Town of Hull - January 10, 2000 BC Minutes

January 10, 2000 BC Minutes


	APPROVED TOWN OF HULL Minutes of Building Committee January 10, 2000 In attendance: Dr. John Silva Steven Moore John Lidington William Hurst Dr. Kathleen Reynolds Philip Lemnios John Reilly, Jr. Peter Lombardo James Lampke Debbe Bennett Charles Ryder Agenda: Attached Dr. Reynolds began meeting by stating Hull Public Schools received official notification from the State that all three school projects have been approved and all are classified as Category 2, at 71% reimbursement, if the June deadline is met. Bill Hurst described for the Committee the RFP process for the design phase of job. Four companies submitted proposals: Architectural Involution, HKT, KBA and Mount Vernon Group. He also noted that a number of architectural firms were contacted to conduct a peer review of Mount Vernon Group's needs study and New England School Development Council (NESDEC) was selected at a cost of $4,650.00. The deadline for completion of the peer review is January 31. Selection of Officers - Dr. Reynolds asked for Committee recommendations on selection of officers. All current members and their roles were identified. At-large members have not been selected as yet, positions will be advertised in this Friday Dr. Reynolds circulated a mailing list and asked all members to put current address and phone information. She also asked members to include e-mail address info and asked if this would be an acceptable form of communication for all members when swift communication is necessary. All members have e-mail addresses and agreed to use it. However, it will not be the primary form of communication. Phil Lemnios is in process of changing his e-mail address, Bill Hurst suggested issuing a School Department e-mail address for his use. Dr. Reynolds suggested developing a timetable for reading proposals. First, Mount Vernon's role and the initial needs study selection process was outlined for the Committee members. Bill Hurst relayed that during the informational meeting held on January 4, one company suggested hiring 2 (or 3) firms rather than only one. School Building Assistance Education Plan submission deadline is March 1 and Final Plans deadline is June 1. Interview process was not included in RFP in order to allow quicker resolution and therefore, Committee is not legally obligated to conduct them. Phil Lemnios asked Bill Hurst to get copies of the digitized plans from Mount Vernon. Support staff was asked to review all 4 proposals to determine if minimum criteria, as spelled out in RFP, has been met. If any company is disqualified, support staff will notify Committee members. Timeline - All 4 firms could be interviewed in same day. Committee Members will review and evaluate all four proposals by Tuesday, January 18. Interviews will be conducted on Monday, January 24. Charlie Ryder will not be available on January 24, but will ask Carolyn Webb to fill in for him. Dr. Silva asked if meetings could be taped in the future for anyone who misses a meeting. Steve Moore informed members that evaluations should be done based upon their own opinions rather than any hard numbers. Jim Lampke asked for copies of questions used during interview process for needs study applicants. Phil Lemnios asked if a signed contract is needed for March 1 Educational Plan deadline. Bill stated contract could be entered, contingent upon funding. Phil asked if Mount Vernon could be hired to prepare Educational Plan for March 1 deadline, independently of the RFP process. Typically the Education Plan is part of the entire process and therefore, would be very difficult to estimate cost associated. The Educational Plan was defined as how a school system's educational program ties into the physical space plan. Jim Lampke suggested that copies of the packets are made available to Selectmen - John Reilly was given an additional set for Selectmen. Janet Bennett joined meeting to discuss the process of calling a special Town Meeting. 45 days lead-time is required after the Board of Selectmen requests a special Town Meeting and warrant must be posted 10 days prior. Committee agreed to target March 27, 2000 as the meeting date. Therefore, Selectmen must request meeting no later than February 11 and Committee must prepare letter by February 7 for Selectmen to consider at their February 8 meeting. Committee agreed March 27 Special Town Meeting will be for architectural fees and will consider requesting a special Town Meeting at May 1 Regular Town Meeting for the construction costs and override if necessary Committee discussed possible student relocation options when construction begins. Construction would begin at Memorial School, which could necessitate moving 5^th & 6^th graders to Jacobs and 7^th & 8^th graders to High School. This would require increasing class sizes. All options will be investigated further. Portable classrooms were discussed but it was determined to be too expensive and double sessions are not a consideration. Committee also discussed possibility of three separate contracts (one for each school) rather than one for all projects. Timing of projects and subsequent state reimbursement was discussed. Estimated 18 months for each construction project with a 3-4 year delay before the first reimbursement payment from the state. Objective is to have minimal or no tax impact and Phil Lemnios will continue to investigate cash surplus and financial impact on town. Phil Lemnios expressed concern with presenting all three construction projects at once. He suggested presenting 1 or 2 projects now and any remaining projects at a later time. Dr. Reynolds expressed concern with this idea as it would impact the Education Plan, and therefore, this option could jeopardize all construction projects. She explained the Ed Plan is developed using the projected space plans of all three buildings. The need to hold public meetings on this subject was discussed; no meeting dates were set at this time. John Lidington asked if the cost of equipping space is included in cost estimates and Bill Hurst responded that a percentage of construction cost includes equipping the space. Also discussed was possible inflation factor if construction at Jacobs School is delayed a few years. However, it was stated that inflaction factor is included in cost estimates. The Committee discussed assuming control of town fields. In order to receive State reimbursement to refurbish fields, they must be controlled by the School Department, not the Park & Recreation Department. This issue still needs to be discussed with Park & Rec. Phil asked what, if any, impact the new construction will have on operational costs of school (e.g. would more teachers be needed, etc.). Committee agreed to meet on January 18 to formulate questions to ask architectural firms and determine which companies should be called in on January 24 for interviews. Additional meeting dates were discussed; a proposed timetable is below. Building Committee Proposed Timeline . Tuesday, January 18, 2000 2:00pm Evaluations of 4 firms completed. Discuss which architectural firms will be interviewed on Monday, January 24. Monday, January 24, 2000 throughout day Interviews conducted and tentative selection of architectural firms made and ranked - pending peer review. Monday, January 31, 2000 Peer review of Mount Vernon completed by NESDEC. Tuesday, February 1, 2000 4:00pm Building Committee meeting to discuss: Designer selection Bargaining strategy and negotiations Prepare letter from Committee to Selectmen calling for Special Town Meeting Monday, February 7, 2000 Deadline for letter to Selectmen from Committee Re: Need for Special Town Meeting. Tuesday, February 8, 2000 Selectmen Meeting Friday, February 11, 2000 9:00am Finalize agreement and Selectmen recommendation (45 days prior to March 27 Special Town Meeting.) Tuesday, February 15, 2000 Submit to Selectmen proposed terms of Agreement Wednesday, March 1, 2000 Deadline for Educational Plan to State Monday, March 27, 2000 Proposed Special Town Meeting seeking authorization of architectural fees Monday, May 1, 2000 Regular Town Meeting/Possible Special Town Meeting Re: Construction costs Thursday, June 1, 2000 Deadline for submission of final plans to State John Reilly will keep Selectmen updated on progress of the Building Committee so they will be prepared to make a decision when the time comes. A Committee spokesperson should be appointed who will communicate with the press. In addition, a press release will be necessary. Dr. Reynolds will meet with representative of HASC on January 10 and will discuss targeted Special Town Meeting date but will not discuss remaining timeline. Potential conflict was discussed if a HASC member were to apply for At-Large position. However, it was determined that there should not be a conflict if individual is able to keep roles separate. Jim Lampke and Bill Hurst will be responsible for preparing the architectural firm's contract, once selection is made. Jim Lampke will continue to explore the professional liability insurance issue. John Reilly reiterated that three separate contracts might resolve this issue. Jim Lampke requested a list of contact names at the Department of Education. Meeting was adjourned.