South Windsor Public Building Commission
Minutes – Regular Meeting – June 18, 2014
Members Present: Howard (Hap) Fitts, James Neary, Ken Jeski, Carol Kelley, Charley Lyons, Tim Wentzell and Edward O’Connell
Also Present: Town Council Liaison, Keith Yagaloff, BOE Representatives, Dr. Carter, and Patrick Hankard; Strategic Building Solutions representatives Marc Sklenka and Chuck Warrington
Chairman Fitts called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM.
Approval of Minutes: A motion was made by Mr. Neary, seconded by Mr. Jeski, to approve the minutes of the June 11, 2014 meeting. Mrs. Kelley noted that Mr. Yagaloff’s name should be listed separately from the commission. Motion approved unanimously.
Mr. Fitts noted that the meeting was called in order to review the responses to the Requests for Proposals from the six firms invited to respond. Mr. Sklenka of Strategic Building Solutions discussed the process since the June 11 meeting noting that SBS issued the RFP to the six short listed firms, including, SLAM Collaborative, Tai Soo Kim Partners, JCJ Architecture, Antinozzi Associates, Moser Pilon and DRA on Thursday, June 12. Two addenda were issued, one on Friday and one on Monday, in response to questions posed. The proposals were received from each of the four firms and were reviewed by Strategic Building Solutions. SBS then applied the information from the RFPs to their rating system.
Mr. Sklenka answered questions posed by commission members regarding the proposals received and the ranking applied. He noted that the commission had six really quality firms for consideration. Mr. Warrington described the weighting and the formula within the rankings, noting that the lowest fee would meet with the maximum 10 points. Mr. Sklenka then opened and read the six firm’s base fee proposal submissions as follows:
SLAM Collaborative $1,912,000
Tai Soo Kim Partners (MBE) $1,964,000
JCJ Architecture $1,795,000
Antinozzi Associates $1,799,500
Moser Pilon $1,987,000
DRA $1,540,600
DRA was the only firm with exceptions to the contract. SBS included the ratings into the chart they created and when questioned regarding their suggestion as to which firms to move forward with, they suggested that the commission interview the top four firms on the rating chart. Mr. Neary noted his concern with the low fee proposal of DRA questioning the reason for the low fee.
Based on the completed ratings reviewed by SBS, the ranking of the top four firms were as follows: 1) SLAM Collaborative, 2) Tai Soo Kim Partners 3) JCJ Architecture 4) DRA Architects. In response to a question posed regarding the possibility of calling back the two firms not picked for an interview, Mr. Warrington clarified for the commission that based on CT state statute, the PBC is required to interview no more than four architectural firms. Mrs. Kelley questioned whether SBS had any thoughts about any of the firms not delivering a product on time to which Mr. Sklenka responded no, noting that they are all qualified firms. Dr. Carter added that she spoke to an end user for each one of the firms being considered and did not hear a bad comment about any one of them. She noted her
disappointment that Moser Pilon was not in the mix to be interviewed noting that she has worked with them on prior projects and would have liked to have heard from them.
After further discussion regarding the firms, Mr. Neary made a motion, seconded by Mr. O’Connell to invite SLAM Collaborative, Tai Soo Kim Partners, JCJ Architecture and DRA Architects to make a presentation to the commission. Motion passed unanimously.
The interviews will take place on June 30 at 4:00 PM. Mr. Sklenka advised that SBS would send the invitations to interview and provide them with the basis for the evaluation by the PBC. Mr. Sklenka reviewed the evaluation criteria that would be presented to the firms as well as a sampling of the questions to be asked that evening.
Mr. Sklenka and Mr. Warrington departed the meeting.
Dr. Carter introduced Attorney Michael Markowicz to provide the commission with information regarding hiring an owner’s representative for the project. Attorney Markowicz described the responsibilities of the various roles within a construction project, i.e. architect, general contractor and owner’s representative. Commission members discussed the merits of using an owner’s representative.
Dr. Carter noted that SBS is contracted to work with the PBC through the architect selection process and contracted with the board to complete the ED049, noting that following the architect selection, for all purposes SBS’ work is completed. Keith Yagaloff noted that SBS has connected with the PBC very well and that the town charter allows for the Town Council to provide a bid waiver in these types of situations, noting that the commission could request a waiver of the council. It was determined that the commission would go to RFP for the owner’s representative in order to see several companies.
A motion was made by Mr. Neary, seconded by Mr. Wentzell to request Attorney Markowicz to draft an RFP for an owner’s representative for the commission’s review at its next meeting. Motion passed unanimously.
There being no other business to come before the meeting, the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Ann M. Walsh
Clerk
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