Center for Emergency services
North Stonington
40 Main Street
North Stonington, Connecticut 06359
860-535-2877
Meeting Minutes of March 28, 2016
ATTENDANCE:
COMMITTEE: Brian Elias, Ryan Burdick, Bob Shabunia, Charles Steinhart V, Paul Kowack
OTHER: First Selectman Shawn Murphy, Selectman Nick Mullane, Project Manager Peter Springsteel,
Committee Secretary Kati Murphy
CALL TO ORDER
Call to order by Ryan Burdick at 7:00 PM
Invoices for Payment:
K. Murphy invoice #83 - $107.25
MOTION to approve made by Paul Kowack, second by Bob Shabunia.
All in favor, motion passed
Peter Springsteel #21916 - $875.00
MOTION to approve made by Charles Steinhart V, second by Paul Kowack.
All in favor, motion passed.
Minutes
March 21, 2016
MOTION to approve minutes made by Charles Steinhart V, second by Paul Kowack.
All in favor, motion passed.
Correspondence:
Via e-mail to Committee:
Agenda for Special Selectmen’s meeting on March 26, 2015 relative to disbanding and
re-establishing the CES Building Committee
First Selectman’s March 26, 2016 email regarding new makeup of the Committee was sent to members.
A MOTION was made by Charles Steinhart V, to open the floor for nomination for Committee Chair,
at which time he nominated Brian Elias as Committee Chairman. Second was made by Paul Kowack.
Bob Shabunia nominated Ryan Burdick, second was made by Brian Elias. A vote, by show of hands was taken. 3 votes for Brian Elias, 1 for Ryan Burdick.
Brian Elias was elected by Committee majority as Chairman of the CES Building Committee.
Bob Shabunia nominated Ryan Burdick as Vice-Chair, Charles Steinhart V nominated Paul Kowack for the position of Vice-Chair. Paul Kowack seconded Ryan Burdick’s nomination, there was no second for Paul Kowack’s nomination.
A vote by show of hands was taken. 3 votes for Ryan Burdick, 1 vote for Paul Kowack.
Ryan Burdick was elected by Committee majority as Vice-Chairman of the CES Building Committee.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Joe Gross addressed the Committee and requested that the Committee communicate with the Town as to where the project is currently and where it is headed.
Paul Kowack and First Selectman Shawn Murphy had brief discussion relative to continued role of, and eventual disbanding of the Committee once project has been bid. Shawn went on to say that, because of the wording of the Town’s ordinance relative to the Committee, they would not necessarily be disbanded, but perhaps take a lesser role, with the Project Manger taking lead.
Brian asked for guidelines from the Board of Selectmen as to their expectations of the Committee.
Kati Murphy will make sure that a copy of the Town’s ordinance gets to the Committee members.
Shawn wanted to comment on his March 26 email and that the intent of the Board was not to get rid of certain people, but to reduce the size of the Committee. The Board asked themselves what representation and talents they were looking for. The new makeup in no way should take away from individuals who did not prevail on the Committee. Shawn also stated that it was no fault of the Committee’s that the referendum did not pass. The budget is now driving what can be done.
Paul Kowack went on to say that the current data sheet, developed by Bob Shabunia and Peter Springsteel, is as accurate and up to date as possible. Paul would like to modify the spreadsheet by removing all estimated costs and let the driving value be $4.5m, which he feels is what is available for construction. This includes 7% contingency and the figures that are beyond Committee’s control (i.e. legal fees, borrowing costs). Paul continued that a firm cost should be established. He also asked what the $300k from the State has been earmarked for. Shawn stated that it can only be used for construction.
Paul also suggested isolating estimates for possible savings and that changes/reductions to the building, its square footage, etc., needs to be communicated to the Town. Paul finished by saying he would like to see something in writing relative to what happens to the Committee as time goes on, and what is expected of them.
Brian asked for clarification on the $300k and the effect on the budget.
Those funds would not increase the project budget to $6.6m, but would reduce the amount borrowed by the Town. The Committee could choose to go to Town and ask that the project budget be increased by that amount, but currently the Committee has only been authorized to spend $6.36m.
Brian asked how the Committee wishes to proceed with the building and how best to communicate changes to the Town. Up for discussion was how best to get the word to the public. Suggestions were mailings, the press, quarterly mailings w/updates.
Joe Gross felt that using the press was a standard method to communicate
Relative to Committee’s direction, Bob felt that Charlie has already begun this with the suggestions he previously discussed with Peter. Silver Petrucelli needs to be contacted for cost of redrawing the plans and to see if they see any other areas of cost savings. Bob sees no reason why Silver Petrucelli cannot get back to us within a week. He would like to see responses back to Committee by noon on Thursday. Bob wondered if Committee should look at changing the night of meetings from Monday. Bob thought that adding the $300k to the $6.36 should be considered. He assumes that the Town will be refiling with USDA for the loan. USDA does not like to leave obligations out more than 5 years, and we’ve reached that point. Also, the interest rate has dropped.
Bob went on that he has not seen any paperwork for the $330k and if Committee needs to approve any of it they should not be seeing it 10 minutes before a meeting. Also, the STEAP grant for the water line has to coordinate with this project.
Shawn informed the Committee that the water line application is currently with the Department of Health, which has recently put it out for a 30 day review. That project’s contract is currently under review with the Town’s attorney. As soon as they get the green light from Public Health and the attorney they can go out to bid on the water line.
Shawn Murphy and/or Nick Mullane plan on attending most of the CES Building Committee meetings.
Bob offered that he would be the Committee contact between Town Hall and Committee to make sure that paperwork required from the Selectmen’s office was being processed according to appropriate timelines.
Shawn stated that Peter Springsteel would be the appropriate person on this. Peter and Shawn have already been in discussion on the matter.
There is a contact at the State level that Shawn and Peter have been in discussion with relative to the $300k. A project budget needs to be in place prior to submitting the final paperwork.
Charlie remarked that we know the budget and need to make sure that the Town is informed that the building will not be the 30 year building originally been proposed. Cuts should be made intelligently so that the building is functional and can eventually be expanded upon. Charlie submitted a list of possible areas of reductions (attached).
Peter has a plan for getting the building within budget. Silver Petrucelli will need to be contacted for pricing on new drawings. If committee is not happy with Silver Petrucelli’s pricing, the Committee may want to consider looking at other architects. A schedule needs to be developed, the budget refined, these steps need to be undertaken right away. Paul would like to work with Peter on the timeline.
Nick mentioned that regarding exterior upgrades, there are design standards that will need to be met. He cautioned about not stripping the building down so that it looks like a warehouse.
OLD BUSINESS:
Charlie reviewed his list of possible cuts to the building (list attached).
Paul asked if Charlie’s proposals would still accommodate sleeping space for Ambulance personnel. It will.
The possibility of a well, rather than connecting to public water supply was mentioned. There is an issue with having a well close to a public water supply. Public Health would need to be consulted.
Peter took an analysis of the bids to figure out how many square feet the Committee could afford to build – 15,298 s.f. He presented a rough drawing of what he came up with for reductions, a building approximately 15,973 s.f. Brian had some concerns over loss of storage space and Ryan asked about doing deduct alts again. Peter pointed out that as much as possible needs to be trimmed in order to meet the budget. There’s always the chance that, should funds be available after the bids come in, something(s) could be added back in via change order. Committee does not want any complications in the bid documents. Peter felt the integrity of the original architectural drawings had been maintained, but Silver Petrucelli will still have a big job making the changes. He expected Silver Petrucelli’s
cost may come back in the vicinity of $150k.
Shawn asked if it was less expensive to continue with the same architect, rather than starting from scratch with a new one. Peter said that depends on what Silver Petrucelli comes back with for a price, but they should be given the opportunity to give us a price. If Committee wanted to go with a firm other than Silver Petrucelli, permission would be needed for the new firm to use Silver Petrucelli’s
CAD files, but when the plans have gone this far it would be almost easier to start from scratch.
Brian suggested that Committee move forward with contacting Silver Petrucelli and seeing what they come back with.
There was discussion relative to the exterior finish. Project will have to go through Planning and Zoning again. Committee had promised P&Z that effort would go into upgrading the exterior. Bob also had questions regarding what, if anything, was done to meet the energy code. Until the building manufacturer is known there is no way of knowing what the options are for exterior finish or insulation.
Committee directed Peter to send his drawing to Silver Petrucelli for their estimate on proposed changes and request they attend April 4, 2016 meeting. Peter will also ask Silver Petrucelli to bring any value engineering ideas they may have, as well as a schedule for moving forward.
Drawing is based on Silver Petrucelli’s June 15, 2015 A1:08 drawing.
Shawn commented that Silver Petruclli failed to provide drawings that met the budget the last time.
NEW BUSINESS
Selectmen are still seeking one more individual to sit on the Committee – someone experienced in the building trade, who is familiar with large construction projects.
ADJOURN:
MOTION to adjourn made by Paul Kowack, second by Charles Steinhart V
All in favor, meeting adjourned at 8:15 PM
Next meeting scheduled for 7:00 PM on April 4, 2016
Charles A. Steinhart, V
Possible Building Cuts
March 28, 2016
1. Remove all exterior upgrades
2. Take off all awnings
3. Remove 5th bay
4. Move Radio Room into the large, empty storage room
5. Delete the Engineer’s office
6. Delete the workshop
7. Delete sprinkler system
8. Delete sink in copy room
9. Make kitchen a residential kitchen. Cut all appliances and fixtures. Wire for future
10. Cut the front of the building down as it was shown in delete alt.
11. Turn tow of the private restrooms into the private bunk rooms. Keep the 2 private bathrooms near the center of the building
12. Move all rooms from the end of the building and size them to fit in the area between the living space and the bays. This is leaving the Decon Rooms intact.
13. By doing this, the electrical and water supply get moved to the center of the building. This will make shorter runs for services.
14. By leaving the endo of the building empty it will allow for additions to the building to be easier in the future
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