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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-09-19 School Committee MinutesREADING SCHOOL COMMITTEE Reading, Massachusetts REGULAR SESSION September 19, 2000 CALL TO ORDER At 7:03 p.m. Chair Cavicchi called the meeting to order in the Superintendent's Conference Room present were School Committee Members Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Mr. Griset, Mr. Keigley and Mr. Twomey. Also present were Superintendent Harutunian and Associate Superintendent Richards. Ms. D'Antona arrived during executive session. Mr. Keigley left the meeting during executive session and returned at 8:40 p.m. EXECUTIVE SESSION At 7:06 p.m. Mr. Griset made a motion to enter into executive session for the purpose of conducting strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with the Teachers' Association, Custodians and Maintenance Workers, Cafeteria Employees, Association of Secretaries and Clerks, Educational Assistants and Nurses and to discuss pending litigation and to discuss the possible sale or lease of real estate and to approve executive session minutes. Mr. Twomey seconded the motion. The vote was 5 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Mr. Griset, Mr. Keigley and Mr. Twomey. CALL BACK TO ORDER At 8:10 p.m. Chair Cavicchi called the meeting back to order. Student Representative Jill Macari, Sid Bowen and Dan Gorini of Flansburgh & Associates and construction estimator Seamus Fennessy from Hanscomb were present. CITIZEN'S INPUT Ms. Phillips asked why the REAP lease has not yet been approved by the DOE. Dr. Harutunian advised that he had received approval from the DOE for the lease of the space to REAP. APPOINTMENT Ms. D'Antona moved to appoint Everett Blodgett as the School Committee representative to the Celebration Committee. Mr. Griset seconded the motion. The vote was 6 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Griset, Mr. Keigley and Mr. Twomey. The Committee thanked Mr. Blodgett for agreeing to serve on the Committee. REGULAR SESSION 2 September 19, 2000 NEW SCHOOL PRESENTATION UPDATE ON FOREST COMMISSION /CPDC /CONSERVATION COMMISSION Dr. Harutunian updated the Committee on his meeting with the Forest Commission. He advised that a waiver for grading was being submitted. Mr. Bowen updated the Committee on the status of the 17 recommendations given to the Committee by the CPDC and discussed the water run off system, the soccer field, the parking spaces (51), the tot lot and emergency access and turn around capability. Mr. Bowen advised that he had met last week with the Conservation Commission and advised that the next part of the hearing would be on October 18th. He stated that the questions raised are still being addressed. DESIGN Mr. Gorini discussed the site, the materials being used for siding and the raceway for electrical and computer lines. Mr. Gorini discussed the durability of the siding against vandalism and the cost for repairing siding that may be damaged. He advised that there would be a one -foot high masonry base along the base of the building. Mr. Gorini discussed the interior materials to be used. He advised that the corridors would be sheetrock with 1'6" x 4' high applied birch plywood. He stated that the glass for windows would be to code and discussed options for sunscreen for the classrooms. He stated that most exterior doors will be aluminum frame with glass inside and the door leading from the mechanical room would be in a steel frame. Mr. Gorim discussed the entrance courtyard and the seat wall. The Committee discussed options for defining the area for students' use and the option of adding a seat wall to the building in the courtyard was discussed. Flansburgh will research the cost of that option and get back to the Committee. Mr. Gorini discussed the material to be used for curbing and advised that granite curbs would be cost prohibitive. COST Mr. Bowen stated that the current bidding environment is high and he expects the project to bid at 10 % -12% more than anticipated. He stated that although the building is designed to be built as reasonably and inexpensively as possible, he is looking at options to further reduce the cost of the project. Mr. Bowen distributed a cost comparison sheet for the Committee's review. REGULAR SESSION 3 September 19, 2000 Mr. Bowen stated that when the project was delayed from last year he indicated he believed an increase for the cost estimate at 3.4% was reasonable but that the bidding environment has changed drastically since that time and he is expecting 10% to 12% increase. He also stated that the project is at the maximum for SBA reimbursement and anything over and above the cost would not be reimbursable by the SBA Mr. Twomey asked if the community space is reduced how much of a cost saving benefit would the Town receive. Mr. Bowen advised that because of the SBA formula the Town would only see a one - third saving and the SBA would see a two - thirds saving. Mr. Fennessy advised that he had looked into the cost of making the building a rectangle with a flat roof which is the cheapest way a building can be designed and the figure he came up with was $7.8 million and all the Town would get would be a flat rectangular building of CMU. He stated that he would not advise, at this time, lowering the 5% contingency. Mr. Bowen stated that good geotechnical data site work has been done and site work is usually what consumes the construction contingency funds. He stated that the design contingency is no longer needed. He stated that it is important that he get the information out to contractors that this building will be built faster than the average school project. Mr. Griset asked how much of an increase was caused by the delay of the project. Mr. Fennessy stated approximately $500,000. After discussion, it was the consensus of the Committee that Dr. Harutunian work with the architect to develop a menu of options regarding cost saving measures for the project and a timetable for bids and return to the Committee with options for review in approximately 2 weeks. Mr. Fennessy commended Flansburgh for their work and stressed to the Committee that just because the building looks special they are not paying a premium for the building. He stated that he believes Flansburgh's design is an extremely cost effective design. REGULAR SESSION 4 September 19, 2000 Mrs. Phillips asked why the School Committee does not utilize the expertise of the School Building Committee in making decisions about the new school. Dr. Harutunian stated that the School Building Committee is currently working on another project and that the Chair of the Committee was aware of this evening's meeting. Mr. McRae asked if there are any school buildings in the area that have the siding that is to be used on the new school. Mr. Bowen stated that the Miamonides School in Brookline had the siding. Mr. Twomey left the room. EXECUTIVE SESSION At 10:55 p.m. Mr. Dahl made a motion to reconvene into executive session. Ms. D'Antona seconded the motion. The vote was 5 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Griset and Mr. Keigley. Respectfully submitted, 64t- V G Harry K. Harutunian, Ph.D.