Center for Emergency services
North Stonington
40 Main Street
North Stonington, Connecticut 06359
860-535-2877
Meeting Minutes of October 19, 2015
ATTENDANCE:
Committee: Chairman Mark Perkins, Vice-Chair Joe Cassata, Paul Kowack, Bob Shabunia, Charles Steinhart V., Sam Burdick, Jon Bosma
Others: Peter Springsteel, Project Manager, Kati Murphy, Committee Secretary
CALL TO ORDER
Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Chairman Perkins
MINUTES:
MOTION was made by Vice Chair Cassata to approve the minutes of October 5, 2015. Second by Charles Steinhart V.
All in favor, motion passed.
INVOICES:
Kati Murphy inv# 64 - $90.75
MOTION to approve payment made by Vice Chair Cassata, second by Charles Steinhart V.
All in favor, motion passed
Kati Murphy inv# 65 - $45.38
MOTION to approve payment made by Charles Steinhart V, second by Sam Burdick.
All in favor, motion passed.
DISCUSSION:
Paul Kowack stated that he continues to carry the funding for the Secretary’s position on his spreadsheet. USDA will not cover this expense and Nick Mullane had indicated that the Town would absorb the cost. There has been no update from Nick regarding this and some verification that the Town will cover this expense would be welcomed.
CORRESPONDENCE:
Via e-mail to Committee:
Committee acknowledged receipt of notes from the October 13 Workshop.
DISCUSSION:
It was at this time that Paul Kowack stressed to the Committee the importance of having a solid handle on the numbers going forward. Paul, Peter Springsteel and Bob Shabunia will be meeting to review current budgeted figures. It is imperative that figures for IT/Radio, FFE, etc. be as accurate as possible. Brian Elias, at a prior meeting, stated that he was going to provide backup for the figures he had provided for IT/Radio. Jon Bosma stated that his sub-committee was confident with their FFE number of $67k. Paul asked that Jon send his back-up information on this to Kati Murphy so that Paul can include it in his spreadsheet. Peter will contact Brian for his figures.
Contingency of 7% is still included in Paul’s numbers.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
None
OLD BUSINESS:
Peter gave the Committee an update on the status of USDA review.
A few months ago USDA assigned a new Project Manager to us, Joanne Demars. She has been reviewing all of our documentation in great detail. Her colleagues go through her for review and information sharing, prior to information and/or review comments coming to us. Steve Chrabascz comments on the updated drawings are with her now and she will not be able to look at them until tomorrow (10/20/15).
She wants to review the Monthly Budget Report and Steve’s comments to verify that the bids were over budget. Peter sent her an email outlining how we reached the point we are at. We are unable to move forward with bidding until Ms. Demars has had the opportunity to review all of the information before her.
Joe Cassata wanted to know if Ms. Demars realizes that her delaying is putting us in a major bind. Peter did not feel that it is major, as we are looking at spring project. A week or so isn’t going to have much of an impact at this point, but it would have been nice to know that this was how things would be operating after she was assigned to our project.
Bob Shabunia wanted to know if we could ask for additional funds from USDA and if so, would it have an effect on the interest rate currently offered to the Town by USDA. Peter stated that he could ask Ms. Demars what the terms would be if the Town were to ask for additional funds, but it would fall to the Town to make any formal request. Peter stated he would forward any information on this matter to the Boards of Selectman and Finance. Bob stated that this information needs to be nailed down for the presentation.
Mark pointed out that on more than one occasion Frank Petrulli and Norman St. Jean had stated that more funds could be requested.
There won’t be hard number on any additional funds until after bids are opened
Bob would also like to know what the current interest rates are under USDA. There is a possibility that the Town could get their own financing for less money, but that would incur additional costs from Bond Counsel. The numbers need to be looked at carefully to determine which would be the financially better option for funding the project. Bob also wanted to know who would be providing this information for the public hearing. Mark stated that Peter would investigate with USDA and then we can make a determination from there.
Mark brought up the contract with Silver Petrucelli that will expire in February. At the workshop last week this had been discussed and Peter will be requesting Silver Petrucelli extend the contract. It is unknown, until they are asked, what, if any additional funds they may request.
Peter stated that no new bid date can be set until after he hears back from Joanne Demars. Bob asked if she needs to approve the bid date and Peter responded that they haven’t in the past but they do govern the opening date, based upon their availability.
Peter discussed the most recent review of the drawings that had been done by Versteeg Associates. There are 6 unresolved items in the review. Peter felt that there was nothing major and he has passed on Mr. Versteeg’s review to Silver Petrucelli. Peter will make contact with David Stein at Silver Petrucelli to make sure the unresolved issues are addressed prior to bidding. Bob indicated that they may not be major but would all involve costly change orders if not resolved prior to bidding.
Peter indicated that he, Paul Kowack and Bob Shabunia should meet later this week to go over the budget.
Mark stated to the Committee that there will be an invoice for Bond Counsel coming before them next week, in the amount of $10,500.
Mark will be sending a letter to Nick Mullane regarding funds for Kati Murphy’s position. USDA previously indicated that this expense was not eligible for reimbursement. Committee wants to be sure that the Town is prepared to cover this expense.
Peter stated that he and Brian Elias have been in contact and are working on the presentation. The presentation to Boards of Selectman and Finance will most likely occur in December, with presentation to the Town after the first of the year. Peter will make an attempt within the next 2 to 3 weeks to get something to the Committee for review. David Stein has been asked to provide a decent 3D rendering suitable for the presentation. To date Peter has not seen this.
Joe Cassata asked if a representative of either the Board of Selectman or Finance would be presenting the slides relative to project financing. At the previous public presentation a Board of Finance member had done so. Peter stated that once we have numbers back we will have to sit down and work with those boards.
Joe Cassata had text communication with Representative Urban regarding the funds she is trying to obtain for the project. She indicated that she had a call in to the Governor’s office to speak with him directly. She expects to get a letter to Committee to update them.
NEW BUSINESS:
ADJOURN:
MOTION to adjourn mad by Joe Cassata, second by Sam Burdick.
All in favor, motion passed
Meeting adjourned at 7:26 PM
Next meeting is scheduled for October 26, 2015
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