The Board of Finance held a regular meeting on Thursday, October 27, 2005 in the meeting room at Town Hall South, Main Street, Newtown, CT. Chairman John Kortze called the meeting to order at 7:35 pm.
PRESENT: John Kortze, James Gaston, Harrison Waterbury, Michael Portnoy, Joseph Kearney, Peter Giarratano
ALSO PRESENT: First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal; Finance Director Ben Spragg; Schools Superintendent Dr. Evan Pitkoff; Schools Business Manager Ron Bienkowski; Doug Lajoie (CES), Board of Education Chairman Elaine McClure and members Andrew Buzzi, David Nanavaty, Tom Gissen; Legislative Council members Tim Holian, Dan Amaral, Joe Borst; 18 members of public; two members of press
VOTER PARTICIPATION: Ms. Michelle Hankin, 48 Mt. Pleasant Road, stated that she was very involved with the Head o’Meadow HVAC project. It is hard to sit back when it is needed equally at another school. A poor HVAC system leads to poor air quality. She read EPA statistics. The new system at Head o’Meadow is easier to maintain.
Ms. Tammy Nelson, 27 Sleepy Hollow, supports the Hawley HVAC project, which affects her children directly. She also cars for the rest of the town, not just Hawley School. We should move on and then look at the high school project which has to be done as well.
Mr. Robert Gaines, 51 Black Bridge Road, believes that this board understands the need for HVAC system in all of the schools and that the main concern is rising costs but costs will not get any cheaper if we delay or cut back the bidders. We went through this with the library project several years ago.
Ms. Barbara Gaines, 51 Black Bridge Road, recently went on a 2nd grade field trip to learn about the history of the town. Mary Hawley was the benefactress of the entire town and we should be willing to support one of the historic buildings in Newtown.
COMMUNICATIONS: Chairman John Kortze received the project CIP and priorities list from Dr. Pitkoff. Copies were distributed to all board members.
ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: Upon motion by Mr. Gaston, the minutes of the 10/11/05 meeting were unanimously accepted as presented.
FINANCE DIRECTOR REPORT: No report
FIRST SELECTMAN REPORT: No report
OLD BUSINESS
Hawley HVAC System – Dr. Pitkoff advised that since the last meeting, the Board of Education received a memo from the Board of Finance requesting a prioritized list of capital improvement projects. They have filled in the “TBD”s with estimated figures for proposed projects. Mr. Doug Lajoie of CES was present to give a more detailed explanation of the Hawley HVAC system and the difference between the original projected figure and the bid results. The Head o’Meadow School HVAC project, done in 2003/2004, was estimated at $3.2 million with bids coming in at $3.3 million. He stated that they finished their report outlining possible costs for the Hawley HVAC system in 2003. They began design in 2004, and in April 2005, provided cost estimates of $3.9 million with a
total project cost of $4.5 million. In August 2005, bids were received for $5.12 million with $5.45 million for total project. He distributed handouts showing “Opinion of Probable Construction Cost Estimate” (copy attached to original minutes), showing that eliminating Alternate #4 for the air conditioning components would deduct $440,000 from the total project budget of $5,456,810. Also distributed were copies of CES Opinion of Budget Cost Increases amounting to $2,136,810 (copy attached to original minutes).
Mr. Gaston stated that he can understand a 12% increase, allowing for inflation at 4% per year, but has difficulty with a 60% increase on a $3 million project.
Mr. Portnoy asked if the numbers we are seeing tonight for other school projects have been escalated based on what we have found out about the cost increase for this Hawley project? Mr. Bienkowski advised that they plan to take a more detailed look at those numbers. None of the other systems have yet been designed. Mr. Buzzi added that the numbers in the CIP are based on a square footage formula to get an idea of cost. They don’t apply to specific buildings. With Hawley, the project has actually been designed so we know what is involved with this particular building.
Mr. Kortze asked Mr. Lajoie if there was ever any discussions with him about what the town planned to spend on this project? Mr. Lajoie answered that CES knew what the estimates were and what the CIP figure was and they designed to that figure.
First Selectman Rosenthal stated that it would have been helpful to have received the information that there were expected increases in costs for the Hawley HVAC project when the current debt service budget was being prepared for approval by the Board of Finance, Legislative Council and voters.
Capital Improvement Plan – The Prioritization List of Board of Education Capital Projects Recommended for Bonding (attached to original minutes) estimates seven projects with an estimated total of $72,343,000.
Regarding the proposed high school expansion, Dr. Pitkoff advised that the space needs committee has brought in an architect to do a feasibility study to see if we can expand on the current site to accommodate projected growth. The $41 million figure being requested in the CIP would actually be $27 million after state reimbursement. The addition to the high school would be 48,000 to 54,000 square feet.
Mr. Kortze asked why Hawley HVAC is being prioritized as #1 and the high school at #2. Mr. Buzzi answered that they looked at when the projects needed to be done. We have money invested in the Hawley project already.
Mr. Kortze pointed out that this list for $73 million is more than the town’s total indebtedness today, including town and schools. Dr. Pitkoff pointed out that of the $73 million, $20 million is eligible for state reimbursement – the high school expansion and the middle school cafeteria/auditorium expansion.
Mr. Kortze stated that he feels that the Board of Finance needs more information in order to determine how this will affect the town’s bond rating. This information regarding the schools projects was received yesterday which did not give the Finance Director enough time to request information from the bank regarding bonding projections. It was decided to see if that information could possibly be received by next Tuesday before the Legislative Council meets on Wednesday.
Mr. Portnoy moved to hold a special meeting on Tuesday, November 1 to look at the entire Five Year Capital Improvement Plan when possibly more figures be available regarding bonding. Motion seconded and unanimously carried.
If action is taken regarding the Hawley HVAC system, the Legislative Council would then be able to discuss this project at their regular meeting on Wednesday, November 2.
Having no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:00 p.m.
Jan Andras, Clerk
Attachment A: CES – Opinion of Probably Construction Cost Estimate – Hawley School HVAC
Attachment B: CES – Opinion of Budget Cost Increases – Hawley School HVAC
Attachment C: Bonded Projects Prioritization – Board of Education
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