At their Tuesday, August 10, Permanent Building Committee (PBC) meeting, members heard an update on the new high school from O&G’s Ms. Lorel Purcell. Now that all of the bids are in and the lowest bidders are vetted, Purcell explained that the high school is $1.6M over budget. She stressed that decisions need to be made “within the next three weeks,” as August 29 is the expiration date for the bids. She also said that, ideally, sitework, structural steel, and concrete bids will be awarded on August 17 at a special PBC meeting with all other bids being awarded at a regular PBC meeting on August 24. “It’s kind of a mess right now,” she said, pointing out that they need to move forward with cost-cutting measures or else reject all of the bids, revise the project documents, and go back to the state. Though she acknowledged that this is not a desired approach, “that is an option as well.”
Purcell ran through possible cost savings ideas that are being considered. The pool locker room renovations once again made it on the Value Engineering list, but PBC members were adamant that it be removed as that work is seen as critical for the town. Mr. Mike Del Monaco said that the pool locker room renovation should not have even been considered once again as a possible cut, pointing out that it “got a lot of people to vote for the project.” Other items on the VE list include deleting the bleacher stair in the dining commons, delaying the purchase of the auditorium’s planned stage extension platforms, removing reinforced turf for a parking area, and revising and rebidding the low-voltage bid. There were a series of options that involved downgrading materials in the school to reduce costs, including less thick acoustical wall panels, less expensive panelling and ceiling options for the auditorium, simplifying wall tile patterns to reduce expensive color tiles, eliminating one tall cabinet per classroom, switching to vinyl base instead of wood base in some areas, changing ductwork in the locker room from stainless steel to a lesser-grade material, revising wood flooring in the auditorium and other areas, downgrading locker types, and more. It was noted that none of the options have been fully vetted by the design team.
Mr. Mark Sedensky from O&G explained that progress continues on the Consolidated Early Learning Academy (CELA) site, with concrete being poured and steel being installed in the existing building. He said they’re “trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together before the kids come back and it always happens.” Mr. Jason Travelstead, also of O&G, chimed in to say that they have completed as much site work and demolition as possible this summer. They are working to finalize footing work that has been completed near the gym and plan to get the parking and all ingress and egress squared away for students and faculty. O&G’s Mr. Zach Rowley was introduced as the new project manager on the CELA site. He gave an update on the foundation work that is occurring around Meeting House Hill School’s exterior, saying that “we’ll be ready” for the school year to start. PBC member Mr. Paul Boniello asked for a separate meeting with Rowley, who is a “last minute substitute” project manager, and Travelstead. Boniello noted that an initial job meeting “did not go well” and “was not well prepared.” Travelstead explained that the meeting was problematic from many angles and said of the continued lack of confidence in staffing, “I’m hoping that we can get this resolved.”
There was a good amount of discussion regarding O&G’s Price Proposal, which was also discussed at length at the PBC’s previous meeting. The Proposal is intended to cover a variety of issues that may occur, such as major equipment or material switches that will likely prompt change orders. PBC members wanted clarification about substitution language in the Proposal, since approved substitutes are already in the trade contracts. Travelstead explained that “we’re trying to create fairness for everyone involved” and that the Proposal is essentially “a risk allocation measure,” but he pointed out that “we’ve also mitigated risk with our trade contracts.” Boniello pointed out that “ultimately, you’re protected, but we’re not.” He asked for a side-by-side comparison of the contracts to show where New Fairield is protected. Travelstead said that there is some urgency to move forward with approval of the Price Proposal because it is holding up payments for work that is being done this summer.
In an update on JCJ Architecture’s activity, Mr. Bill Ayles said that their team has been working closely with Rowley and others at O&G on construction site issues, scope reviews, appropriate substitutions, and more. While Mr. Scott Pellman of Colliers International walked the PBC through change orders, including a credit for acoustical lagging and duct liners, plus new costs for lean concrete, structural fill, and a seismic separation joint.
The next regular Permanent Building Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 24, 7:30 p.m.
By Sarah Opdahl