Aug. 21, 2024 - Building Committee Meeting

Approved September 11, 2024

MPS BUILDING COMMITTEE MEETING

Oliphant Administration Building

Michael S. Pinto Conference Room

26 Oliphant Lane, Middletown, RI 02842

August 21, 2024 4:00pm

Members in Attendance:

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

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

• Peter Connerton arrived at 4:07pm; Tom Welch arrived at 4:56pm

·         The meeting was called to order at 4:02 pm by Chair Ed Brady.  Nine (9) of thirteen (13) voting members were present or represented by an alternate.  Town Council members Peter Connerton arrived at 4:07pm and Tom Welch arrived at 4:56pm.

·         Also present: Justin Bernard and Colin McCarthy OPM, Colliers Project Leaders; Tina Stanislaski and Justin Viglianti, HMFH Architects; Ed Cifune, DBVW Architects; Joe McCoy, Gilbane Construction; and Ben Hyman, Bentley Companies.

·         Present via Zoom: Alexandra Christiana, Connor Heinzman, Soha Mohammed-Eltaher, and Olivia Ouellette, HMFH Architects; Emma Osborne, DBVW Architects; and Derek Osterman, OPM, Colliers Project Leaders.

·         ** MOTION:**  Bill Nash moved to accept the meeting minutes from July 24, 2024 and Shawn Brown seconded.

·         ** DISCUSSION:** None.

·         ** VOTE:** The motion passed unanimously (9-0).

·         Tina Stanislaski informed the Building Committee that she had very good news in that the project is on budget and that the team will share some design changes that were made to ensure that the project remained on budget.  She added that the project is on schedule and that the reconciled budget will be presented to RIDE in a meeting scheduled for next week.

·         Next Tina shared the schedule for the master plan to be submitted to the Middletown Planning Board.  The schedule calls for an electronic draft of the plan to be submitted to the Town Planner on September 4th, allowing a week for revisions so that the final electronic and hard copy can be submitted on September 11th.  The plan will be presented at a Planning Board hearing on October 9th.

·         Soil sampling will begin at the Gaudet site next week.

·         The RIDE Stage III Design Development (DD) check-in meeting is scheduled for August 29th to share the value engineering modifications that have been made to reconcile the budget.  After that meeting the DD submission will be sent to RIDE.

·         Planning Board master plan application draft will be submitted on September 4th.

·         Planning Board master plan final application will be submitted on September 11th.

·         Bi-weekly coordination meetings with consultants continue.

3.3 Design Update

·         Tina Stanislaski shared some of the design changes that were made as part of the cost estimate reconciliation process to ensure that the project remains on budget.

·         The first major change was with the mechanical system.  The originally proposed Air Sourced Hydronic/Air Displacement system is being replaced with an Air Sourced Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) /Mixed Air system, which will save a substantial amount of money.  The system is still all electric, so it meets RIDE’s requirements, it still maintains a low EUI (energy use intensity), and it is in no way inferior to the original choice.  She then turned it over to one of their consultants from GGD.  He reiterated what Tina stated, adding that while it does have a little higher EUI than the original choice, it is still a very energy efficient solution.  Two downsides are that it is a mixed-air system vs. a displacement system, and it is a bit noisier, but sound mitigation will address the latter concern.  Tina added that many other new schools are using this system, including the new Rogers High School in Newport.  Also, the returns for the ductwork can be designed to pull air across the room to still get something like what the displacement system would have done.  There is no impact to the schedule with this change.  Joe McCoy from Gilbane Construction added that the VAV system was coming in at ~$23.2 million or about $108/sq ft.  The replacement VRF system is coming in at about $86/sq ft, which would save the project about $4.5 million.

·         The next major change was to compact the footprint of the building to reduce the size of the foundation and exterior walls.  The more things that can be stacked, the more money can be saved.  Justin Viglianti explained that the originally planned auditorium is being replaced with a multi-purpose auditorium.  The original stacked tier auditorium contained 350 seats, while the new multi-purpose auditorium has a much smaller footprint and will have 300 retractable seats, while eliminating the need for a portion of the building’s foundation.  The new multi-purpose space will not contain fixed seating so it can be reconfigured for a variety of uses.  Depending on the configuration, you could potentially get back to 350 seats using extra chairs on the floor.  The space can be left totally open for physical education activities or any other purpose where a large open area is required.  This type of auditorium was implemented by DBVW Architects in the design for the Woodman Family and Performance Center at the Moses Brown School in Providence, RI.  HMFH has been working out the details of this revision with their theater consultant.  The auditorium will now be on the second floor of the school.  Bill Nash asked if the drama staff and teachers were aware of this change.  Superintendent Niemeyer and HS Principal Donna Sweet said that they had not but that they would review this change with the drama team.

·         ** ACTION**: Share the auditorium design change with the drama staff. – Donna Sweet

·         Justin Viglianti next walked the Building Committee through the changes with the floor plan.  One stack of classrooms was relocated in both the middle school and high school wings.  One shop space was converted from a two story to a single story.  The middle school elevator was moved to an add alternate.  The middle school locker room was moved to the third floor, separate from the high school locker rooms on the second floor.  The back of house spaces for the cafeteria and mechanical room were reduced.  The stair access to the roof was replaced with ship ladders and roof hatches.  The new design is down one middle school classroom, and the design team is working to figure out how to add it back into the design.  Nothing from an educational program perspective has been removed, except for the single classroom.

·         Three elements of the site design were moved to the add alternate list.  The three items are the east-west connector road, the north entry off Aquidneck Avenue, and the multipurpose field.  The field area will still be graded as level space that can be used for athletic activities, like the fields that exist today.  The north entry off Aquidneck Avenue will still be used for construction vehicles while the building is being built, but paving of this egress will be an add alternate.

·         Peter Connerton asked if the removal of the east-west connector road would be an issue with the Fire Department.  Shawn Brown agreed to discuss it with the Fire Chief.

·         ** ACTION**: Meet with the Middletown Fire Chief to get his thoughts on the need for the east-west connector at the new middle-high school, as it has been moved to an add alternate. – Shawn Brown

·         Tina added that the design is still being revised, but once the add alternate list is finalized it will be brought to the Building Committee for review and prioritization.

·         ** ACTION**: Once finalized, share the Add Alternate list with the Building Committee for review and prioritization. – HMFH/DBVW

·         The update from HMFH can be viewed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19M9autbLIZFPTqMl7PvFlTv6kwLfFrCD/view?usp=sharing

·         Ed Cifune reviewed the changes to the current high school that will be used as a new upper elementary school.  The goals are still being met: relocating grades 4/5 from Gaudet and administration from Oliphant, reconfiguring the grade alignment for grades 2-5, and reconfiguring Forest Avenue for pre-K through grade 1 at to allow for the closure of the Aquidneck School, but the scope of work has been reduced.

·         The following work will still take place:

o   Interior painting and selective floor replacement

o   Add new fire protection system throughout

o   Address code and accessibility issues

o   Renovate student restrooms on upper level

o   Create new nurse and district administration suites with their own mechanical system

o   Create new student learning commons

·         The biggest change was with the mechanical system.  Instead of replacing the existing system, the plan is to repair it due to the higher anticipated cost than what was originally estimated.  One million dollars has been allocated to update the existing hydronic heating system.

·         RIDE earlier requested that additional small group instruction spaces be added, and that has been done with the revised design.  The lockers that exist in the grade 4/5 wing will be retained and spruced up.  The team wants to remove the lockers in the grade 2/3 wing as they are not needed, but that work will be handled as an add alternate.

·         Areas where asbestos was identified and are being disturbed will be abated.  The electrical capacity no longer needs to be upgraded due to the retention of the heating system, but safety improvements and sub-panels for the fit-out areas will still be done.  Instead of replacing the chair lift and platform lift, they will be repaired.  Other areas originally planned that are not in the revised scope will be moved to the add alternate list, such as the remaining sections of the roof that haven’t been replaced. The only site work planned is to support the fire protection system and updating signage.

·         The update from DBVW can be viewed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/102ygWcH19qN452glpWlilJrifQ7AoYda/view?usp=sharing.

·         HazMat testing has been completed at the existing High School, Gaudet Middle School and Forest Avenue Elementary and the results from the High School and Gaudet School have been received.  The results at the high school are about what was expected but far less hazardous materials at Gaudet was identified, which will reduce the cost of the demolition of that building.  The report for the Forest Avenue School will be shared with the Committee when it becomes available, hopefully within the next week.

4.2   RIDE SBA Stage III Schematic Design Review Update

·         The RIDE Elementary School Complex Stage III Schematic Design Re-Submission was sent to RIDE on July 25, 2024 and approved on August 9, 2024.

4.3   RIDE SBA Stage III Design Development Package Update

·         The package will include a budget snapshot, cost overview update and a summary of the cost estimate coordination and reconciliation that was shared with the Building Committee during the architect update of today’s meeting.

·         The baseline construction budget is as follows:

·         Total Hard Cost Construction Budget = $143,522,700

·         Equipment (excluding furniture) = $3,438,400

·         Available Construction Contingency = $4,161,400

·         Total Available = $151,172,500

·         Current reconciled cost estimates indicate:

·         MS/HS = $139,933,923

·         Former HS (Elementary Ed) = $10,241,277.79

·         Total = $ $150,175,200.79

·         The project is on budget.  Bill Nash asked if the contingency was a healthy number and Justin Bernard explained that $4.1 million is just the construction contingency.  There is also another $8.36 million in owner’s contingency, and this is a healthy amount for both.

·         Justin Bernard shared a high-level summary of the cost estimates from Gilbane and Bentley.  Don asked what the Building Committee was being asked to approve later in the meeting, as the Committee has not yet received the list of add alternates nor the list of items that comprise the $18.4 in value engineering at the new middle-high school.  Justin explained that the Building Committee is not approving a set of documents.  We’re allowing the consultant team to meet with RIDE next week to share the same information that is being presented at today’s meeting to complete the Design Development stage with a project that is on budget and to move into the Construction Document phase.  Once the documentation on the value engineering and add alternates is completed, it will be shared with the Building Committee.

·         ** ACTION**: Share the reconciled cost estimate along with the value engineering and add alternate items with the Building Committee when it is finalized. – Colliers/HMFH

4.4   Budget Update

·         The team is still working within the $190 million budget.  Approximately $5.5 million has been spent to date.  Contracts amount to ~$23.48 million, and the total anticipated cost for the project excluding contingencies is $177,333,600.

·         The budget update can be viewed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/130fZbKjpGtRooRTSMOts481W8pXInkur/view?usp=sharing.

4.5 Two Week Overview – August 22 – September 4

·         RIDE Stage III DD submission will take place next week.

·         Preparation for the Master Plan Submission to the Planning Board will continue.

·         Bill Nash asked about the upcoming meeting schedule.  The Committee agreed to go back to our original every other week schedule, with the next meeting taking place on September 4th at 5:00pm.

·         The update from Colliers can be viewed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mwKUjwuYgN8tRIMcpwVsWIe6pbMfB9VR/view?usp=sharing.

5.1 RIDE SBA Stage III Design Development Package Discussion

·         Chair Ed Brady explained that the Building Committee needs to vote to approve the submission of the Stage III Design Development Package to RIDE.

·         ** MOTION:** Shawn Brown moved that the Building Committee approve the Stage III Design Development Package for the New Middle High School and Elementary School Complex for submission to RIDE and Don Morin seconded.

·         ** DISCUSSION:**  Bill Nash stated that he is very comfortable with moving forward to share what was presented to the Building Committee at this meeting with RIDE.  Don reiterated that he would like to see the reconciled cost estimates including the value engineering items and add alternate items when they are finalized.

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

5.2 Coordination Meetings Update

·         Chairman Ed Brady stated that coordination meetings with school administration support will continue, and he asked Colliers to keep the Committee informed of the status of the soil sampling that will take place next week.

·         Marc Thayer explained that he discovered a couple of holes and two sticks that were labeled as test pits in the existing lacrosse fields at Gaudet.  Justin Bernard explained that test pit work was completed long ago and there should be no additional holes dug.  Soil sampling will take place starting next week.

Adjournment

·         ** MOTION**: Bill Nash moved that the Building Committee adjourn at 5:28pm and Peter Connerton seconded. The motion passed unanimously (11-0).

Future Meeting Schedule – The next meeting will be on September 4, 2024 at 5:00p.m. at the Oliphant Administration Building.

Respectfully Submitted,

Don Morin