AVON FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY RENOVATIONS & ADDITION PROJECT
BUILDING COMMITTEE MINUTES
AUGUST 17, 2011
I. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:06 PM by Chairperson Diane Hornaday in the Avon Room Town Hall Building 1. Members present: Chairperson Diane Hornaday, J. Tad Kuziak, Janet Stokesbury and Barbara Leonard. Members absent: Scott Boos, Diane Carney and Secretary David Goldsholl. Also in attendance were Assistant to the Town Manager Steve Bartha, Library Director Virginia Vocelli, Architect Peter Wells, Director of Public Works Bruce Williams, Enterprise Builders Project Engineer Wayne Czarnecki and Interior Design Consultant Janis Newell.
II. MINUTES OF PRECEDING MEETING – July 20, 2011
VOTE: Mr. Kuziak motioned, Ms. Leonard seconded and all agreed to approve the July 20, 2011 minutes as presented. None opposed.
III. COMMUNICATION FROM AUDIENCE
None.
IV. COMMUNICATION FROM COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Ms. Stokesbury questioned the next few weeks’ early closings of the library. She hoped for a phase in as opposed to the 7:00 PM time as there was still sunlight, and questioned if this could be changed. Ms. Vocelli said that they try to be as consistent as possible when they change hours rather than stagger it. She said they wanted to postpone until next week to start the early closing but felt it best to do it sooner rather than later as it would get darker in a week or so anyway. Ms. Stokesbury questioned if the staff was paid as usual even for the changed schedule. Ms. Vocelli said those affected change their hours and come in earlier in order to work their scheduled amount of hours. She also mentioned that she likes to have the part timers make up their hours in the same time period if they can and work it out
with the supervisor. Ms. Stokesbury asked if Ms. Vocelli had gotten any feedback due to the earlier closings. Ms. Vocelli found the public to be flexible about it and understanding about coming back during open hours. Ms. Stokesbury reminded Ms. Vocelli to relay the changed closing times to her contact at the schools as they were opening soon. Ms. Vocelli agreed and also said it was important to tell them when the project would change over to the other side of the building. Ms. Vocelli said they were using facebook, Community News, the public library listserv and flyers for communication.
Ms. Hornaday suggested taking a few pictures of the current interior of the library for future comparisons. She said it helps to serve as a reminder to people of how bad it was and to really appreciate the new space.
Ms. Hornaday asked to move Item a. Review, discuss and approve FFE Bids (Phase II) under VII. NEW BUSINESS ahead in order to have Ms. Newell make her presentation of the office and lounge furniture bid award recommendations so that she could leave the meeting a little earlier.
Ms. Newell discussed a memo, distributed by Mr. Bartha at the meeting, outlining the categories and selections. No bidders showed for the reading of the bids but they were still read aloud as per protocol. Ms. Newell said the first phase of the bidding dealt with the shelving, end panels and library technical furniture and Phase II deals with the office and lounge furniture and miscellaneous items of furniture. There were a total of nine bidders and not everyone bid every item in every category. Two good things came out of the bidding in that all the items selected were available and under budget. The total amount that she recommends is $232,929.11, leaving a balance of $36,690.23 of the original overall FFE budget of $580,000.00. She said too that Ms. Vocelli reminded her of another $25,000 grant from the Hartford
Foundation for Public Giving which could be used towards the furniture in the teen room, which is included in this awards package. She has had past experience with all the vendors and feels very confident with them.
Ms. Hornaday questioned if the $25,000 grant figure would add to Ms. Newell’s figure of a balance remaining of $61,690.23 on the cover sheet of the memo. Ms. Newell said no that it was included in that figure. Ms. Hornaday then asked if the roughly $62,000 would be enough to cover the remaining items. Ms. Newell said the signage can be flexible to meet a budget amount. Ms. Vocelli added that there was another portion of the grant that was earmarked for the teen room signage as well. Ms. Hornaday was concerned that there would still be enough monies to go to the remaining areas. Mr. Wells mentioned window treatments were up for future discussions with Ms. Vocelli and staff to determine need and placement. Ms. Hornaday concurred that we’d need to see the sunlight impact on these areas before we made a
purchase. Mr. Wells added too that the windows were slightly tinted with gray colors used in the floor and walls and that these color choices cut down on glare as well. Ms. Hornaday asked for a motion to authorize the town to execute contracts for the selected bidders.
VOTE: Ms. Stokesbury motioned, Ms. Leonard seconded and all agreed to authorize the Town to execute contracts for the selected FFE Phase II bidders recommended by Ms. Newell (Bartholomew Contract Interiors - $102,430.00, Insalco - $21,809.08, Real Integrated Systems - $60,472.33, Robert Lord - $11,617.82, BKM - $15,734.19 and John Watts - $20,865.69 for a total of $232,929.11.) None opposed.
Mr. Bartha personally thanked Ms. Newell for her patience and hard work and quick responsiveness to his questions throughout the project. Ms. Newell will remain on the project to organize and oversee placement.
V. UPDATE AND REPORT FROM a. Construction Manager, b. Architect
Mr. Czarnecki discussed the progress to date: brick façade is mostly complete from the northeast corner back to the south courtyard area, drilling for the geothermal wells will begin this week, site concrete is being placed for the walkways, a meeting with the landscaper shortly to get completed before the cold weather, roofing is almost 100% complete, first and second floor drywall is being hung ready to be taped and the mechanical rough-ins are taking place. Ms. Hornaday was very pleased with the way the library looks. She relayed that many have told her how nice the new brick matches up with the old and she sees how excited they’re getting. Mr. Kuziak asked if Enterprise was making up any time. Mr. Czarnecki said not yet but hopes to keep the momentum going from July’s performance and would like to
strive for moving into the new part the beginning of November.
Mr. Wells remarked about the island of trees that turned out very well. He thanked Ms. Vocelli for her good taste in the selection of the trees. He said to expect extra money for additional sheetrock that had to be used around some sprinkler pipes. He said too that the job is going along very, very well. Ms. Hornaday suggested beginning the landscaping on the east side in order to make those residents happy instead of them having to keep seeing all the work going on near their houses. Mr. Wells passed around a packet showing the tree selections and asked for any questions. Mr. Kuziak questioned if the pest was still around that threatened the hemlocks. Mr. Wells and Mr. Czarnecki can check with the landscaper. Mr. Wells reminded that stairway 3 was not finished yet and to keep that in mind when scheduling the tour with
the job superintendent.
VI. OLD BUSINESS a. Project Budget Update, b. Approval of Invoices, c. Review and Approval of Change Orders, d. Approve $2,995.95 to purchase appliances for the Community Room and Staff Kitchen
Ms. Hornaday asked if Mr. Bartha had anything to report regarding the budget. He said July had been a good work month and that it is reflected in the larger Enterprise application and certificate for payment. This brings the construction amount to $2.9 million. Mr. Kuziak asked how the grant reimbursement was going with the State. Mr. Bartha said he has all the paperwork ready to file for when we reach $4.35 million in the project. He felt we’d be ready in the next two months to submit the first request. Mr. Bartha reiterated that he was very pleased with Mary Louise Jensen’s replacement and that she has been very cooperative in approving the submitted change orders with a quick turnaround.
Mr. Bartha explained the CIRMA invoice for $1,763.00. It represented a quarterly billing amount covering through September and would be submitted again for the next quarter. Ms. Stokesbury questioned if we were still on budget with the invoice. Mr. Bartha said yes and that if we did go over the 13 months, there wouldn’t be very much more to pay and this would be reconciled with the budget later. Ms. Hornaday questioned the town’s property insurance. Mr. Bartha said the properties were insured and the extra invoices from CIRMA reflect the additional amount required to cover the added risk during the library project. Ms. Hornaday asked for a vote to approve for payment all five submitted invoices.
VOTE: Mr. Kuziak motioned, Ms. Leonard seconded and all agreed to approve for payment the following invoices: Enterprise Builders Requisition #9, dated 7/31/11, $826,582.00, Tuthill & Wells invoice 3940, dated 8/3/11, $9,843.00, Special Testing Laboratories, Inc. invoice 25847, dated 7/22/11, $245.00, CIRMA invoice LP040851, dated 8/10/11, $1,763.00 and The Hartford Courant document 3734414, dated 7/31/11, library project’s portion $181.47. None opposed.
Mr. Bartha discussed three change orders. Change order #033-A reflects the roof sheathing replacement, for a total of $34,382.00, which had already been discussed at the June meeting. The original amount was estimated to be $50,000, but has come in under that with one more final bill to go for the balance of this work, which was substantially completed in July. PCO #017-R002 (site lighting modifications) for $14,085.00 reflects a compilation of several month’s efforts of lighting selection and placement, coming in a little higher than first anticipated. The electrical portion has been done on this. Mr. Wells said tall pole lights were everywhere and he was asked if he could provide better patron friendly bollard lights. Ms. Stokesbury asked if the committee had asked for this change to which Mr. Wells said yes. Mr.
Williams further explained that these lights help to illuminate the pedestrian walkways more directly as opposed to tall general parking lot lights and that they do cost more. Ms. Vocelli added too that they are nice looking. Ms. Hornaday asked for a vote for the lighting change order #017-R002 for $14,085.00.
VOTE: Ms. Stokesbury motioned, Ms. Leonard seconded and all agreed to approve PCO #017-R002 (site lighting modifications). None opposed.
Mr. Bartha discussed change order #053 for spray foam insulation – thermal barrier. He apologized that he did not send it along to the committee when it was presented to the Town Council and Town Manager. Mr. Wells explained that it was part of the building code to provide an ignition barrier to the surface of spray foam insulation. After discussion with the local and state building inspectors, it was decided that this product would satisfy the building code. Use of the product saved the builder from having to sheetrock the insulated areas, which is much more expensive. It is based on a square foot price which totals $35,844.00. Foam insulation was chosen because it is more effective and longer lasting than fiberglass, provides its own vapor barrier after a 3” depth, which would have to be provided otherwise,
and you don’t have to go into the eave and ridge vent areas where fiberglass would require you to do so. Meetings were held with everyone involved to come up with the best option and this one was agreed upon. Mr. Williams relayed that he had discussed this with Mr. Boos who agreed that it was something that needed to be done and that he feels comfortable that due diligence was done by all.
Ms. Hornaday noted that this approach was something that was not normally done but would hold up everything if it wasn’t done. She also asked Mr. Wells if he forwarded a copy of the letter from the State stating the necessity of this work to the Town so they’d have a record of it. Mr. Czarnecki added that the material used is ahead of the building codes. Mr. Kuziak felt comfortable as a taxpayer that all those involved had done their due diligence. Ms. Hornaday asked for a motion to approve the change order for the thermal barrier spray over the foam insulation.
VOTE: Mr. Kuziak motioned, Ms. Leonard seconded and all agreed to approve PCO #053 (spray foam insulation – thermal barrier). None opposed.
Ms. Hornaday asked Mr. Wells if he could handily provide a listing of the energy savings the project will achieve so she can be ready to answer the resident’s questions regarding this. Mr. Czarnecki added that a packet will be presented to the town at the completion of the job outlining all the components and specs of the job. Mr. Bartha said Mr. Wells would be required to provide this information soon in time for the October newsletter which is slated to feature the library project’s green efforts.
Ms. Leonard discussed her efforts in securing appliance pricing for the staff kitchen and community rooms. She recommends New England Appliance as the vendor because of their willingness to work with the library on price, delivery and storage of the items until installation. She looked for middle of the road items as some will be used by the public and staff on a daily basis. She discussed the needs and wants with the staff beforehand to get ideas. The dishwasher has a sanitizing cycle on it to clean the children’s room items so it can be done more often. The owner of New England Appliance also suggested purchasing a five year warranty plan, especially to cover the public use items. The Board of Trustees doesn’t charge anything to use the community room at this time and Ms. Leonard feels it will get heavier
use because of the newness. The warranty has a repair or replace feature. New England Appliance has agreed to store and deliver the items for free and will send them as needed. Mr. Bartha mentioned that there is a $50 rebate on the dishwasher as well. Ms. Hornaday said Ms. Leonard had done a wonderful job researching the appliances considering the budget. Ms. Stokesbury suggested placing the refrigerator with the ice maker in the community room rather than the staff kitchen. Ms. Leonard said that had been discussed and agreed that it’d be a better placement upstairs near the children’s area in order to provide quick ice for bumps and bruises. Ms. Vocelli agreed that the ice works better than the first aid devices that crack open. Ms. Stokesbury countered that community room big functions would need a lot of ice. Ms. Vocelli said they bring their own. Ms. Stokesbury said the community room would be open all the time when the children’s area would not. Ms. Vocelli
suggested putting ice makers in both places. Mr. Bartha said Mr. Czarnecki could help with researching added costs in providing extra piping to the appliance. Mr. Williams added that he didn’t realize that all refrigerators didn’t come with ice makers. Ms. Leonard said there’d be an additional $90 for the extra ice maker. Mr. Kuziak agreed with Ms. Stokesbury that the community room would get more use and questioned the ease of providing the water line to the appliance. Ms. Vocelli said they were not trying to provide the town with ice but a cheap and easy accessible first aid tool and added perhaps there was donation money available to provide ice makers for both locations. Mr. Czarnecki can investigate the additional cost of providing water lines to both locations and will advise. Mr. Bartha suggested adding the ice maker to the amount originally estimated for the appliances. With the dishwasher rebate and additional ice maker, the new amount would be $3,035.95,
an amount slightly over the original $3,000.00 budget allowance.
VOTE: Ms. Stokesbury motioned, Mr. Kuziak seconded and all agreed to approve for purchase from New England Appliance of Canton, CT the appliance selections recommended by Ms. Leonard with the additional ($90.00) ice maker for a total of $3,035.95 (includes $50 rebate). None opposed.
VII. NEW BUSINESS a. Review, discuss and approve FFE Bids (Phase II) (done), b. Select date for project tour
Mr. Bartha recounted the discussion of touring the jobsite prior to the September committee meeting, inviting the Town Council and Board of Finance as well. The staircase previously discussed by Mr. Wells should be ready by then. After some discussion, 6:30 PM, September 21st was selected for the tour with the regular meeting to follow. Mr. Bartha will email the missing members with the information and extend the invitations.
VIII. OTHER BUSINESS a. Correspondence, i. 7/20/11 Memo to Town Manager, ii. 7/27/11 Avon News and 8/11/11 Avon Life
Mr. Bartha noted that each month the Town Council receives a construction update and included the memo for the member’s reference. He also included some news articles relating to the project.
Ms. Hornaday asked Mr. Bartha to discuss the budget. He asked the members to look at the budget line item where we are approximately 33% through the budget. If you add the numbers from tonight, it puts us at about 40% complete on the building. Also adding the change orders approved tonight, the contingency amount will also be approximately 40% used. If you discount the value engineering items added back, we are really ahead of the curve with the contingency lagging a little behind. Ms. Stokesbury reminded that the 40% contingency used so far did not include the renovation of the existing part of the building. Mr. Bartha assured that the items were being monitored and that 60% of the contingency still remained. Mr. Williams added that there were items coming but that they were not as significant as the roofing issue had
been. Ms. Hornaday noted that she did not want to have to go back to the residents for more money for the project. Mr. Bartha said that there were still items in the budget that were under and should be taken into consideration as well.
IX. ADJOURNMENT
VOTE: Ms. Stokesbury motioned, Ms. Leonard seconded and all agreed to adjourn the meeting at 8:26 PM. None opposed
Susan Gatcomb, Staff Person
David Goldsholl, Secretary
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