May. 13, 2026 - Building Committee Meeting

Approved June 10, 2026

MPS BUILDING COMMITTEE MEETING

Oliphant Administration Building

Michael S. Pinto Conference Room

26 Oliphant Lane, Middletown, RI 02842

May 13, 2026, 4:30pm

Members in Attendance:

| Present | Voting Member | Name | Title |
| X | Yes | Edward Brady | Chair, Community Member |
| X | Yes | William Nash | Vice Chair, School Committee Clerk |
| X | Yes | William Niemeyer | Superintendent of Schools |
| X* | Yes | Tami Holden | School Committee Member |
| X | Yes | Ed Collins | Middletown Shared Facilities Director |
| N | Yes | Thomas P. Welch, III | Town Council Vice President |
| X | Yes | Peter Connerton | Town Council Member |
| X | Yes | Donna Sweet | Middletown High School Principal |
| X | Yes | Michelle Fonseca | Asst Superintendent for Teaching and Learning |
| R | Yes | Shawn Brown | Town Administrator, Local Budget Official |
| X | Yes | Don Morin | Secretary, Community Member |
| X | Yes | Marc Thayer | Community Member |
| X | Yes | Dan Thibeault | Community Member |
| N | Alternate | Gregory Huet | Alternate Member of School Committee |
| N | Alternate | Christopher Logan | Alternate Town Council Member |
| P | Alternate | Jerry Haas | Gaudet Middle School Principal |
| X | Alternate | Marc Tanguay | Town Finance Director, Alt. Local Budget Official |

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

• Tami Holden arrived at 4:50pm

1.       The meeting was called to order at 4:30 pm by Ed Brady.  Eleven (11) of thirteen (13) voting members were present or represented by an alternate.

2.       Also present: Justin Bernard, Colliers Project Leaders

3.       Present via Zoom: Colin McCarthy, Colliers Project Leaders; Matt LaRue, HMFH Architects; Ed Cifune and Emma Osborne, DBVW Architects

·         ** MOTION:** Marc Thayer moved to accept the meeting minutes from April 15, 2026, and Peter Connerton seconded.

·         ** DISCUSSION:** None

·         ** VOTE:** The motion passed unanimously (11-0).

3.1   Forest Avenue Elementary Schematic Design Review

·         Ed Cifune shared several slides highlighting the scope of work included in the Schematic Design (SD) for the Forest Avenue School.  Ed reminded the group that the school will be the future home for pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and first grade students.

·         The work is focused on restroom renovations, window replacement, unit ventilator replacement, new sprinkler system and fire service, flooring replacement of the resilient floors in the 1994 wing, a new elevator and hoist way, limited ADA and code improvements, and a new monument site sign.

·         The plan is for this work to be done after Valley and the new Middle High School are completed, starting in September of 2027 and finishing in May of 2028 while the building is empty.

·         The update from HMFH/DBVW can be viewed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v0c6Bbv4oT0ccYrfxBn_F37GdXJYJUYo/view?usp=sharing .

4.1   MSHS Project Update

·         Justin Bernard shared information from Gilbane’s monthly dashboard report.

·         Safety Update

·         Last week was safety week, which was very successful all around.

·         Last month there was one additional lost time injury which resulted from an iron worker being injured when a chain he was using to do some hoisting failed.

·         Additional safety precautions were put in place as a result.

·         Document Control

·         159 Submittals in review

·         7 RFI’s in review

·         Schedule

·         Mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) risers are starting to go in.  The mason has now mobilized and will begin putting up the air vapor barrier (AVB) on the high school wing next week.  This is a huge milestone to really start putting that skin on the building and getting it more weathertight.

·         Financial Status

·         Estimated PCO’s: $839,253

·         Progress Photos

·         Drone Flyover – Justin shared the drone flyover from April 24th and walked the group through some recent photos of construction progress.

4.2   Valley Elementary Project Update

·         Justin provided the following update on the work at Valley Elementary:

·         New Water Service Design

·         The project team is still waiting for information from Newport Water to complete the new water service design.

·         Summer 2026 Preplanning

·         Primary Focus for summer of 2026

·         Nurse’s Suite

·         First Floor Bathrooms

·         Elevator Shaft

·         Painting in select areas

·         ACT in select areas

·         Bentley plans to deliver a jobsite trailer and storage containers to the west lot on May 22nd.

4.3   Forest Avenue Elementary Project Update

·         Schematic Design was issued to Ellana and Bentley for estimating May 6th.

·         A budget following SD estimating and reconciliation and value engineering is targeted for mid-June.

4.4   Master Schedule Update

·         Justin shared the high-level master schedule.  Nothing has changed since last month.

4.5   Budget Update

·         Justin shared the following budget update, stating that the budget has increased due to additional bond interest.

·         Project Funding Available: $201,797,059

·         $190,000,000 Bond Funded

·         $484,308 Appropriation from General Fund

·         $5,363,000 Bond Interest (as of May 4, 2026)

·         $5,700,000 Bond Premium

·         $249,751 NEVI Grant

·         Project Budget: $200,049,925

o   Middle/High School: $173,623,000

o   Valley Elementary: 20,182,100

o   Forest Avenue Elementary: $6,244,825 (estimated pre-design budget)

·         Expenditures to Date: $43,351,100

·         Contracted: $170,958,700

·         Total Anticipated Costs (excluding Contingences): $189,741,600

4.6   Four Week Look Ahead

·         The MS/HS project will continue with Exterior Utilities, Concrete Slabs, AVB, Exterior Masonry, Steel Decking, Roofing, Spray Fireproofing, Interior & Exterior Framing and MEP Fire Protection Rough-in.

·         The security vendor RTA should be ready for the next meeting.

·         Valley Elementary Summer 2026 Preplanning will continue.

·         Forest Avenue Elementary School Schematic Design Cost Estimating and Value Engineering expected mid-June.

·         The update from Colliers can be viewed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ap3MmRNHyd6DK7KAL8tjylLU38jhGgul/view?usp=sharing.

5.1 MSHS Welding Shop CTE Program Update

·         Superintendent Niemeyer informed the Building Committee that a stop work order has been issued for the wood shop area to provide time for the design of a welding shop.  The school district received a grant to pay for the design of the space.

·         The school district has been working with a consultant who is finalizing the equipment list and ventilation needs and will apply for another grant for implementation.

5.2 Cultural, Historical, Memorial Subcommittee Update

·         Bill Nash stated that the committee will be meeting in the next week and has identified floor colors, minor changes to the cafeteria walls, graphics, signage, and some additional stair work.

·         He also mentioned that the subcommittee has had inquiries from athletic boosters, the Krupowicz planetarium folks and others.  They are taking input from many groups to consider for the new school design.

·         A rebranding is also underway within the school district, hoping to standardize the logo and mascot.  A more comprehensive update will be brought to the next building committee meeting.

5.3 Four Week Look Ahead

·         Graduation is scheduled for June 13th so planning will be undertaken to ensure that the construction project work is well coordinated with graduation day.

·         The next Building Committee meeting will be on June 10th at 4:30pm.

·         ** MOTION**: Superintendent Niemeyer moved for the Building Committee to adjourn at 5:18pm and Marc Tanguay seconded. The motion passed unanimously (11-0).

Respectfully Submitted,

Don Morin