Apr. 24, 2024 - Building Committee Meeting

Middletown

Minutes · April 24, 2024

Approved May 8, 2024

MPS BUILDING COMMITTEE MEETING

Oliphant Administration Building

Michael S. Pinto Conference Room

26 Oliphant Lane, Middletown, RI 02842

April 24, 2024 5:00pm

Members in Attendance:

X = Present/Voting; R=Represented; P=Present/Non-voting; N=Not Present

1. Call to Order

· The meeting was called to order at 5:00 pm by Vice Chair Bill Nash. Eleven (11) of thirteen (13) voting members were present or represented by an alternate.

· Also present: Justin Bernard, Colin McCarthy, OPM, Colliers Project Leaders; Matt LaRue, Alexandra Christiana, Soha Mohammed-Eltaher, HMFH Architects; and Ed Cifune, DBVW Architects.

· Present via Zoom: Derek Osterman, OPM, Colliers Project Leaders and Tina Stanislaski, HMFH Architects.

2. Consider and Vote on Meeting Minutes from April 10, 2024

3. Architect’s Update

3.1 Design Update

· Matt LaRue reminded the Building Committee that the architectural team is working through the Design Development phase, which should last through mid-July, after which the team will proceed onto the Construction Documents phase.

3.2 Site Utility Services Update

· Matt LaRue provided the Building Committee with an update on the site utilities. HMFH has been in contact with RI Energy and RI Energy believes that it has enough capacity to support the electrical facilities from Aquidneck Avenue, eliminating the need to run an underground line from Wyatt Road. This makes more sense as it will allow for a straight line to the transformers via overhead lines for most of the way, avoiding an underground line in the wetlands area and reducing cost. The underground line from Wyatt Road would have required a circuitous pathway out to the transformers and back to the electrical room. If RI Energy can confirm that enough capacity exists from the Aquidneck side of the property, that will become the new plan.

· Fire protection and domestic water connections are already planned to come from Aquidneck Avenue, under the driveway at the former Drive-In entrance.

· The Loading / Service area will be located to the north of the new building, between the building and the baseball field. It will be fenced in and served with a swing gate to the east and will be recessed and have a low retaining wall. The area will enclose the generator, recycling and trash compactors/dumpsters, and the loading dock. Enough space will exist for a WB-60 full trailer truck to back into the loading dock, with additional adjacent space to allow for smaller delivery vehicles.

· A 10,000-gallon grease trap to take the disposal from the kitchen will be outside the fenced-in service area and will need to be serviced periodically. This will be done via a pumping truck via another gate at the west side of the service area through which a hose can be dragged to access the manhole cover on the top of the grease trap.

3.3 Review of HVAC Interior Space Zoning

· Matt LaRue shared a picture of the thirteen HVAC zones that will be supported by rooftop air handling units. The locations of the air source heat pump modular air chiller plant and a makeup air unit that is associated with the kitchen were also shown. The chiller plant will supply hot and chilled water to the building and will be located at the north end of the building, while the air handling units will be located above the areas that they will be servicing to minimize duct cost.

· Acoustical screens and visual screens will be implemented to minimize the impact on the neighbors. An acoustical screen will be located on the north side of the building and will be as tall as the chiller units. The building will be solar ready, allowing for maximum rooftop space for future solar panels with minimal shadowing.

· The interior space zones will have different setpoint targets based on the type of usage. Those areas anticipated to get the most use in the summer will get a lower temperature setpoint. The setpoint for classrooms will be 78-80 degrees at 55% relative humidity while common areas and administration will be 75 degrees at 55% relative humidity. Stairways and storage rooms will be heat only with a target of 70 degrees. There is redundancy for heating via a backup boiler, but there is no redundancy for ventilation.

· Town Administrator Brown stated that Colliers will be setting up meetings with the Planning Department soon to coordinate what types of approvals will be needed.

· A meeting was held with the drama and music staff on April 22nd to review the music spaces and the auditorium.

· A meeting was held with Chartwells and the school department earlier in the day today to review the kitchen design, equipment, and the potential for using some space for concessions.

· The third and final sustainability workshop was held earlier in the day. This fulfills the NE-CHPS program requirements for the design development phase of the project.

· A review with the Special Education team and another with the athletics/PE team are scheduled for April 26th.

· A Zero Net Energy meeting is scheduled with RI Energy for May 3rd.

The update from HMFH can be viewed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ll-CeDc93pH0jQurEjZR_A4dDSKo52XQ/view?usp=sharing.

4. Owners Rep Update

4.1 Stage II RIDE SBA Preliminary Application Review Response Update

· Justin Bernard informed the Committee that the Town submitted a comprehensive response to the Stage II RIDE SBA Preliminary Application Review on April 16th. RIDE is currently reviewing it and is nearing completion. A response from RIDE is anticipated very soon.

· At this time Terri Flynn, 34 Warren Avenue addressed the Building Committee to state that while the response to RIDE was submitted on April 16th, she was under the impression that it was not posted for the public to view until the 23rd, after it was requested by a member of the public. She asked for an explanation of the document posting process. Town Administrator Brown explained that the document was posted within an hour of receiving it from Colliers on April 16 and that documents are being posted in real time. Don Morin added that he was looking at the Next Request site and confirmed that the document was in fact posted on April 16th, not the 23rd as suggested by Ms. Flynn.

4.2 CMaR RFP Interviews and CMaR Scorecard Update

· Justin Bernard stated that four interviews took place on April 16th. The first was with Bentley Companies for RFP MIDD-024-009 for elementary education capital improvements. The Technical Review Committee recommends that the full Building Committee ask the School Committee and Town Council to enter into negotiations with Bentley Companies for pre-construction and construction activities for the elementary education capital improvements. Bentley Companies has submitted their application for MPA 574, which is the Prime/General Contractor Prequal for K-12 Public School Construction process, where contractors can become prequalified as prime/general contractors by RIDE’s School Building Authority. Bentley’s application has been accepted by RIDE and is scheduled to be reviewed on Friday, April 26th. Justin has been assured by the state that they will expedite this approval and believes it will be in place well before the contract needs to be completed.

· For RFP MID-024-008, three firms were interviewed: Dimeo, Gilbane and Shawmut, and all three firms did well. The scorecards are available for review and will be included along with the purchasing process documentation. Gilbane scored the highest and the Technical Review Committee recommends that the Building Committee ask the School Committee and Town Council to enter into negotiations with Gilbane for pre-construction and construction activities for the new middle/high school.

4.3 Budget Update

· A full budget update has been uploaded to Dropbox. In summary, expenditures to date total $3,333,800 and contracted amounts now include ECM in addition to HMFH/DBVW, Colliers, and Civic. The contracted amounts for the two Construction Managers will be added once they are completed. Don added that the full budget update will be posted to the website after the meeting if anyone wants to see the detail.

4.4 Two Week Overview April 25 – May 8

· Following School Committee and Town Council approval of the CMaR recommendations, Colliers will enter contract negotiations with the recommended Construction Managers in anticipation of completing them by early June.

· The update from Colliers can be viewed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L03uNVC33NhHrNEPl61U8s5DwlAu71ZE/view?usp=sharing.

5. School Building Committee Update

5.1 Discussion regarding awarding a Construction Manager at Risk contract for MIDD-024-008 for the new Middle High School to Gilbane Building Company

· Vice Chair Bill Nash and Justin Bernard explained the process that was followed by the Technical Review Committee (TRC) to come up with the CMaR recommendations. The TRC and Colliers scored the prospective bidders based on their proposals, and then followed up the scoring with face-to-face interviews with each bidder. Eleven categories were scored, three by the TRC and eight by Colliers and Gilbane scored the highest of the three firms. Gilbane also did very well during the interview process.

· ** MOTION:** Greg Huet moved that the Building Committee recommend to the School Committee and Town Council to award a Construction Manager at Risk contract for MIDD-024-008 for the new Middle High School to Gilbane Building Company and Tom Welch seconded. The motion passed unanimously (11-0).

5.2 Discussion regarding awarding a Construction Manager at Risk contract for MIDD-024-009 for elementary education capital improvements to Bentley Companies

· Vice Chair Bill Nash reiterated that we only received one bid for this contract but that the Technical Review Committee was happy with their proposal and their interview and recommends that the contract be awarded to Bentley Companies.

· Marc Thayer asked if we need to wait until they were on the MPA 574 approved list before recommending them and suggested that the Building Committee pass over the motion until Bentley is added to MPA 574. Superintendent Kraeger suggested that we amend the motion to make it subject to Bentley being added to MPA 574.

· ** MOTION:** Greg Huet moved that the Building Committee recommend to the School Committee and Town Council to award a Construction Manager at Risk contract for MIDD-024-009 for elementary education capital improvements to Bentley Companies subject to MPA 574 approval and Tom Welch seconded. The motion passed unanimously (11-0).

5.3 Ongoing Coordination Meetings

· Town Administrator Brown explained that he met with the base commander yesterday and he is supporting over our application for the Department of Defense Infrastructure Grant. The Town has a grant writer from Compete RI to assist with the grant writing. Grants between $500K an $10M are available. The Town, the School Department and the Navy Base will collaborate on the writing of a grant to support the construction of buildings to support the Navy and students that come through the district. Pre-K is one of the services that the Navy wants to support as they do not have enough capacity on the base to support this.

· Town Administrator Brown met with representatives from Davies High School in Lincoln about collaborating on the Renew America Grant program. This grant is from the Department of Energy and focuses on energy improvements to the buildings. One needs at least ten buildings to apply for the grant, so Middletown, Lincoln Public Schools and Davies are teaming up on this. Both grants have a June deadline.

· Town Administrator Brown also suggested that the Committee start thinking about what to call the schools in the future. Superintendent Kraeger stated that the School District has a naming policy in place. Vice Chairman Nash mentioned that there are many locations already named after different entities. Town Administrator Brown suggested that the Superintendent bring the policy and the list of what areas have been named after someone to a future meeting.

· ** ACTION:** Bring the naming policy and the list of what areas have already been named after someone to a future Building Committee meeting. – Superintendent Kraeger

5.4 Two Week Look Ahead

· The next School Building Committee meeting will be in two weeks. Ongoing coordination meetings will continue.

6. Adjournment

· ** MOTION**: Tom Welch moved that the Building Committee adjourn at 5:57pm and Greg Huet seconded. The motion passed unanimously (13-0).

Future Meeting Schedule – The next meeting will be on May 8, 2024 at 5:00p.m. at the Oliphant Administration Building.

Respectfully Submitted,

Don Morin