The Public Building and Site Commission held a regular meeting on Tuesday, March 25, 2008 in the conference room at Reed Intermediate School, 3 Trades Lane, Newtown, CT. William Furrier, Chairman called the meeting to order at 6:40 p.m.
Present: Chairman William Furrier, Anthony D’Angelo, Robert Mulholland, James Juliano, and Bob Mitchell.
Absent: Craig Ansman, Peter Samaskevich, Thomas Catalina and John Cunningham.
Also Present: Schools Director of Business, Ronald Bienkowski, Fletcher-Thompson representatives Joe Costa and Matt Holst, Morganti representative Ed Barrett.
Public Participation: Ruby Johnson, 16 Chestnut Hill Road, Sandy Hook, presented a report to the Building & Site Commission that Ms. Johnson also presented to the Legislative Council. Ms. Johnson wanted to discuss the future ball fields proposed for the Fairfield Hills Campus and wanted to discuss what the money from the Bond has been spent on. James Juliano made the clarification that the Building and Site Commission was there to discuss specifications of the New Town Hall and that the Ball Fields were not under their jurisdiction.
Fred Moran, 59 Queen Street, Newtown asked why O&G reported to the Fairfield Hills Authority and not to the Building and Site Commission. James Juliano responded that O&G does report to the Building and Site Commission. Mr. Moran also inquired about the costs of the Asbestos Contractor. Mr. Juliano stated that the contractors lowered their bid by removing all of the debris from the location all at once and that lowered some of the costs.
Town Hall Project at Fairfield Hills: Dave Cravanzola, O&G, was not in attendance so the Building and Site Commission was not able to go over the Change Orders for the New Town Hall Project. William Furrier, Chairman of the Building and Site Commission, stated that he would contact Mr. Cravanzola in a written statement to outline the order in which Change Order’s need to be submitted.
High School Expansion Project: Fletcher-Thompson representatives, Joe Costa came to the Building and Site Commission meeting after having attended the Board of Education meeting to discuss the future of the High School Expansion Project.
Mr. Costa stated that the Board of Education made the decision to re-submit the Expansion Project as is to the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Furrier asked if there was any way the project could be re-written to lower the costs, possibly adding the Gymnasium as a Phase II item. This would cause a significant delay and the State deadline of June 30, 2008 would be missed and the monies would not be available until the following fiscal year.
Mr. Furrier asked what would be the actual delay to the project if the Town of Newtown missed the June 30th end of the legislative session. Mr. Costa said that the Town would need state approval by June 30 with bids in and a passed referendum. If the Town of Newtown misses this, the project will be pushed into the next legislative session which would put us exactly one year behind schedule. So, even if we are ready in July, we are still one year delayed if we miss this deadline because we need state approval in order to be eligible for our 1/3 reimbursement, and that approval won’t be available until the end of next years legislative session. Mr. Furrier asked, how will the Town of Newtown meet this deadline. Mr. Costa said the Town will have to get approval from the
Town’s Boards and Legislative Council very soon.
Mr. Furrier asked what cost escalations are running at right now. Mr. Costa said that Ken Simonson, Chief Economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, forecast for 2008-2012 will see cost escalations from 8 – 12% on a national basis. Mr. Mitchell said he is seeing 15% locally for his jobs in healthcare construction. Mr. Barrett said he is seeing 10-11% locally right now in school construction. Mr. Mitchell said that steel and concrete supplies are very tight right now. Mr. Barrett said that those costs are expected to escalate rapidly. Mr. Mitchell said that we are not in a good bid climate. Mr. Furrier asked, given the current economic climate, would cost escalations in the coming year become greater than 10 – 11%. The commission agreed that we
could expect cost escalations of 15% added to the cost of the project if we miss our June 30th deadline.
Mr. Furrier asked what would the cost be of redesigning to a smaller scope. Mr. Costa said that to redesign the Gym to a Phased construction would cost close to $500,000. Mr. Barrett said that phasing the gym to a later time would also add construction cost, and that it would be cheaper to renovate the Gym while the job site is established, rather than reestablishing a job site later. Mr. Costa said that to redesign to a small scope would first require the development of a new education spec, then a complete redesign of the addition to meet the new education specifications. This complete redesign would cost approximately $1,000,000. The time to change scope was during Schematic Design Development phase.
Mr. Furrier stated that the Building & Site Commission was in agreement with the Board of Education that the High School Expansion Project should be resubmitted in the original form to not run the risk of missing the June 30 deadline and to avoid incurring any additional costs.
Bills for Payment:
1. Morganti Group – Invoice #4 – Monthly Bill $15,500.00
Mr. D’Angelo moved that the Purchasing Authority pay invoice #4 from the Morganti Group in the amount of $15,500.00. Mr. Mulholland seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
2. Fletcher-Thompson – Invoice #0013149 $855,000.
Mr. D’Angelo moved that the Purchasing Authority pay invoice #0013140 from Fletcher Thompson in the amount of $213,762.50. Mr. Mulholland seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
3. Fletcher-Thompson – Invoice #0013151 $6,067.08
Mr. D’Angelo moved that the Purchasing Authority pay invoice #0013151 from Fletcher Thompson in the amount of $6,067.08. Mr. Furrier seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
4. Fletcher-Thompson – Invoice #0013150 $26,228.92
Mr. Mulholland moved that the Purchasing Authority pay invoice #0013150 from Fletcher-Thompson in the amount of $26,228.92. Mr. Angelo seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
5. Brooke Environmental Consultant – Invoice #720 - $2,350.00.
Mr. Furrier moved that the Purchasing Authority pay invoice #720 from Brooke Environmental Consultant in the amount of $2,350.00. Mr. Mulholland seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
6. Transmitting Electronmicroscophy – Invoice #721 - $5,876.00
Mr. Furrier moved that the Purchasing Authority pay invoice #721 from Transmitting Electronmicroscophy in the amount of $5,876.00. Mr. Angelo seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Senior Center: Mr. Mulholland reported that he and Fred Hurley, Public Works, did a walk through of the property to confirm that the proposed work has been completed. Mr. Mulholland stated that almost 98% of the work has been done and that everyone involved is extremely happy with the results.
Mr. Mulholland stated that there were three minor issues that needed to be addressed:
Issue #1 – The HVAC vents by the sliding back door out to the patio need to be adjusted to make sure the ventilation is adequate. Mr. Mulholland requested that an analysis be done to see if this is going to be an issue to heat the room and stated that once the sun-room is in place, this might not be a problem at all.
Issue #2 – The height of the base sill on the sliding glass door out to the patio is a concern because it may be to high for senior to comfortably maneuver over. Mr. Mulholland stated that the manufacturer is going to be contacted to see if an adjustment can be made.
Issue #3 – Mr. Mulholland requested that some type of screening be put in place around the duct work. Possibly some book shelves can be built in from of the duct work.
Mr. Mulholland presented two bills to be paid for the Senior Center.
1. Baybutt Construction – Invoice #4 - $14,892.47.
Mr. Angelo moved that the Purchasing Authority pay invoice #4 from Baybutt Construction in the amount of $14,892.47. Mr. Furrier seconded. Motion carried unanimously. (Payment was also approved by Fred Hurley, Public Works).
2. Baybutt Construction - Invoice #5 - $108,468.80.
Mr. Furrier moved that the Purchasing Authority pay invoice #5 from ________ ___ in the amount of $108,468.80. Mr. Juliano seconded. Motion carried unanimously. (Payment was also approved by Fred Hurley, Public Works).
New Business: Mr. Mulholland had previously distributed to everyone on the Commission the job description for the Clerk of the Works in a rough draft form. Mr. Mulholland used the Town of Newtown’s format to create this document. Mr. Mulholland asked everyone on the Commission to give him their input and suggestions for the job description because he would like to present this documentation to the First Selectman this week.
It was suggested that a Daily Log-In be used by the Clerk of the Works so that a record of the events on the project site can be formally kept.
Robert Mitchell stated that he would research the creation of a signage sheet.
Mr. D’Angelo made a request that once the minutes are clocked in at the Town Clerk’s office that the Building and Site Commission receive their copies with 24 hours along with a copy of the Agenda.
Acceptance of Minutes: The Agenda for the March 25, 2008 meeting listed the incorrect date for the minutes to be accepted so February 26, 2008 minutes will be up for acceptance at the April 22, 2008 Building & Site Meeting.
Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 9:22 p.m.
William Furrier, Chairman
MJM - Clerk
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