North Stonington Volunteer Fire Company
EMS Building Committee
Meeting Minutes for March 16, 2015
Location: North Stonington Volunteer Fire Company – Meeting Room
267 Norwich-Westerly Rd.
North Stonington CT
In Attendance: COMMITTEE: Mark Perkins, Chair; Joe Cassata, Vice Chair, Charles Steinhart, V, Jon Bosma, Bob Shabunia, Marc Tate, Paul Kowack, Nick Mullane, Brian Elias
OTHER: Peter Springsteel, Owner’s Representative, Kati Murphy, Committee Secretary
Meeting called to order at 7:03 PM by Chairman Mark Perkins
Minutes:
Motion by Joe Cassata, second by Jon Bosma to approve minutes of December 22, 2014.
All in favor, the motion passed.
Motion by Joe Cassata, second by Jon Bosma to approve minutes of December 29, 2014.
All in favor, motion passed
Motion by Joe Cassata, second by Jon Bosma to approve minutes of January 16 2015
All in favor, motion passed.
Correspondence and Invoices:
Invoices:
Stadia Engineering Invoice No. 15-011 - $1989.00
Invoice tabled until next meeting pending Mark Perkins inquiry to Stadia regarding hourly rates charged.
Peter Springsteel Invoice No. 031215 - $312.50
Motion by Charles Steinhart, V, second by Joe Cassata to pay invoice
All in favor, motion passed
Silver Petrucelli & Assoc. – Invoice No15-336 - $8986.99
Motion by Joe Cassata, second by Paul Kowack to pay invoice.
All in favor, motion passed.
Correspondence:
Mark Perkins read a letter from Stadia Engineering (letter received March 16, 2015) regarding the Not To Exceed addendum to their contract, and how the Not To Exceed amount was determined. The amount included in the addendum is $25,840, which was based on Stadia’s hourly rate, number of hours per week they proposed to be on the job, and the Contractor’s proposed schedule of fourteen weeks plus a five week cushion. The letter from Stadia Engineering indicated that they believe their services will fall under the amended value included in the addendum. The Not To Exceed addendum was initiated because USDA had concerns an upper limit had not been established in the contract.
Public Comment.
None
Old Business:
The Committee discussed a variety of delete alternates in an effort to bring the project into budget. By meeting’s end the Committee had come up with five viable options which Peter Springsteel will forward to Silver Petrucelli to be incorporated into the March plans. Silver Petrucelli will bring the plan changes to the March 23 meeting. The five options are listed below and are not in any prioritized order:
- Eliminate porticoes at entryways
- Eliminate conference room and reconfigure offices into that area. Add a room divider to the multi-purpose room so that it accommodate two groups simultaneously (1/3 - 2/3 or ½ - ½ TBD).
- Reconfiguring bunk rooms and eliminate 1private bathroom and 1 private bunk room, making 1 large, open bunk room with a divider.
- Eliminate 5th bay, but plan for the addition of one at some future time
- Keep the 5th bay, but reduce the roof height over mechanical space to single story.
The Committee estimated that these five delete alternates will reduce the building size by approximately 2500 s.f. This could realize a cost savings of approximately $500k
Nick Mullane requested that Peter Springsteel ask Silver Petrucelli to provide a furniture layout for the office spaces. He would like to be sure that there is sufficient space as well as determining that there is no wasted space.
Joe Cassata indicated that other than the Ambulance office, there are no private offices, they will be shared by more than one individual. Ambulance will need one private office because of files protected under HIPAA.
There was discussion as to why the end of the apparatus bays is all block. This may be another area where some cost savings could be realized if the amount of block can be reduced. If the 5th bay is eliminated at this time one will eventually be added on and the block wall would be coming down. The Committee requested that Peter ask Silver Petrucelli what the purpose is for so much block, and if a less costly alternative can be used. This question has been previously asked of Silver Petrucelli, with no response.
Elimination of the sprinkler system was discussed. If it were eliminated then different construction methods would be required, which would have an associated cost. Further, eliminating the sprinkler would set a poor precedent. It was decided that the sprinkler system will stay.
The Committee suggested revisiting the landscape design to see if less costly plantings can be used. Nick Mullane suggested coming up with a Plan B for the landscape plan and bringing it to Planning and Zoning.
Bob Shabunia asked if there were any other space reductions that the Committee would like to look at, such as the kitchen, radio room and day room. Bob feels that further reductions can be made in these areas. Joe Cassata suggested the Committee wait and see what Silver Petrucelli comes back with next week, based upon the five delete alternates previously discussed. Bob feels that Silver Petrucelli should have someone specializing in kitchen design look at the plans and offer suggestions. Peter cautioned that if he Committee wanted to start taking space from the center of the building all of the space in the center would then need to be reconsidered. The Committee should decide if that’s an option they want to play with.
Paul Kowack stated that as soon as we get to a hard number that validates the actions taken by the Committee, the better off we will be to go before Town officials.
Nick Mullane indicated that it’s up to the Committee and Silver Petrucelli to come to a point where all sides are comfortable with the type of construction, and the spaces, in order for Silver Petrucelli to tell us if we are in the ball park relative to the budget. Then bid the project. From that point on the Boards of Selectmen and Finance will want to be updated on a monthly basis.
On March 18 Joe Cassata and Mark Perkins will be meeting with a representative from Yankee Gas relative to connecting gas to the building. The current plans call for the gas line to come off of Rt. 2 and run under the parking area, along the full length at the rear of the building. Yankee Gas believes that it will be more cost effective to connect the gas at the back corner of the building closest to Rt. 2, at the end of the building where the offices will be located. Once the location is determined between Yankee Gas and Silver Petrucelli, revised plans will have to be submitted to Planning and Zoning to reflect the change in location.
It was noted by Committee members that Silver Petrucelli had been previously ask why they were not connecting the gas at the Rt. 2 side and their response was that they did not think there would be room overhead to run the necessary pipe.
Bob Shabunia stated that now that the snow has begun to melt, the yellow markings in the road should be visible to show proposed locations for utility cuts.
Joe Cassata also informed the Committee that there will be some cost associated with CL&P for connecting the electric service.
There are two water lines proposed – 4” for domestic and 6” for the sprinkler. There were questions as to why such a large pipe was needed for the sprinkler. There are issues with there being enough pressure to service the sprinkler system, thus the larger pipe. More investigation needs to be done on this topic.
Committee wondered when Mr. Suchocki would be resuming work on the site. Nick Mullane indicated the Mr. Suchocki would like to get back on site either this week or next. Jon Bosma asked when the town would begin removing the topsoil and suggested that if Mr. Suchocki can’t resume excavation, he could at least be loading the Town’s trucks. Marc Tate said he would discuss this with the Highway Foreman and report back to the Committee next week.
Peter Springsteel will forward to Silver Petrucelli the 5 delete alternates that the Committee proposed tonight. He will request that when they come to next Monday’s meeting they bring along alternate floor plans reflecting each of the 5 proposed delete alternates, as well as a price structure associated with the changes.
Bob Shabunia asked if there would be a sub-committee to go through the Design Development plans to see if all of the previous changes have been incorporated. Peter stated that he has reviewed the plans and all of the changes have been included.
New Business
None
Motion to adjourn:
Motion to adjourn by Joe Cassata, second by Charles Steinhart
All in favor, motion passed.
Meeting adjourned at 8:20
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