MINUTES
TOWN COUNCIL/
BOARD OF EDUCATION/
PUBLIC BUILDINGS COMMITTEE
SPECIAL JOINT MEETING
AUDITORIUM
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2008, 7:00 P.=
M.
PRESENT: =
Town Council
= ; &n= bsp; = ; <= /span>Elaine Adams, Chairman
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; David Demirs (sitting as a Public Buildings Committee member)
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Richard DiFederico
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Richard Fusco
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Carl Mancini
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Scott Marotta
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Raymond Primini, Vice Chairman
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Board of Education
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Joseph Apicella
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Gina Calabrese, Chairman
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Kevin Killeen
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Thomas Lambert
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Richard Mazzamaro, Vice Chairman
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Janice Pond
=
; &n=
bsp; =
; <=
/span>Public
Buildings Committee
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; John Chipko, Vice Chairman
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; David Demirs
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Karl Kuegler, Secretary
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; John
Waiculonis
ABSENT: =
Town
Council
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Paul Rinaldi
=
; &n=
bsp; =
; <=
/span>Board
of Education
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mary Colangelo, Secretary
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mary Dzioba
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Todd Griffin
=
; &n=
bsp; =
; <=
/span>Public
Buildings Committee
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Brian Bellagamba
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Peter Dzioba
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Robert LeBlanc
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PAGE 2
OTHERS PRESENT: Karen Baldwin, Superintendent of Schools
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Loren Bobinski, C.E.S.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Remo Ceniccola, Facilities Manager, Board of Education
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Charles Frigon, Town Manager
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; Matt
Geary, Principal,
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Thad Hasbrouck, Director of Curriculum
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Brian Holmes, O & G Industries
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Fred Khericha, Kaestle Boos Associates
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; David King, Kaestle Boos Associates
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; Marylu
Lerz, Principal,
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Frank Nardelli, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Lorel Purcell, O & G Industries
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Larry Schilling, O & G Industries
1.&nb= sp; Convene Special Joint Meeting - 7:00 P.M.
Ms. Adams, Chairman, Town Council, Called the Special Joint Meeting to Order at= 7:02 p.m.
Ms. Calabrese, Chairman, Board of Education, Called the Special Joint Meeting to Order at 7:04 p.m.
Ms. Calabrese: Since we asked for this meeting on= July 1st, I just wanted to state that the Board of Education is very grateful that the Town’s budgets passed yesterday. We consider this extremely importa= nt and that it’s already passed publicly we would like the Town Council to l= ift the moratorium in its entirety. I would also like to take a moment and introduce our new School Superintenden= t, Karen Baldwin. Would you like= to say a couple of remarks at this time?
Ms. Baldwin: Sure. First off I’m very pleased t=
o be
here as the school’s Chief Executive Officer and working in the wonde=
rful
community of
Ms. Adams: Yes, (inaudible) by the Board of Education on the current status and future planning recommendation with reg= ard to the three school project, when we did this agenda we had (inaudible) we tri= ed to cover every possible scenario we would need (inaudible) so yes we have (= inaudible).
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Ms. Baldwin: Thank you very much and again I= 217;d like to thank the whole community for a warm welcome to Watertown and IR= 17;m very pleased to be here working on behalf of the children and families and = the entire community, so I look forward to this meeting tonight and moving forw= ard.
Mr. Porter, Chairman, Public Buildings Committee, Called the Joint Meeting to O= rder at 7:10 p.m.
2.&nb=
sp; Pledge
of Allegiance
&= nbsp; Ms. Adams, Chairman, Town Council, led the Pledge of Allegiance.
3.&nb= sp; Roll Call
Ms. LaForme, Clerk, executed the Roll Call.
4. =
Presentation
from Kaestle Boos, Architect of the Three School Projects regarding the His=
tory
of the Project from Design Authorization to Present
&= nbsp; Mr. Porter: Before we start I’d like to give a brief background on the Public Buildings Committee. The P.B.C. is a permanent buildings committee created by ordinance to oversee all town buil= ding projects. It’s a 9 memb= er commission with no more than 5 members of any one political party. The members serve 3 year staggered terms. Since being created th= e PBC members have come from various backgrounds that have greatly benefited each construction project. The imp= ortant thing is the P.B.C. can only function after being charged by the Town Counc= il for a particular project. Wit= h that, I’d like to introduce Kaestle Boos, the architects for the projects a= nd also O & G Industries is here as our construction manager.
&= nbsp; Ms. Adams: Just give us a min= ute to evacuate the stage so we can view the presentation.
&=
nbsp; Mr.
King: I’m the princ=
ipal
in charge of these projects from Kaestle Boos Associates. I have a very brief presentation
tonight. Just to give you a l=
ittle
bit of background very briefly on the school and then where we are in the
bidding process and how things sit at this time. As you’ll notice, we’re
talking tonight about the High School and
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&= nbsp; Fi= rst let’s talk about the High School and very briefly you see the school,= the football field, the track fields in the back, proposed playing fields, prop= osed tennis courts, entrance drive, new parking and so forth, there is land down= at the lower part of the site that at one time was thought could be used for f= ield development but contains a significant amount of wetlands which would have required an approval by the Army Corps of Engineers which is a very lengthy process and would also require a significant amount of site work and retain= ing walls, so the cost was prohibitive, down in this area down here, and prohibitive in a timeframe which would have been expensive so we moved the fields elsewhere.
&= nbsp; The whole building when it’s done, you see the green part we propose to do out in front and the rest of the school is as you see it. All told there are actually 3 floo= rs, not through the whole school but through parts of it and will be about 200,001 square feet when we’re done. You have a new media center that will be constructed at about 12,000 square feet, guidance area with some classrooms, new administrative area an= d a new music area. We’re recreating the administrative area cause we want to keep the administration= in the front of the building at the main entrance, and this is the most logical place on which to add to the school.
&= nbsp; Ju= dson, you see the school’s proposed addition is to the left, parking development, new parking and bus drop-off areas along the street area and t= hen working its way down around the back. You have some play areas in here and the ball field is in this area = now over from where it is now. Th= ere are some road improvements for this part of the street as well and we’= ;ll just touch on that briefly. W= hen Judson is done we’ll have a little over 63,000 square feet of space.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Right now it’s got just under 50,000 square feet so you can see it will have some new classrooms including art and music on your left and right here and a new computer room, a media center, some expansion of administrative space here and then new connectors= to the classroom wing in the back. Those are necessary because there is a level change between the two and the connectors that are there now do not meet accessibility requirements, it’s too steep so they’re being redone.
&= nbsp; Th= ere has been some discussion and inquiry and maybe some misunderstanding about alternates on the project in the bid process, so let’s just back up f= or a second and talk about what an alternate is. What you see here is the definitio= n of alternate, which is right in the specification . An alternate is an amount proposed= by bidders and stated on the bid form for certain work defined in the bidding requirements that may be added to or deducted from the base bid amount if t= he owner decides to accept a complete for products, materials, systems, equipm= ent or installation met as described in the contract documents. We typically incorporate a bill of alternates into the bid packages as a means of making sure we are within bu= dget on bid day. So if we have identified a portion of work that we think we need or a system or an upgrad= e to a material that has been requested and we think that it may or may not tilt= the budget on bid day unfavorably than we decide to make it an alternate and th= en we can evaluate what that individual cost is, we can isolate it and see exa= ctly what the bidders proposed, never mind what all the estimators think, but see what the bidders proposed and then we can go back and evaluate all of those alternates separately and decide which ones might be included and which one= s we just can’t afford.
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&= nbsp; Ms. Adams: Would that be a Bo= ard of Ed decision?
&= nbsp; Mr. King: It would be, I thin= k (inaudible) project so the P.B.C. (inaudible). That’s my understanding.
&= nbsp; Mr. Porter: The P.B.C., in concurrence with the Facilities Subcommittee of the Board of Education, and then the Board actually does approve if alternates are decided upon. As a background, the Buildings Com= mittee is charged with the brick and mortar, how the building is utilized, what functions it carries, etc., is a decision made by the Board of Ed. There are two groups, the Board de= cides yes we can do it as an alternate, and we concur and give it back as an add alternate.
&= nbsp; Mr. King: What we see here is= all of the alternates that were included in the bids for the 2 projects we pres= ented to both groups (inaudible) they develop (inaudible). On the High School there were 15 b= id alternates proposed which is a list you see here. I’ll just tick it off briefl= y, we won’t get into the particulars but we can go back and do that if you = like.
· One has to do with balcony area to increase = the seating capacity of the auditorium.
· There were 3 different upgrades in regards to flooring in the corridors.
· One was the construction of the athletic fie= ld #4, which was one of the fields in back of the school which required a significant amount of earth work in order to accomplish.
·
The next was synthetic turf for field #2.
· LED site lights is a different kind of light fixture which uses LED lamps instead of the traditional metal (inaudible).<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> They have a slightly higher initia= l cost going in but they use about a tenth of the electricity and last a very very long period of time, so it more than pays for itself over its useful life s= pan.
· Abuse resistance gypsum board, this is a pro= duct that you can hit with a hammer and it wouldn’t make a hole and we lik= e to use that at least the first 4 feet or so because that’s the area that takes the most abuse.
· Heat and smoke detectors, we were approached= by the Fire Marshall and asked if we could add smoke and heat detectors within= the school throughout. They are n= ot mandated by code in every single room or space but that’s the request= and we felt it was a good safety item and put it in as an alternate to see how = much it would cost.
· Synthetic turf field #1, that is the main football field out in the front of the building and that’s a separate= (inaudible) and one that has been discussed for a long time.
· Whether to do the work on the tennis courts, we’ve isolated as an alternate, again expressing concern over being within budget.
· Sheet flooring in the science labs, this was= an upgrade in those particular areas to make them easier to clean and less res= istant to picking up germs, etc.
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· The drainage outfall was a storm drainage th= at was requested by the Town’s agencies where storm water drains all the= way down onto, this is to the south, which is (inaudible) property and we were asked to do some additional drainage work there beyond what is there now.
· The swimming pool area, the heater there is = on its last leg and we isolated the cost of what that is worth.
· Sun shades on the south and west facing side= s of the building, we added an external shading device made out of aluminum for = each window and the purpose of that is to keep the sun off of the windows and th= at would therefore lower any kind of mechanical ventilation, cooling type costs over the life span of (inaudible).
&= nbsp; Ms. Adams: All of those are p= art of the project or no?
&= nbsp; Mr. King: All of these were i= dentified as alternates in the bid, so that bid day if we took the total of the base = bid plus all of these alternates and we were above budget, we would have to go = back and make some choices as to which ones we can and cannot do.
&= nbsp; Ms. Adams: But are those all = going to be built? Do we have the m= oney for them?
&= nbsp; Mr. King: It looks like we don’t have the money for all of them, and so after reviewing the actu= al cost with the construction manager and doing what we call scope reviews with the various trade contractors and tried to balance that number and get as m= uch as we can, we believe these are the ones we are going to be able to do so:<= /p>
&= nbsp; The auditorium will be renovated but we won’t be installing a balcony the= re so the seating capacity will be what is on the regular floor what you have. There is still a lot of= work that will be done in the auditorium.
&= nbsp; Mr. Demirs: (Inaudible) you s= aid we’re going to be able to do?
&= nbsp; Mr. King: Yes.
&= nbsp; Ms. Adams: Can you repeat Dave’s question?
&= nbsp; Mr. King: Sure. Dave’s question was and the clarification is that all of the items that are (inaudible) here are the on= es that we believe we will be able to accept and the ones that are faded out a= re the ones we cannot do.
&=
nbsp; Ms.
Adams: Any further
questions? Why don’t yo=
u do a
few more slides and then we’ll see if there are any more questions.
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&=
nbsp; Mr.
King: Okay. So we have a (inaudible) to accept=
the
upgrade (inaudible) which we’ll state (inaudible). Heat and smoke detectors we think =
we can
afford to put those in at least somewhat.&=
nbsp;
Obviously the synthetic turf football field we do have money for.
&= nbsp; On Judson there were 8 alternates, some of them much similar to the others:
· Athletic field improvements which consist of putting under drainage in and regarding, etc. which was not contemplated initially, but we thought if we had the money we could do it and make it th= at much better.
· Again LED site lights.
· Curb, that should actually be cast stone and= (inaudible) that has to do with the finish on exterior walls (inaudible).
· Once again abuse resistant gypsum board.
· Heat and smoke detectors.
· Corridor flooring upgrade.
· Sheet flooring in art and music.
· Final cleaning.
&= nbsp; The bids for the Judson project however were much higher than we anticipated an= d we really don’t have the money to do any of these alternates.
&= nbsp; Ms. Adams: Can you re-bid these? I mean obviously we ne= ed to start soon, but some of these things, can they be re-bid? Can we get a better bid?
&= nbsp; Mr. King: What we can do is t= his, as the project goes along, sometimes we have, we also have contingencies bu= ilt into every project. A conting= ency is to pay for unforeseen conditions that tend to come up when we do a renovation project. As the pr= oject advances we find that we discovered all of the things that we are going to discover and there may in fact be money left over, at which time we could either re-bid or renegotiate some of these things and be able to put them b= ack in. That was the case here at= Swift as a matter of fact, so the door is never shut all the way (inaudible).
&= nbsp; Mr. Mazzamaro: At Public Buil= dings Committee meetings once a month O & G gives a report and they give a complete construction report, it’s probably 15 or 20 pages long to wh= ich they go over the month’s activity, where they are on the project, whe= re they are on budget, where they are on timing, and it’s very concise e= very single month and the Council members can come to that and be updated as wel= l.
&=
nbsp; Ms.
Adams: Thank you, Rich.
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&=
nbsp; Mr.
Mazzamaro: Every month the
Public Buildings Committee holds a meeting, there is a regular monthly meet=
ing
where O & G, their project manager comes and gives a complete report to=
the
Public Buildings Committee on that particular month’s activities on t=
he
project, where they are financially, what was done, how much progress was m=
ade
on the project and the contingency is always listed, what money is in the
contingency what may be used, what may not be used, it’s all there ev=
ery month
and any Council member, we would love to have a liaison from the Council
&= nbsp; Ms. Adams: There was talk abo= ut a Board of Ed webs site where they were putting all of this information on there. Is that there? I don’t need any more paper,= but I would like the ability to take a look and see these updates. Is this something that can be done? (Inaudible.)
&= nbsp; Ms. Baldwin: If we receive th= at information electronically we can put it up on our web page.
&= nbsp; Ms. Adams: Because a lot of us Council members (inaudible) care and would really like to know. Gee, were they able to do the plan= ned work at the High School or were they able to (inaudible) and then it could = be posted on the Board’s web site, that way the entire public and there wouldn’t be more paper (inaudible).
&= nbsp; Mr. King: I’m told that= for the Swift project that the construction reports were posted.
&= nbsp; Ms. Adams: Thank you. They are also going to post these = on our web site (inaudible). I think= we have public participation as scheduled after the presentation, so at that t= ime we will take questions from the audience.
&= nbsp; Mr. King: Moving on with Juds= on, during the local review process we had received comments and certain issues were identified that were added into both projects and you see here a listi= ng of those items and we were asked to identify the cost at this time for those particular items. We had iden= tified them in our cost estimates but what happened (inaudible) and as you see here there were 5 items that were added, and the costs are listed. The bottom one, which is athletic = field #4, which is one the items that was an alternate at the High School that was not accepted and part of the = reason is the cost that you see.
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&= nbsp; Le= t’s talk about going forward or not going forward. Every action has an implication and delaying the project has cost implications and other implications with it a= lso so with that regard, with regards to the High School at this point in time asbestos removal is one of the very first things that must occur in an exis= ting building in order for renovations to take place. That has to be removed safely and = for workers and for returning students of course. The asbestos removal work at the H= igh School needs 6 to 8 weeks at least to be performed, therefore it can’t happen over a Christmas break, it can’t happen when school is in sess= ion, it can’t be done over Columbus day weekend, etc, it needs an extended period of time in order for that to happen. We have identified a reduced scope= of removal that can happen if the High School project goes forward right now.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> So that can’t happen because= of the concept they can do it, you can’t just say well let’s do it= in a couple of months, at the end of a fiscal year to be able to do that.
&= nbsp; The roof for the High School, except for the pool, the High School except the p= ool and Judson for that matter too was re-roofed about 4 years ago, maybe a lit= tle bit longer, but when we started the design process about 4 years ago, and t= hat re-roofing process gave you a 20 year guarantee for that. Now when we go forward at the High School and Judson which will get what we call the renovate to new status at= the State Department of Education which will include your reimbursement rate, t= hey want the roof to be guaranteed for 20 years, but the roof is already 4 years old so the guarantee is only good for 16 years, so we go to the roofing manufacturer and we say hey, we need to have this warranty extended so that it’s good for 20 years when the project is done. And they say to do that, here is w= hat the cost to that is and here are some routine maintenance kind of things or some precautionary things that should be incorporated into the project so w= hen the project is ended you’ll be able to get a roof guarantee for 20 ye= ars and those things are incorporated into the project they’re built in they’re not (inaudible). If that doesn’t happen the roofing manufacturer has told us that’s okay, but you’re at a point in time that if the project is delayed a = year or so then they wouldn’t be able to extend the warranty and we would = have to take the roof off and redo it. (Tape #1, Side A ended – may have missed some.) pitch on that = roof and they have to adjust the roof and make it steeper to comply with State S= tatute and that will cost more to be able to do that, for tapered installation, for roof blocking, for additional support, structural steel support, additional roof drains, all at an additional cost; we went to the construction manager= to see what the costs might be.
&=
nbsp; Bo=
ilers
at the High School, and to some degree at Judson. There are 3 boilers at the High Sc=
hool,
2 of them are not working. Th=
ey are
in disrepair, actually all 3 of them are old, 1 is still working
fortunately. We’re limp=
ing
along because we know that the whole heating system for the whole school ge=
ts
replaced as part of the project. If
we don’t go forward and the boiler decides to give up, then we can ha=
ve
ourselves in an emergency situation where there is no heat, because you
don’t have any backup and you’ll have to replace that boiler.
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&= nbsp; The pool roof is old, it’s shot, it’s leaking and is part of the project. We are very concerned about the increased potential for mold growth within the pool until this ro= of is replaced. If we don’t replace it or the project gets delayed we’re concerned about that happening.
&= nbsp; Of course one of the reasons we’re talking about this project at all has= to do with NEASC accreditation which is on warning right now and the delay in = the project won’t improve that.
&= nbsp; And then escalation of course, the cost of re-bidding the project, there is actually a cost of doing that over again and there is also an escalation th= at is going on every month within the construction trade.
&= nbsp; At Judson, similar story with asbestos, similar story with the roof, almost the same story with the boilers, and the same thing with re-bidding this projec= t.
&= nbsp; So Brian Holmes from O & G will talk to you a little bit now about what go= es into the costs.
&= nbsp; Ms. Adams: Are there any ques= tions from the Council, Board, or the Public Buildings Committee?
&= nbsp; Mr. Marotta: Did you consider= the usage of the dry erase walls to more actively have the students participate= at the High School? A lot of my college classes, I’m taking my master’s, I see these dry erase boards and they like the kids to get up.&n= bsp; Did you consider that as any part of this?
&= nbsp; Mr. King: Yes, that’s p= art of the project. I think if you w= alk through here, through Swift, you’ll see the same thing. That’s fairly straightforwar= d in a school (inaudible).
5. =
Presentation
from O & G Industries, Construction Manager of the
&=
nbsp; Mr.
Holmes: I’m the Ass=
istant
Vice President of O & G, charged with preconstruction. I’ve been involved in this p=
roject
since the start and (inaudible) background. Delay is the first thing I’d=
like
to look at. (Inaudible) it=
217;s
not huge in the big scheme of things, probably about $50,000 per school,
(inaudible) re-bidding, that’s a fairly small part but still a cost.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Roofing, a large cost. We refigured on the High School it=
could
be in the neighborhood of $2,500,000 of $3,000,000 to replace that roof.
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&= nbsp; Ju= dson, we figured the roof is somewhere over $1,000,000 to replace. Escalation, (Inaudible) next year, we’re basically estimating 7% to 8% in a year. (Inaudible) a certain project bein= g (inaudible) came out with 25% down the road. We keep getting these with metal, asphalt just keeps going up, and oil hasn’t come down yet (inaudible).&nb= sp; Another problem with bids they won’t hold them for more than 30 days, escalation (inaudible). You won’t be getting any reimbursement if you do have to replace the boil= ers plus the escalation, etc. Ove= rall if you delay the project a year, we feel you could be on the low side 10% m= ore, high side maybe 15% more for those two projects.
&= nbsp; Ms. Adams: One of the things = that I think the Council needs to know specifically what are the total bonds anticipated per school that are considered eligible for reimbursement and ineligible for State reimbursement? Do you have any examples of that?
&= nbsp; Mr. King: I don’t have = an exact figure for you but I can explain.&nb= sp; When we have a project that is designated as renovate to new, anythi= ng on school property generally speaking is now eligible for reimbursement, wi= th a few exceptions. Seating in th= e pool for example, anything off the property is not eligible, (inaudible) track lighting at the High School, that’s an ineligible cost. If the (inaudible) lines have to r= un across the street to get to the pole, they’ll want an isolated cost f= or that, so in the overall scheme of things those are (inaudible) well you can= be the judge of (inaudible) but when we have a project that’s renovate to new, all of these things that would (inaudible) so designated become eligib= le for reimbursement which is the case of what happened here at Swift School, = it takes a certain time to achieve that designation because they want to review things and we’ve given them our estimates of what these items are, th= ere are 70 or so categories that they want costs for, most of them for when they’re renovate to new, those numbers drop to zero (inaudible) reimbursement.
&= nbsp; Ms. Adams: That’s very important (inaudible) actual cost for the taxpayers. Do you want to add to what he said= on eligibility?
&= nbsp; Mr. Khericha: At Judson all t= he site work for the street are outside the property, they are not reimbursabl= e by the State. The new parking lo= t that we are planning to build, that will not be reimbursable by the State. The storm drainage across the stre= et and tied to the culvert on the other side, that will not be reimbursed by the State. Any work done outside = of the project, the State will not reimburse you for.
&= nbsp; Ms. Adams: These items that a= re not part of the plan are these items that Planning and Zoning insisted you had = to get your approvals?
&= nbsp; Mr. Khericha: Yes. At the High School also. At the High School we don’t h= ave any sidewalks outside of the property lines but the property line is, so th= at is not reimbursable. (Inaudib= le.) The upgrade which we did (inaudibl= e) at the High School at the request of P & Z, it’s an added cost but it will be reimbursable. Inside = (inaudible) all those costs will be reimbursed.
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PAGE 12
&= nbsp; Ms. Adams: (Inaudible) new Su= perintendent (inaudible) asking for monthly updates on the cash flow sheet, which are ca= se flows which we need to know, which he needs to know so he can hopefully plan for the bond. Now I believe i= t was November 07 the most recent cash flow sheet that he has and we need to know= who is going to be responsible for getting that to our Finance Director so he c= an appropriately bond and if they are going to need money because that cannot = go on, that’s how they do it. (Inaudible.)
&= nbsp; Ms. Purcell: I’m the pr= econstruction manager, yes, I did that first cash flow projection after we had our mutual meeting some time in November, yes, and that was the one, I did that, and I= was not asked to do any further updates after that, just that one cash flow.
&= nbsp; Ms. Adams: So you would be th= e one to give our Finance Director, Town Manager, (inaudible) so that they are aw= are, the Town needs to know when we need to bond it (inaudible).
&= nbsp; Mr. King: The State Board of = Education also wants cash flow projections which is typically when the project is imminent, either 60 or 90 days out and that’s because we want the reimbursement money coming along (inaudible).
&= nbsp; Ms. Adams: The Board of Ed has authorized a (inaudible) staff and I think it needs to be set up as to who = is going to oversee applications from the State and State grant reimbursement.= I mean that could be something I b= elieve that the Town could do, we do have the ability, but I think that’s something we need to do because as far as I know right now we have not bond= ed for anything and we need to get moving.
&=
nbsp; Ms.
Baldwin: We are in a posi=
tion
to take some (inaudible) State Department of Education notice to construct
project. The Town has reached=
out
and offered its assistance and it’s because of the tight timeline tha=
t (inaudible)
important of it but we do have an interim administrator who will oversee the
construction project as well as the finance and operation (inaudible) and h=
e (inaudible)
this is obviously a #1 priority.
His name is Gary Miller and he will begin at the Board of Ed Friday
afternoon and we will be welcoming him.&nb=
sp;
He is a retired administrator in the
&= nbsp; Ms. Adams: Any further questi= ons for O & G or Kaestle Boos?
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PAGE 13
6. =
Presentation
and Possible Action by the Public Buildings Committee on the current status=
and
future planning recommendations with regard to the 3 School Renovation Proj=
ect
&= nbsp; Mr. Porter: The presentation = by the Public Buildings Committee is what Dave King just presented. The only thing I would like to add= is to be sure that we’re going to lift that moratorium tonight so that we c= an move these projects forward. It’s an extremely tight timeframe. If the High School doesn’t s= tart, (inaudible) delay there will be significant cost increase. We are prepared (inaudible) work, to move everything along, there was a Special Meeting last night so we are ready to go, Kaestle Boos is ready to go, O & G is read= y to go, and the Town hopefully.
7. =
Presentation
and Possible Action by the Board of Education on the current status and fut=
ure
planning recommendations with regard to the 3 School Renovation Project
&= nbsp; Ms. Baldwin: Chairpersons Calabrese, Adams, and Porter and the members of the Board of Ed, Town Counc= il and the Public Buildings Committee and parents and citizens of the communit= y, I am very pleased to have this opportunity to formally address you and communicate to you the work of the Board of Education and administration relative to the school buildings projects at Judson Elementary School and Watertown High School. Let me= say at the outset that the Board of Education and I are looking to create a system-wide approach to improving (inaudible) for all children in our Town, recognizing the Board will as a community representative and policy develop= er and my role as a professionally trained educator. As the Board’s Chief Executi= ve Officer and educational leader I want to share with you the steps the Board= and the administration have taken in confidence with the Public Buildings Commi= ttee to move the renovation project forward.
&= nbsp; The Public Buildings Committee is a tremendous group of individuals with a stro= ng record of success renovating buildings in their community and their experie= nce is a (inaudible) during a challenging time. The High School and Judson bids as related to construction work were bid in combination. A combined bidding process allowed= for a lower pricing from trade contractors. Through this process, coupled with = value engineering and the lowering of soft costs items such as technology, equipm= ent, and furniture for both projects, we are within budget.
&= nbsp; I have the responsibility to ensure a safe, positive, and productive learning environment for children and staff on September 2, 2008. As the administration and support = staff work tirelessly to this project, to date let me detail for you the status of our opening.
·
· Judson is packed up and ready to be moved.
·
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PAGE 14
&= nbsp; Op= ening school decisions that remain in the balance due to the moratorium are:
· Should I move students to Heminway? There are code requirements that wi= ll have impacts at Judson and financial impacts on our community if I move the children to Heminway and Judson remains vacant for a year, so I need to know this.
· Logistically at the elementary level we still need to determine the location of the school, starting times of the school = day, transportation routes, communicate all of this information to parents, mobi= lize and move.
·
Logistically at
The big picture impact of delaying this decision, I think Kaestle Boos and O &a= mp; G presented to you, from a community standpoint I want to underscore the importance that strong schools related to a strong community and certainly Watertown High School needs to become our flagship school, not only through= our renovation project, but through our hard work, our program enhancement, instructional improvement, using that as we form our decision making, and continuing to recruit and attract high quality professionals to work in this community. This all has impac= t on delaying this decision.
&=
nbsp; So
we need the 3 weeks to get this work done, to mobilize and move, to communi=
cate
to parents, to finalize transportation routes. I do need a decision from you so w=
e can
move forward with the work of educating our children. We are all here because we care de=
eply
about children and the community. I
ask that you consider the information presented tonight and provide us with=
a
decision tonight so we can move forward collaboratively in the best interes=
ts
of our children. Thank you.
&=
nbsp; Ms.
Adams: Your first public
speaking before a crowd of parents and board members and you did great. We will now move back up on stage =
to
resume the meeting. I see some
children here so I ask for some consideration, that those parents who might
want to speak that have their children with them, that they be allowed to s=
peak
first so they can do what they need to do.=
In order to expedite things, those who would like to speak, is to ju=
st
take a position there as the speaker before you is done just to move
forward. Thank you. TOWN
COUNCIL/ BOARD
OF EDUCATION/ PUBLIC
BUILDINGS COMMITTEE SPECIAL JOINT MEETING AUGUST 6, 2008 PAGE 15 8.&nb=
sp; Public
Participation =
; Nad=
ine
Savage, &=
nbsp; Ms.
Savage: I was at the Town
Council meeting about 2 weeks ago when I believe Mr. Norton asked Mr. Primi=
ni
directly if this budget passed would the school construction go forward.
Theresa Meczk=
owski,
&=
nbsp; Ms.
Meczkowski: Good to be back. Yesterday I was standing on a stre=
et
corner in
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PAGE 16
&= nbsp; I can also tell you that yesterday there was a new feeling of hope that came about and if it turns out that you don’t lift it, that we don’t move forward with the project, I think what that’s going to tell the community is you can do what you want to do but we’re still going to = do what we want to do and that is such a huge disconnect that I think that fee= ling of community that was felt yesterday would be gone. I think that we would of wasted al= l of that work, and all of the hope that the parents and kids pulled together by telling them quickly and severely that actually we don’t have any aff= ect on what happens in this Town, so I think that we need to show them that what they did yesterday it was for a purpose because (inaudible). It will take away all of the power= that the parents and the kids think they have.
&= nbsp; I just want to remind everyone after speaking with this gentleman behind me t= hat the Judson project cannot move forward unless the High School project happe= ns as well. The High School can happen, but Judson cannot happen without the High School, so please push th= em both through because we are expecting a lot from you and we put you all here and expected a lot from you, you are the ones in the big fancy leather chai= rs, even though right now you’re in folding chairs, we still put you ther= e with our faith and our trust to do the right thing and so we’ll be waiting= .
=
; Guy
Buzzanco,
&=
nbsp; Mr.
Buzzanco: In June just 1,=
064
yes votes came in for the school budget, and based on that low turnout it m=
ight
be reasonable to assume that the Town would no longer support rebuilding our
schools. The truth, though, t=
o me
is that support never waned. =
The
problem I believe was simply a lack of clear, simple, and frankly apolitical
information. The voters neede=
d to
make an informed decisions. O=
ver
the past 2 weeks they got those facts, they developed a clear understanding=
of
what was at stake, and last night the number of people who voted yes increa=
sed
by 125%. Mr. Frigon, on July =
21st
you stated that the moratorium is in place because the Town Council was
reluctant to commit to $20,000,000 in bonding when they were not sure that =
the
Town could absorb the tax increase.
Mr. Frigon, last night the Town said it can. Mr. Bernier, on July 21st you
said you were looking for a reaffirmation from the people that these projec=
ts
are what they really want. La=
st night
the people reaffirmed that, 2,409 times.&n=
bsp;
As I pointed out earlier, as a mater of fact, that’s just abou=
t as
many yes votes as we got when we initially passed this project in June of 2=
007,
a date when school was still in session.&n=
bsp;
Ms. Adams, in your July 31st op ed piece you said moving
forward for the sake of moving forward without a viable and reasonable paym=
ent
plan is irresponsible. We now have a reasonable plan, let’s move
forward. Mr. Primini, on July=
21st
you said that the moratorium would be lifted if the budget passed, last nig=
ht
it did. Members of Council, l=
ast
night the voters of this Town kept their promise to rebuild our schools.
&= nbsp; Ms. Adams, Chairman, Town Council, Closed Public Participation at 8:10 p.m.
&= nbsp; (Tape #1, Side B ended – may have missed some.)
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PAGE 17
9.&nb=
sp; Adjournment
&= nbsp; Ms. Adams: After a 10 minute Recess the T= own Council is going to come back, there is a Special Meeting now of just the T= own Council. On that agenda are action items regarding the schools (inaudible) Council decides. At this time we need three separate motions.
MOTION: (Mr. Kuegler, sec. Mr. Chipko) to Adjourn the Special Joint Meeting at 8:11 p.m.=
Discussion: None
MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
MOTION: (Mr. Killeen, sec. Mr. Lambert) to Adjourn the Special Joint Meeting at 8:11 p.m= .
Discussion: None
MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
MOTION: (Mr. Mancini, sec. Mr. Marotta) to Adjourn the Special Joint Meeting at 8:11 p.m= .
Discussion: None
MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
Special Joint Meeting Adjourned at 8:11 p.m.
Ms. Adams, Chairman, Town Council, called a 10 minute Recess at 8:11 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
Elaine Adams, Chairman &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Gina Calabrese, Chairman
Town Council = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = Board of Education
&n=
bsp; =
; &n=
bsp; =
; &n=
bsp;
Robert Porter, Chairman
Public Buildings Committee
Approved: _______________________________
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Lynn M. LaForme, Clerk