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Home My WebLink About2016-10-13 School Committee Minutes r o , Town of Reading 3r Meeting Minutes Board - committee - commission - council: all Nov 19 RM 1152 School Committee Date: 2016-30-13 Time: 7:30 PM Building: School - Memorial High Location: Superintendent Conference Room Address: 82 Oakland Road Session: Open Session Purpose: Joint Meeting School Version: Final Committee/Board of Selectmen Attendees: Members - Present: Jeanne Borawski, Chuck Robinson, Elaine Webb, Linda Snow Dockser, Gary Nihan, Julie Joyce Members - Not Present: Others Present: Superintendent John Doherty, Director of Finance Gail Dowd, Board of Selectmen - John Halsey, Barry Berman, Kevin Sexton, Dan Ensminger & John Arena, Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Town Counsel Ray Miyares, Fincom member Peter Lydecker, Attorney David Doneski Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Linda Engelson on behalf of the Chair Topics of Discussion: 1. Call to Order Chair Borawski called the School Committee to order at 7:43 p.m. Chair Halsey called the Board of Selectmen to order at 7:43 p.m. - Mr. Robinson moved,seconded by Mrs Joyce to enter into executive session to discuss strategy with respect to pending litigation and to return to open session at approximately 8:45 p.m. The roll call vote was 6-0 Mrs Borawski Mr. Robinson, Mrs. Webb,Dr.Nihan,Mrs Joyce and Dr. Snow Dockser. Mr.Ensmineer moved,seconded by Mr.Arena to enter into executive session to discuss strategy with respect to Pending litigation and to return to open session at approximately 8:45 p.m. The roll call vote was 5-0 Mr. Halsey Mr. Ensmineer, Mr. Arena, Mr.Berman and Mr. Sexton The open session meeting went into recess at 7:45 p.m. The Board of Selectmen were called back to order in open session at 9:33 p.m. Mrs. Joyce left the meeting. Page I 1 11. Recommended Procedure A. New Business Board of Selectmen Chair Halsey reminded the Board that their next meeting is on October 25'". Mr. Lelacheur provided information of some agenda items including that the Board will need to call for a Special Town Meeting within the Subsequent Town Meeting in November, close the warrant and discuss details on a change in the liquor license process. Mr. Halsey said information will be included in their packets. Al Sylvia,Reading Chronicle, asked about the lights at the Library. Mr. LeLacheur said a lighting consultant has been contacted and as of yet there has been no resolution. The maintenance staff has been shutting the lights off. RMHS Litigation Chair Borawski called the School Committee back to order at 9:40 p.m. Mrs. Borawski called for Public Comment. There was none. Mr. Robinson moved,seconded by Mrs.Webb,to request that the Board of Selectmen call for a Special Town Meeting to address the High School Construction litiaation. Mrs. Borawski announced that the School Committee and TLT had come to a tentative agreement to settle and proceeded to reach press release regarding the High School Construction Litigation tentative settlement. For Immediate Release Selectmen vote for Special Town Meeting to address High School Construction Litigation Tentative settlement agreement to be reviewed between Town of Reading and TLT Construction At a joint meeting of the Reading Board of Selectmen and School Committee, the Board of Selectmen voted to hold a Special Town Meeting on November 14 to address the High School construction litigation with TLT Construction Corporation that began in 2007. At the Special Town Meeting, the timeline of events over the last decade will be reviewed, a funding vote will be requested, and the settlement process will be outlined in order to ensure that no funds from operating budgets will be impacted Page 12 The Reading Memorial High School construction project began in 2004, and TLT Construction Corporatiomwas the general contractor for the project In the fall q(2007, TLT filed a lawsuit in Middlesex Superior Court against the Town of Reading claiming that the Town owed additional money for work performed under the contract. In response, the Town filed a counterclaim, alleging that TLT did not complete the contract work on time and that the Town had to correct various parts of the project work TLT did perform. In 1013, after several years of the litigation discoveryprocess and attempts at reaching a settlement with TLT, the court referred the case to a Special Master, a retired judge, who conducted a hearing process in lieu of a trial in the Superior Court. The hearings began in December of 2013 and concluded in March of 2015. Closing arguments were presented in July of 2015. Since that time, the Master has been preparing and issuing to the parties, draft decisions on the various issues that make up the matters in dispute. These issues included payment to TLT for asbestos abatement work the Town's replacement of the outdoor track compensation to TLT for additional work outside the scope of the contract, correction ofsite work and liquidated damages for failure to complete the work on time. The first draft ruling was issued in January of2016, and the most recent ruling which left only a small portion ofthe claims still to be decided, was issued in September of 2016. The net result of the rulings to date is approximately 3 million dollars, in TLT's favor. If the process continued each parry would have the opportunity to respond to the draft rulings with proposed revisions, and the Special Master would then prepare a final report to the Superior Court. Under the applicable legal procedure, the court would review the Master's final report and may adopt it, reject it in whole or in part, or send it back to the Master with instructions for additional action. Ultimately,the Superior Court would enter a judgement in the case, whether on its first receipt of the Special Master's report or after such additional action by the Master as it may order. On account of the volume of material to be reviewed, a Superior Court judgment would not be expected until sometime well into 2017. By Massachusetts statute, a court judgment is subject to 12%annual interest, and interest would apply from the date the complaint was fled in November, 2007. As a result, the amount of the judgment would now more than double. Ifthe final court judgment were issued in late 2017, it is expectedthat the total amount could be close to$7,000,000 in TLTsfavor. Given these circumstances, the Town and TLT have reached a tentative settlement agreement in the amount of$6 million, subject to Town Meeting approval. If approved by Town Meeting, the settlement would be paid through three sources of funding: remainingfunds from the RMHS building project(approximately $800,000), certifted free cash, and borrowing—with the debt being paid of(over a period of several years. No operating budgetfunds would be utilized and the result of the override election will not have an impact on the funding sources for the settlement. It shouldalso be noted that the override vote scheduled for October 18th is to support the operating budgets for the town and schools, and has no real impact on the capital plan. The override was not required because of this legal settlement. As a result of the settlement, it is expected that capital projects currently on the 10 year capital plan (I.e. roofreplacements,field replacements, and capital Page 1 3 equipment)would be pushed out additional years into the future in order to disperse the impact. Town officials are also exploring the possibility of additional MSBA reimbursement fundingfor the High School project. As several people have understandably inquired, town and school officials want to also clarify and emphasize again that this issue is not related in any way to the need for an override ballot question. Even if the litigation had been resolved years ago, an operational override would be necessary at this time to sustain current services of the town and schools—and to address the structural deficit in the operating budgets that has been developing over the last several years. Revenue from an override would successfully address these identified deficits.Although litigation has taken years, it was a process that legal.counsel at the time believed was the best course of action. After almost a decade-long process, however, the School Committee supports moving forward on a settlement in order to bring the litigation process to a necessary close and to best position our Town and schools for the future. Town Manager LeLacheur reviewed the funding sources to address the proposed $6M settlement saying$800,000 will be used from the remaining money in the high school project line, $1.2M will come from free cash and the remaining$4M will be borrowed. Town Meeting will need to authorize the use of free cash and- also authorize separately to borrow. This funding will have no bearing on the tax levy but there may be a delay in capital purchases. The motion carried 5-0. Mr. Halsey said the Selectmen will address the Special Town Meeting when they have warrant in hand. III. Adioumment Adiourn School Committee Mr. Robinson moved,seconded by Mrs.Webb,to adjourn. The motion carried 5-0. Board of Selectmen Mr. Ensmineer moved, seconded by Mr.Berman,to adiourn. The motion carried 5-0. The meeting adjourned at 9:50 p.m. NOTE: The minutes reflect the order as stated in the posted meeting agenda not the order they occurred during the meeting. F. Dohe ,Ed.D. Page 1 4