Mountview School Building Committee
Meeting Minutes
December 11, 2012
7PM HMLD
Present: Chairman Paul Challenger, David White, Gary Kaczmarek, Margaret Watson, Erik Githmark, Chris Lucchesi, Anthony Gasbarro, Jacquie Kelly, Mike Sherman
Absent: Tom Pandiscio, Nancy Galkowski
Others Present: Bill Senecal, LPA, Elizabeth Helder, Recording Secretary
Others Absent: Mike Pagano, LPA
Maureen Floryan, Sterling Road addressed the Committee. She stated that while she fully supported the proposed new school she feared that the project would fail at Town Meeting next May. She said more public outreach was needed with young parents of school aged children in order to promote the project. She said that negative naysayers will link the project to the troubles plaguing the District.
Ms. Phyllis Lund, 53 Mountview Drive said she lives directly next to the soccer field at the current school. She expressed deep concern about the encroachment of the new school project onto property that she and her husband have lived on for over 30 years. The Lund’s expressed concern about run off and flooding of their property during the construction process. Their property flooded during the school expansion in 1987 and the Town provided no remediation for the damage to their home. Mr. Challenger, Mr. Kaczmarek and Mr. Senecal reviewed the plans with Mr. and Mrs. Lund. Mr. Senecal said the closest the school will be to the property line will be 60 feet. Ms. Lund said her back yard was 100 feet deep and that the building was too close. Mr. Senecal assured Mr. and Mrs. Lund that the grade on
the property would not change and that the current vegetation on site would remain during construction to help with runoff.
Mr. White commented that the environmental construction and erosion controls regulated by the DEP and the State are far more stringent than in 1987. The Committee assured the Lunds that they would do everything in their power to minimize the impact on abutters during the construction phase. Mr. Kaczmarek is the Project Manager for the project, a town employee and a resident of Holden who will lead the project. They may contact him anytime during the project if any problems occur.
Mrs. Lund asked for this type of guarantee in writing. Mr. Challenger said that the Committee could not provide that guarantee in writing but did add that the abutters would have the environmental law on their side. The Committee does not take their concerns lightly. He encouraged them to attend Committee meetings, follow the project on-line, stay informed, and contact Mr. Kaczmarek with concerns. Mr. Lucchesi said the Committee is sensitive to the concerns of abutters and that Mr. Kaczmarek will do everything in his power to make sure that nothing happens to their property.
Mr. Kaczmarek reported that the next step in the process with the MSBA is to pursue execution of a Project Scope and Budget Agreement with the DESE. The Committee reviewed the submittal requirements which included: 1. a letter from Superintendent Thomas Pandiscio, of Wachusett Regional School District describing its special education program, 2. a proposed space summary that includes the existing facility, proposed spaces, and MSBA guidelines based on the agreed upon design enrollment. The first page of this summary indicates a total of 8,020 square feet dedicated to the delivery of special education, 3. the floor plans for the proposed 126,200 square foot Mountview Middle School and 4. a Special Education Adjacency Table.
The materials were compiled by Mr. Pandiscio, Mr. Githmark, Mr. Kaczmarek and Mr. Senecal.
Mr. Kaczmarek said he anticipated a 6-8 week approval turnaround from the MSBA. He asked that the Committee vote to endorse the submittal requirements and authorization to submit the paperwork to the MSBA.
Motion by Dave White, seconded by Chris Lucchesi, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO OFFICIALLY APPROVE THE PROJECT SCOPE AND BUDGET AGREEMENT AND VERIFY THAT THE SPACE SUMMARY MATCHES THE FLOOR PLAN AND IS COMPLETE AND CONFORMS TO THE MSBA REQUIREMENTS AS DESCRIBED IN MODULE 4 – SCHEMATIC DESIGN GUIDELINES.
Mr. Senecal said that per MSBA guidelines, the total proposed square footage of the plan is now 126,200. He said even with the slight reduction in square footage, the proposed school plan remains educationally efficient. Mr. Githmark concurred that the plan continues to meet the District’s proposed educational plan.
Mr. Githmark asked for traffic flow clarification. After some discussion, the Committee asked LPA to consider reversing the flow of traffic to have a one way parent drop off where cars enter on the far right and continue all the way around to the back of the school and exit on the left. This will prevent a “crossover” of incoming and exiting car and bus traffic.
Mr. Senecal said he had added doors from the hallway into the boys/girls gym locker rooms to provide bathroom access for cafeteria use. Mr. Githmark expressed concern about providing students access to the gym locker rooms during lunch as it is an unsupervised area. He said he did not want to give students the ability to wander off to other parts of the school during lunch. Can the students use the men and women’s visitor bathrooms directly in the lobby? Mr. Senecal said that the law states that students cannot share bathroom facilities with adults. Mr. Githmark will consider the options and discuss how to resolve the student-access-to-bathrooms-from-the-cafeteria issue with Mr. Senecal.
Mr. Kaczmarek said that he and LPA met with Matt Brassard of Brassard Engineering to discuss wetlands on site. The school project is proposing to completely remove and relocate the stormwater management feature for the purpose of moving the site/driveway and not for maintenance, ultimately improving the wetlands feature. Since the Holden Conservation Commission does consider some of the property on the site to be wetlands, the project will need to file for a variance with the ConCom in January 2013 as part of the Schematic Design process. Mr. Brassard noted in a memo to LPA that the ConCom will likely be in support of the relocation effort.
Mr. Kaczmarek said the Committee and the School should discuss the buildings phone and security system. A VOIP system could be installed along with several analog lines if the school is going to be used as an emergency shelter. A VOIP phone system will save money rather than paying for a system through Verizon. Mr. Githmark and Mr. Gasbarro will look into the current phone system and its costs to evaluate all options. LPA must plan how to wire the building for communications; the District must choose a communications system so that it can be appropriately wired during the construction process.
LPA typically allows for a security system with cameras wired around the outside of the building. It will be up to the District to determine how elaborate of a security system to install. A card swipe system will allow teachers to access the building and their classrooms; how complicated the District wants to make it beyond that is up to them. Mr. White discussed the security of the perimeter doors. These doors can be timed to lock and unlock at specific times. He added that individuals locks on teachers doors is a waste of time and money; one key should open all doors.
Mr. Githmark will be in touch with the Principal at the Sherwood School in Shrewsbury to review the perimeters of their security system.
Mr. Kaczmarek reported that some grading will be required in the back corner of the property. Mr. White said that property owner Diane Zottoli has indicated that the Zottoli family will be willing to provide a small area of land to the project for grading purposes.
More test borings will be conducted where the building is scheduled to be sited. This will help improve the design process down the road. Mr. Kaczmarek also recommended that the project conduct some exploratory trenching on this area to help with the design process.
The District will also need to consider what type of building control system it wants to install.
Mr. White recommended that the building control system be natural back net and not install a proprietary system. Lighting controls should also be installed and controlled by the DVC system
Mr. White said that he felt that the entire building should run off the generator in an emergency situation.
Mr. Senecal said he was researching a quote for a generator to service an entire building and a generator to just service public spaces.
Mr. White recommended installing a washing machine and dryer in the custodial areas. The custodians use microfiber cleaning clothes instead of paper products to clean the school and will need to be able to wash these cloths. Mr. Senecal added that a washing machine and dryer would also be installed in the cafeteria.
Mr. White recommended installing a message board at the street level for school events and emergency messages. It could also serve as a sign for the school.
Mr. White suggested that a budget to date for the feasibility study be prepared for review by the Committee and release to the public. Mr. Kaczmarek reported that he prepares a monthly report that accounts for project expenditures.
Mr. Lucchesi said Community Outreach efforts will resume in January 2013. He said he had received positive feedback (from parents, teachers and kids) on placing the school design posters in the lobby at Mountview. These posters will also be displayed at the elementary schools, library, senior center, Town Hall, Light Department, and the ECC. Mr. Senecal will generate 13 sets of posters for display around town.
Ms. Watson said she had a discussion with Anthony Renzoni Chairman of the Holden Board of Selectmen. Mr. Renzoni informed her that he thinks that certain members of the Board and public will not support the school project and that the Committee should be prepared for this situation.
The Committee reviewed a discussion that occurred at their October 23, 2012 meeting regarding when to schedule a Special Town Meeting on April 8, 2013 and a ballot election on April 9th, 10th or 11th. Mr. Sherman said he would like to hold the ballot election on April 10th or 11th to allow the press time to report on the events at the Special Town Meeting.
Motion by Mike Sherman, seconded by Dave White, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED THAT IN ANTICIPATION OF A POSITIVE VOTE FROM THE MSBA ON April 3, 2013 THE COMMITTEE AGREES TO SEEK TO SCHEDULE A SPECIAL TOWN MEETING ON APRIL 8TH WITH A BALLOT ELECTION ON APRIL 10T0 OR 11TH AT THE DISCRETION OF THE TOWN MANAGER.
Ms. Watson said that in the event that the Selectmen refuse to schedule a Special Town Meeting, the Committee should consider preparing a Citizen’s Petition in order to schedule the Special Town Meeting.
It was agreed that Mr. Challenger would address the Selectmen at their December 17, 2012 meeting to announce the Committee’s intention to hold a special town meeting and ballot election on these dates.
It will be important to engage the social media outlets and alert interested residents to the information on these outlets to support the success of the project.
Mr. Lucchesi will host a meeting of interested citizen’s in early January 2013.
Mr. Sherman said he feels the Committee needs to evaluate in what capacity the school will serve as an emergency shelter to help to publicize this fact.
Mr. White suggested that the Committee should start creating “Speak Outs” in the Editorial in the paper.
The next scheduled Committee meetings will be held on January 8 and January 22, 2013 at 7PM at the Light Department.
The Committee discussed whether to invite the District’s new Business Manager to serve on the Committee. Mr. Sherman said he felt the new Business Manager Mr. Scanlon should be invited to serve on the Committee. Mr. Gasbarro said he felt Mr. Scanlon will be an asset because of his financial/budgetary background. Mr. White commented that this was a building project not a financial project. The former Business Manager was appointed to the Committee because he was MCPPO certified which was an MSBA requirement and he had a relationship with the MSBA; he was not appointed because he was the Business Manager. Mr. Kaczmarek said he would like to see the District’s Facilities Director on the Committee. Mr. White commented that the current Facilities Director was a former teacher and did not feel that
he has enough appropriate experience to serve on the Committee. Mr. Kaczmarek said the MSBA likes to see Facilities personnel serving on the Building Committee. Mr. Challenger said that the former Business Manager was helpful in filing reports with the State in the early stages of the project. Mr. White said he would rather see Mr. Scanlon assume his position and learn the operations of the District budget to help clean up their own house. Mr. Sherman said that Mr. Scanlon will be a resource seeing that part of his job description is the oversight of the 11 school buildings in the District.
Ms. Kelly reported that Town Manager Nancy Galkowski will not be returning to the Committee, which will reduce Committee membership to 9.
Mr. Lucchesi recommended that the Committee take no action on appointing anyone else to the Committee at this time. The Committee has District and school representation.
Mr. Challenger discussed the appointment of Mr. Gasbarro to the Committee to become a voting member. Mr. Kaczmarek said that Mr. Gasbarro will be required to sign off on MSBA documents as the School Superintendent. A discussion was held whether it is the position of School Superintendent or Tom Pandiscio that serves on the Committee.
Appointments to the Committee are made by the Town Manager. Ms. Kelly will review Mr. Gasbarro’s appointment options and the make-up of the Committee and work with Mr. Kaczmarek to file the appropriate documents with the State.
Motion by Chris Lucchesi, seconded by Margaret Watson, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO ADJOURN THE DECEMBER 11, 2012 MEETING AT 9:40PM.
APPROVED:
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