this point and all options still had to be considered. Mr. Wells said it was possible to stay
and that both firms were qualified to complete this project successfully. Ms. Vocelli offered that she’d do what was best for the Town. Mr. Wells added that if done well, staying in the Library during construction could be done. Ms. Hornaday added that you have to be mindful of people’s perceptions that if saving money or the perception of savings could have been accomplished then why not? Ms. Carney added that there were other libraries close by that could be visited during construction as well. Mr. Kuziak suggested changing hours to better accommodate construction too.
Ms. Robinson returned to the meeting after making the phone calls. She was able to reach both firms: FIP said it would be hard to say how long completion would take if the Town remained in the building. It would not take more than 15 months and could be shorter if a hybrid approach is taken. Enterprise Builders agreed to their original proposal contingent upon the smooth coordination of the job.
Mr. Kuziak felt the news had changed the presentation made by FIP. Mr. Boos questioned that if they needed more months to complete the job then their price had to go up as well. Based on this information, Mr. Boos said Enterprise Builders would be $5,000 (for staffing) less per month to manage the job. Mr. Goldsholl did not like the vagueness in FIP’s response with staying vs. what they had said at their presentation. He’d really prefer more concrete information. Ms. Hornaday had hoped for a clear choice and was ready to vote. Mr. Kuziak, Ms. Stokesbury and Mr. Goldsholl chose FIP. Mr. Boos and Ms. Carney chose Enterprise Builders. Ms. Hornaday spoke for Ms. Leonard based on a conversation she had had with her whose choice was Enterprise as well, but could not count as a vote. Ms. Hornaday felt that in a
decision so close like this that the Town should go with price and in this case it was Enterprise. Ms. Hornaday reminded the members that the Town Council could make their own choice of construction manager as well despite the information the Committee presented to them. Ms. Hornaday reiterated that she had hoped the decision be close if not unanimous.
Mr. Goldsholl motioned and Mr. Kuziak seconded to table the decision to choose a construction manager until the next meeting. Mr. Kuziak, Mr. Goldsholl, Mr. Boos, Ms. Hornaday and Ms. Stokesbury agreed. Ms. Carney opposed. None abstained.
VI. REVIEW – DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
Mr. Wells handed out the latest changes to the design to the members to review prior to the next meeting. Due to limited time, the members decided to discuss these later.
Ms. Stokesbury questioned Ms. Vocelli that she hadn’t seen any emails regarding when design meetings would be held. Ms. Vocelli said that there hadn’t been many. Mr. Wells told of the meeting with 3M regarding the RFID technology which he said was not very informative and that he’d arrange a future meeting with them to discuss design to accommodate this technology for the Library.
VII. TEMPORARY LIBRARY UPDATE
Ms. Robinson reminded the members of the upcoming walkthrough scheduled for this Tuesday, March 9th at 9:00 AM and invited them to attend. IT is attending to get an idea for layout and potential costs. Mr. Boos questioned where these costs fell on the spreadsheet to which she answered they are spread between General Service and Other. She offered to send the information to him.
VIII. APPROVAL OF INVOICES
Ms. Robinson presented two invoices to be paid. One was Tuthill and Wells and the other Eagle Environmental which she said were right on budget. Mr. Wells added that the news from the environmental study was good.
Ms. Carney motioned and Mr. Goldsholl seconded and all agreed to put in for payment the Eagle Environmental invoice as presented. None opposed.
Mr. Goldsholl motioned and Mr. Kuziak seconded and all agreed to put in for payment the invoice from Tuthill and Wells as presented. None opposed.
IX. OTHER BUSINESS
Ms. Carney questioned the item on tonight’s Town Council agenda about naming opportunities for the Library. Ms. Robinson explained that there were questions as to whether or not rooms in the new Library could be named or not. She said that this had not been the Town’s policy in the past and said that instead there would be recognition opportunities but room naming was not one of them. Ms. Suter was to attend the Town Council meeting to clarify. Ms. Robinson will e-mail the responses of FIP Construction and Enterprise Builders to the members as soon as she receives them.
X. ADJOURNMENT
Ms. Carney motioned, Mr. Kuziak seconded and all agreed to adjourn the meeting at 9:10 AM. None opposed.
Recorded by:
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Susan Gatcomb, Staff Person
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David Goldsholl, Secretary
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