001Alrighty, it's 7 o'clock. Good evening, everybody. This is the Hillrest Middle School Building Committee. This is a virtual meeting tonight. Um, it's it's March 3rd, 2026, 700 p.m. Welcome everybody. Thanks for uh coming tonight. Do appreciate it. Um, what I'd like to do is call uh the roll call, make sure and uh that'll be recorded uh for Barbara. Barbara is out tonight. So, she's going to be making the minutes uh via the recording that we're going to uh be giving her later on. But I'd like to start the roll call. And if you could just take your your mute off so that we can hear you. Um Andy Luben >> here. Uh JC Chinelli >> here. >> Bill Mecca >> here. >> Fran Basil >> here. >> An Xer >> here. >> John Mela >>
002here. >> Bob Gerbert and Jeff Alterman >> here. >> All right. Great. Thanks everybody again. Um at this point we're going to do the pledge of allegiance. I would love to use uh the flag behind uh John, but I think we're going to have to uh use the one that I have so that everybody could see it. So, I'm going to just put the screen on and I will share my screen in a second. Okay. And let's just do this. Um, we're going to share [clears throat] this screen here and we'll bring the image up. [clears throat] Does everyone see the flag? >> I do not. >> No, >> you do not see it. Okay, we'll try again. [clears throat] >> I'd like to take this moment to remind everyone we pledged allegiance to a
003picture with a flag on it about a year ago. >> Oh, yeah. >> It was good stuff. Was that a year ago? >> Yes, just about. >> Wow. Do you see it now? >> Yes. >> Okay, great. So, let's get started. If you don't mind uh taking yourself off mute. >> So, we'll start. I pledge allegiance. >> Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America >> and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice, justice for all. Thank you very much, everybody. [clears throat] >> Take that down and we'll stop sharing. Okay, so we did the roll call. Um, we're going to do the approval of the minutes from our last meeting, which believe it or not was February 10th. does seem a long time
004ago with the weather that we've been having through the month, but uh can I get a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> That was Andy. Second. That was Andy. >> Second. Yep. >> Beautiful. Uh any discussion, any comments on the minutes hearing? None. Um, could I get an approval by saying I >> I >> any abstensions? >> I >> What was that? No abstensions. Okay. Um, no nays. Motion and and uh the minutes are approved. Thank you very much. Next on our agenda will be public comment. Are there any public comments for tonight? If you can, you have to identify yourself and uh we'll let you speak. Are there any comments? >> Yes. If there are any members of the public who would like to make a comment, please press the raise hand button
005at the bottom of your screen or press star 9 if you're on the phone. >> Looks like there isn't any bill. >> No, that is correct. >> Okay, perfect. Okay, we're going to the next item in the agenda, which is the review and approval of invoices. And is there a representative from Arcadus on the line tonight? >> Yep. Good. Good evening, Robert. >> Thank you very much for joining us tonight. >> Yeah, there are no invoices uh for review and approval tonight. >> Okay, >> we'll have them at the next meeting. >> Fantastic. Okay. So, we're going to move on to our next item, which is a presenter. And uh what we've done is we've asked uh Chris uh Fryzel from the Connecticut Associated Builders and Contractors. He happens to be the president um to
006speak to us about um contracts for Connecticut public schools. As you guys recall a few weeks ago, we heard from Dan uh Mcinary, who's a local electrician from um Union 488, and he talked about the seven benefits of the PLA. What we're going to do is hear a little bit from Chris and his take on uh contracts. Chris, I don't know if you're able to uh share your screen and join us. >> Yes, thank you. Uh, thank you Joe and thank you everyone for the opportunity tonight. Uh, as mentioned, my name is Chris Fricxel. I'm the president of the Connecticut chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors. We're a statewide trade association representing merit shop uh, contractors in Connecticut. We represent about 260 businesses here in Connecticut. Um, and so I appreciate the opportunity to
007talk about project labor agreements. I have a presentation I'll give. I'm happy to take all questions or comments. Uh feel free to interrupt if you'd like, but of course I'll stick around uh as long as necessary. So, let me do this. And so, uh essentially we are vehemently opposed to project labor agreements. Um and I will explain why. Uh, a project labor agreement really is a unique pre-bid hiring contract that sets forth requirements not found in most construction contracts. 25 states in the country prohibit the use of PLA because of the because they are discriminatory. Uh, they require uh contractors signing the agreement to adhere to union work rules, recognize union as their representative on the job, pay into union benefit funds, and hire from a union hall. Um, again, I've mentioned they're discriminatory against
008uh open shop contractors and they will not bid these. In the United States, about 89% of the industry chooses not to be part of a union. Here in Connecticut, it's 85% uh of the workforce is open shop. A lot of people are surprised to hear that, but it is true. And so, uh, the supporters of PLA's really are the labor unions because they direct they benefit directly from having a job operating under those, uh, union favorable rules. It's a no bid contract. So, this is a contract that's pre-bid. Um, and it it essentially guarantees all of those labor costs go into the union. um it's really is a marketing tool as you will see uh throughout this presentation. So one of the biggest things that uh that I want to make clear is that a
009choice of not utilizing a PLA means that all contractors and all workers have the opportunity to work on that job. So our position is not one of union versus open shop. It's really uh only union under the PLA or opportunity for everybody if you choose not to use a PLA. In fact, most uh most public nonPLA projects have a large and often majority union workforce. So again, just driving home the fact that uh our position here is is not in any way, shape, or form anti-UN. It's all about free, fair, and open competition. Uh I know there's a lot of comments made about uh safety guarantees under a project labor agreement. Uh that's simp simply not verified by fact. There's no existing OSHA data that proves PLA's deliver construction projects. Um unfortunately accidents do happen
010in construction. Uh they happen on jobs with PLA's and without PLA. Um but this is a prevailing wage shop uh which requires an OSHA 10 card for everyone whether they are union or open shop workers. That is a requirement under the job. There are also claims of no strike no lockout. So PLA's will prohibit uh the building trades from strikes and lockouts that could lead to work stoppages or delays. However, these really just don't happen. Uh there aren't instances of construction strikes in Connecticut since uh the labor action tracker by Cornell University started tracking this data. Uh a PLA feasibility study in 2018 commissioned by the state of Connecticut was unable to confirm any instances of labor unrest resulting in material delay of a construction project. So really this is a solution in search of
011a problem. Uh there have been instances on PLA projects where there have been union strikes. Uh so again it has happened but this is really not something that is of a major concern on construction projects uh specifically here in Connecticut. Job site regulations. There's another misconception that PLA's will provide better protection to workers. So I know I we hear a lot about the guarantee of wages and benefits. Again this is a prevailing wage job. Uh so prevailing wages are mandated. Uh and that's going to be the case whether there it's a project labor agreement or not. Uh there are worker classification mandates. So each worker on the job must be correctly classified as employees and re receive benefits. And of course uh law mandates that each employer carry the appropriate workers compensation insurance. Uh these
012are strict laws. Uh they are well enforced and the PLA does not ensure anything different. Workforce development is another one. Uh open shop companies, this is a a a total misconception, uh often take advantage of apprenticeship and craft training programs. Uh they must have a highly skilled and competitive workforce. Most apprentices in the state of Connecticut are registered by open shop contractors. Here at ABC, uh we actually founded the construction education center, which is a uh apprenticeship training school. Um, we are approved by the commissioner of higher education to operate as a private occupational school and we work very closely with the department of labor. There are many other avenues for training outside of our school including the state technical high school system. Uh, our members devote a lot of investment toward workforce investment and
013any project without the PLA has access to all qualified apprentichip programs and apprentices. local workers. So, this is another one. Despite despite promises, PLA's what they the language will include. So, so you may hear guarantees of uh local hire, but really all the PLA does once you look at the language is include a good faith effort to hire local labor on the project. If if they fall short of those goals, there are no consequences. There's no consequences baked into the PLA. Um, but really what I want to drive home is I mentioned earlier 85% of the workforce is open shop in this state. You have a lot of construction workers in Trumbull who have opted not to join a union and signing a PLA is going to leave those workers out from the opportunity to
014work on this job. Uh, there's a workforce shortage. I'm sure you've all heard it. Uh, it's been everywhere. Uh ABC estimates we need an additional 349,000 construction workers just to meet current demand and backlog. And uh given that critical and growing shortage of construction workers, now is the worst time to prevent the majority of available skilled workers from being able to participate in this project. So, you don't want to take an already uh depressed workforce and shrink it even further by eliminating the majority of the industry from having the opportunity to work on this project. Uh quickly on minority businesses, small businesses, uh there are I looked up just uh yesterday, uh there are 302 minority business, small business certified DAS pre-qualified contractors in the state of Connecticut. only 28% of those are union contractors.
015And then if you look at just the minority businesses, uh there are 101 certified DAS pre-qualified. Again, limited to DAS pre-qualified contractors and only 35 of those are unions. So again, you're taking that pool uh when you're looking to meet set aside requirements and you're taking a small pool and you're shrinking it down significantly by signing a project labor agreement on time on on budget. We hear this all the time. Uh and it's it's just a a promise with without any backing to it. Uh they promise PLA's will bring projects in on time, on budget. There's really no magic contract that can can guarantee that. Uh and in fact, oftentimes PLA's can be the reason for significant cost overruns, which I'll get into. Um so, so there's there's just no truth that a PLA is
016going to guarantee this project's on time or on budget. We have a number of studies. Uh so in 2020, Beacon Hill Institute looked at specific to Connecticut school construction. uh they looked at 95 construct school construction projects in Connecticut comparing PLA projects to nonPLA projects and their conclusion that was that PLA's uh led to a 19.84% 84% higher cost than similar projects without PLA's significant. Um, another study, this one done by the Rand Corporation looked at, this is specific to affordable housing, uh, but they had very similar findings. Uh, the PL those uh, that used PLA's reduced the total housing produce uh, produced and they increased the costs. In that study, they found the cost increase to be around 14 and a half%. Uh, and it actually resulted in fewer housing units from being built
017because of those cost increases. Uh, there are a couple other studies I know that proponents of PLA's often cite. Uh, one of them is the effect on project labor agreements on the cost of school construction in New England. um they actually verified Beacon Hill study that I already mentioned as pioneering research and this was run by uh AFL CIO in the uh North American building trades. So that's who did the study and they actually found that PLA's were estimated to raise construction costs by 3.3%. Uh so that's actually a study run by the building trades. Another one they often cite is this one by uh Fred Cutotler in New York State. And this is actually if you read it uh which you should. It's not a study. It's an opinion piece that they're not utilizing
018data to come to their conclusions. And then third, which I'll get into is this San Diego Unified School District study uh that the proponents of PLA's often site. And in this one uh and this is again study that they site uh this study determines the number of general contractor biders and participating subcontractors per project declined for PLA projects. They refer to that as PSA but it's it's the same. Um they also identified that construction quality is the same for PSA projects uh as it is for nonPSA projects. They found the number of biders was reduced when those uh PLA's were utilized. And uh and while their study found bids to be under under budget for the PLA projects, they were um even more under budget when a PLA was not utilized. And uh this is
019a review of those bids. uh it showed that the district is paying almost 22% premium for projects bid under the union only terms whereas the uh the PLA projects were 9.7% under the district's budget the non PSA projects were 31.6% under budget. Uh it also showed that the uh promise of local hire fell short of goals. So, how do the PLA's increase costs? I'll get into that. There are labor costs. Uh, best contractors can't use most or all of their existing workforce. Uh, there are inefficient work union work rules that lead to loss productivity. So, open shop contractors can use cross-skilling, for example. And there's also double health and pension costs uh to open shop contractors who do pursue PLA's. There are compliance costs, uh, attorney costs and delays, which we've actually seen with PLA's,
020uh, issues with collective bargaining agreements. Um, there's also competitive costs, and I think this is truly the biggest one by far, reduction in competitive bidding. So, those that do bid, uh, knowing there's a PLA, it's going to reduce their competition. So, they need they know it's a PLA. they don't need to sharpen their pencils the same way knowing that 85% uh of their competitors are being removed from the pro process. It also uh leads to fewer quality subcontractors to choose from. So those subcontractors are not bidding the PLA job again reducing those competition. So uh I mentioned they depress competition. You don't have to take it from me. I've included a quote here from a project coordinator at ONG uh and he even he stated during a hearing on the Middletown uh project that you
021know normally you may expect seven or eight bids but on a PLA you're only going to get three or four. Uh and obviously the more bids the more competitive the bidder is for the project. So uh sometimes I know I hear this and you you probably have as well. Well, PLA's uh everyone is allowed to bid. And yes, it's true. It's stated in state law. Uh they cannot prevent open shop contractors from bidding on PLA jobs. I understand that's the law, but in reality, uh open shop contractors are not going to bid the job. Uh this includes the union hiring requirement. It includes the union representation and work rules requirement, uh union contribution requirement, and double benefit payment. So, the PLA requires uh that hiring is done from union halls. Uh sometimes you're allowed to
022take key employees uh but otherwise the the union provides all of the labor on the job. Uh so, an open shop contractor who may have workers that have been with them for years, uh they're not going to leave their workers on the sideline to hire from the union hall to to work on a PLA job. So, they just won't bid it. Again, union representation and and work rules. These are requirements in a PLA. Uh workers have to abide by these archaic union work rules, including strict jurisdictional work separation. Uh there's often a source of bureaucratic frustration for employees and contractors. Open shop contractors, they excel at multi-skilling, and this is an area where open shop workers can produce work more efficiently. Not allowed under a PLA. Again, another reason why they will not bid these
023jobs. Double benefits. Um, they require PLA's require non-signatory contractors to pay health and welfare fringe benefits to the union benefit funds even if they have existing highquality plans. So, if I've got a 401k, I've got a health insurance plan for my employees. I'm already paying that. I'm not going to stop paying into that. I also have to pay into the union uh benefit fund. not going to do it if I'm in open shop contracting. If they do sign the PLA and uh and they're working on that project and paying into the union benefit fund, well, when you go to leave, you may have a withdrawal liability. A lot of the pension funds are underfunded. So, when you leave, you can't just walk away. You've got to pay uh your fair share of what that liability
024is. And we've heard from contractors that have had to pay this and they're not going to do it again. And those contractors that are smart enough not to sign a PLA, uh they understand the costs associated with that union contribution requirements. So, uh there is not a requirement for con for workers to join the union. However, there is a requirement for them to pay non-refundable union. Usually, they're they're identified as union representation fees. Uh, and these fees could include uh support for for union pension contributions um and other fees that go toward possibly political activities or other things. So again, those workers are not going to want to pay those uh union representation fees. There is a study uh that shows that PLA's actually equal wage theft. Uh a recent study found non-union employees lose
025an estimated 34% of their total compensation package when working on a project under a PLA. Uh this could be average pension allocation for union members which is 19%. Uh it could be a dues withholding which is 6%. And fair market healthcare premiums which are normally uh 7% of total compensation and union health insurance costs are actually 16%. So, the loss to non-union workers being 9%. Another reason contractors aren't going to bid those if they're open shop. Um, I go into a little bit of the fact here that uh these multi-employer pension programs are are underfunded. Uh and we did see President Biden a few years ago have to allocate $94 billion uh to bail out union pensions, but a lot of them are still underfunded despite that influx of cash. So AGC, a lot of
026a lot of people say, well ABC, of course you're you're going to say this, you guys represent open shop contractors, which we don't only represent open shop contractors, but here in Connecticut, a lot of union contractors are members of AGC. Well, they have the same finding as we do. So, you don't have to just take it from me. Uh you can see that they've done their uh they've done a study on governmentmandated labor agreements. That's what GMLA stands for. And they say that it will significantly increase the cost of a project for open shop contractors. And it can increase the cost of a project for a union contractor. and m many contractors will simply decline to bid on public work that requires compliance with a governmentmandated labor agreement. Uh they state as well that it
027removes the free market economic forces that help keep costs down uh for towns, cities, and the state. They surveyed their members. 88% responded PLA's would raised costs. 0% said it would lower costs. 82% said it would be harder to subcontract with small disadvantaged businesses. Uh compared to 5% saying it would be easier. 78% said it would be harder to find workers and subcontractors compared to 3% who responded it would be easier. And 73% said it would lengthen the time to complete projects uh compared to just 1% who thought it would shorten time. [laughter] So, uh, here's another quote. This one from the former chief of staff for administration and finance at Yukon. Um he stated that uh PLA's raised the cost of a project by somewhere around 10% or more and that Yukon actively tried
028to limit the use of PLA's uh within the limits of political viability which again goes to my point that this is really a political decision uh not a decision based on what's best for the residents of Trumbull. Um so again this is a a unbiased view just based on personal experience working on construction projects at Yukon. Couple uh going back to Yukon uh we have a a case study. These were very similar uh timed projects. There was a south campus residence hall $215 million project. No PLA. Uh construction commenced on December 2022 on time on budget. uh and a third of the subcontracts were issued to union subcontractors. Likewise, uh Mansfield Apartments was put put out to bid December 2022. Original budget was 265 million, had a PLA attached. Budget was reissued at 295 million.
029Low bids came in over 315 million and the project was p pulled and and may never be built. Norwich uh school construction. This was a recent one. Project labor agreement was approved on March 6th of 2024. And then by June 27th, uh the project was estimated to be over $50 million over budget. Uh and this is what happens. Value engineering was needed uh to to be done to get a better sense of costs. And you can see that they had to relook at the size of classrooms and design smaller classrooms to help fit inside the budget. So potential cost overruns uh could could set up a scenario where project bids come in over budget. It may require additional funding uh could which we see a lot value engineering and scope reduction. So you essentially get
030less of a project. So maybe in order to stay in budget and the final project could be in budget. Uh but you've got to remove things that you liked. uh you've got to make things smaller uh just so you can stay within project within your project budget. Couple of case studies. Uh I've got a bunch here. I won't hit on all of them. I know it's a lot. I'm trying to be sensitive to time. Um but these are all projects that ran into issues at some point in the process that used PLA's and they either had to go back and get more money such was the case in Torrrenton. uh they may have had to value engineer to reduce the scope of the project. Uh or they just ended up with a project over budget
031and behind schedule such as the case in Bulley High School uh where a lot of trade packages had to be rebid due to low bidder participation uh and some of the general trades packages had to be bid three times. School opened a year late, $61 million over budget. There's a few others. Benny Dover ended up, you know, if you read the headlines, they were within budget and on time. Uh, but they had to do extensive value engineering to get the project within budget. Uh, State Pier, the Connecticut State Pier, I don't know if you guys follow the the news that's been going on over the last few years on that. Uh, that was a $97 million job that is now in excess of $311 million. Uh, there is Hartford Dunkin Donuts Park, also a PLA.
032Uh the yard goats lost an entire season in that park. Um and the big dig, sort of the the uh synonymous with construction boondoggle. Uh that also was a PLA. But uh this goes to my point about not being union versus open shop. South Windsor, they built without a PLA. Huge success. Uh 17 of the 23 trade packages went to union shops. 56% of the workers were union workers. A state of Connecticut, I attended a presentation a few years back. They use this as the gold standard and uh in South Windsor proceeded with additional school projects without PLA's. Rocky Hills, same deal, built without a PLA. $11 million under the budget passed at referendum and ahead of schedule. Uh due to the efficient construction, the town actually added additional security betterments including school guard glass
033throughout the building. Union contractors awarded 10 of the 21 bid packages, 40% of the total value. Um and so of Strawberry Hill uh nearby in Stanford that was originally put out to bid with a PLA. Only two bids came in. They were $17 million over budget. Project was bid without a PLA. received eight bids and on budget. Uh again, that one al also roughly 40% being done by union labor. Stanford West Hill Middle School. This one is uh very timely actually. They decided to forego a PLA for the construction of the West West Hill High School. Um officials cited cost concerns but also the fear of delays related to the PLA. And bid results finalized last month. That project's on track to be $50 million on under budget. There's a mix of union and open
034shop contractors coming in as low bid on a variety of the trade packages. Just the MEP alone, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing. The project saved $32 million compared to second bidder pricing due to a competitive process where all responsible contractors were able to compete. And this does not account for what I mentioned earlier that if if contractors know there's a PLA and they know that some of those competitive biders won't be able to compete, uh they may have priced those those second bids may have been even higher. So my recommendation uh obviously is that P the only the only thing a PLA is going to ensure for you is that 100% of the workforce is union labor. It does not provide a more cost-effective job, does not provide a safer job or a better product. It
035doesn't provide any value to the taxpayers of Trumble. The only beneficiary is the uh unions who get guaranteed union work and payment into those union funds. Uh similar projects to this one and bigger are routinely completed in Connecticut with union and open shop workers working side by side. And it really is the most effective way to bid uh bid the job without a PLA under a strong contract that focuses on safety, enforcement of state laws, and a competitive bidding process that provides the best value for the community and the children who are going to attend the school for years to come. There's a number of headlines here I've included. Uh these are project labor agreement projects. Uh and you can just see I've I've pulled these throughout the years. um they go on uh issues.
036Uh so again, PLA's do not guarantee things are going to go smoothly. Uh you don't need to pay the premium for that. Uh there's a couple of national headlines as well. Tapenzee Bridge had a lot of issues. Um and so uh so that's what I've got for you guys and I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have uh or address any concerns that you have. Thank you very much, Chris. I'd like to open up questions to the building committee. Anybody have any questions for Chris about what you just heard? Any questions at all? I I'll just um add one more thing uh that if you if you dig into project labor agreements because there are schools in Connecticut that utilize them, you do often see uh and for good reason. There is a
037reason that they tend to correlate very closely to the reimbursement rate from the state of Connecticut. So, we often see project labor agreements on schools uh that have a reimbursement rate of 80, 90, 95%. I think I read here in Trumbull you have a 44%. I could be wrong. Uh but that's that's what I read. And so there's a reason for that and that's because uh towns that are are shouldering a majority of the cost uh are a little more concerned about, you know, a competitive process where they're getting the best value for the money that they're paying. So, okay. Uh, last call for questions for Chris and then we're going to jump into new business. So, any questions for Chris? No. Thank you very much, Chris. I do appreciate it. I wonder if you
038could do us a favor and make a PDF of that slideshow and send it to us for the record if you don't mind. >> Absolutely. I'm happy to. And and thank you again everyone for your time and for the opportunity to address you tonight. Thank you. >> Have a good night, Chris. Thank you. >> All righty. So, the next order of business is the architect's project update. Tyu Kim, did I see Mike somewhere? >> Yeah. >> Yes. >> How you doing, Mike? >> Good. Thank you very much. Um, a brief update for tonight. Um uh [snorts] we last met with you in February. We've continued um technical documentation of the project. We met with our acoustical engineer. Um did just send uh an updated acoustic report with recommendations. Uh we'll forward that to the uh
039OPM and to the chair for your review and input. Uh we've met with our civil landscape team um recognizing the early release package for the phase one documents to do further coordination. Uh we received input from uh the fire marshall and uh parks and wreck. Um we are endeavoring to schedule a um school security and infrastructure meeting with all the stakeholders in the town. I believe that will occur next week. Um and we return to the um educators for a review of the um further delineation of the educational spaces drilling down on specifics about equipment. The other uh upcoming meeting will be a uh tech where we're turning to the technology group review um and security specifications. Oh, that's where we are. Any questions? >> I I Mike, I recall last time we were together,
040there was a question about uh kitchen equipment. Did you want to briefly uh provide some information on that question? >> Yes, I went out to our uh kitchen um consultant um John Souza with Crabtree. He did provide a spec. I took a cut sheet of that and forwarded it to the OPM and I think to you Joe as as chair. Um there is a modest amount of wearashing uh for the uh food service um operations. Um, I will say that u consistent with other locations where Trumbull is uh serving food, the a1 scheme is reliant on disposable trays which may be the nut of that question because I believe the question was phrased in the sense of sustainability of the dishwasher. I will say that u Souza, our food service consultant, is very good at
041what they do and uh they have laid out the kitchen um with the idea that washing might increase in size over time should the school elect to go to uh wa um washing of more cutlery and trays. So it will be adaptable in the future. We would have to put in cut into the wall a return window, which I think we would all recognize from the cafeterias that we all ate in back in the day. Um, but at this time, um, Rumble runs a pretty streamlined uh, food service operation which is reliant from a staffing standpoint on disposable trays. And so our design is consistent with that current policy. Thanks, Mike. Uh, and did you have any other questions about that? I think the >> question I appreciate the information. I can take that information
042to my colleague. Um, that sound I mean that perfect that's a perfect answer. I did have another question in terms of timeline and it has I don't I just for my Trumble public school friends here on how what now after all these snow days where are you at the end of the year and will that impact the timeline at all? Do you guys know? >> Well Randall Randall doesn't let us stop working because of snow. No, I meant like construction in June. >> The construction in June. That's what I meant. [laughter] >> Oh, that's Well, I think it's more like construction in July, but that's not because of snow. But I will if I can. Uh, and I'll put a pin in now for my construction partners who were a little further down on the
043agenda. Is that okay? >> No, I meant like I'm just asking like Fran and those guys. What do you guys know when your end of the year is? >> Sorry. >> Middle school and high school is the 22nd. >> The 23rd. 19 20 22nd Monday the 22nd >> the Monday because we're closed that Friday for Junth. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Mhm. >> Of course that question is to the educators. Sorry that >> I was in Q&A mode. I'm just [snorts] >> just in my I'm relying on my training there. Sorry about that. >> No worries. >> Yeah. And I thought you were I thought you were talking about when the fences were going to be set up and when we were going to start moving dirt around. That's what I thought you were asking.
044>> Yeah. Yeah, >> just to just to chime in here uh through the chair. I think though it's also Trumble Day, which is still fixed on that third third weekend, right, of uh June that's going to be the last hurdle, if you will, before uh this can move forward. >> Right. I think you're right, Bill, because I I think we were going to try to set up after Trumbull Day so that we were not going to disrupt that. I And you know, and Greg can talk to that a little bit later. >> And I don't I don't think the snow days are going to impact us unless we have another [snorts] >> four or five days of snow days, which >> which means everybody's just going to move to Florida. [laughter] >> Right. We put
045it out there, Joe. >> Right. >> Okay. So anyway, we'll uh we'll ask we'll ask our construction team after see if they have any thoughts on that. Um there was something else that came up across the um threshold. Mike, it had to do with some comments that you guys are receiving from AHJ's. Is there anything that you would like to um tell us about that or is there anything that you need from us regarding some of those questions and some of those asks? No, I uh we do need to return to the AHA with um the implication, our interpretations of how to respond to those desires and the potential cost impact of those requests and then we can better put the requests in context. I'll just put it that way. I mean, these are we're
046talking about health and safety of school and its occupants. So we don't take these matters lightly. Um but these are value judgments ultimately and we have to sort them with all the other priorities that are on the project. In the end um we want to continue partnering with the HBA. So we don't want to put anyone in a difficult position or compromise. Um but we could also um track some of these. We either fold in these comments understanding their value to the project or we track them as alternates to let the building committee make a more informed decision. >> Okay. So, we don't have to do anything tonight. You're going to give us some more information a little bit later. >> Yeah. Still still have these some of these things in pencil, not in pen
047yet. Yeah. >> Okay. That's fine. >> If I'm not sure what we're talking about, can you give me some background, please? >> Sure. Mike, do you want to go through some of those? Yes. As Yes. Um in the context of uh reviewing the site logistics plan with uh the um the powers that be in the town and with uh reviewing the design development documents. Additional uh safety requests have come forward uh from uh the building officials in town and some uh potential requests from parks and wreck to expedite the readiness of the fields you know using irrigation using sod etc. Uh all of this is uh definitely value added to the um project but it does represent cost ultimately so it needs to be sorted with the other project uh priorities. So >> those Mike
048were [clears throat] those Andy um were those however reimburseable costs I mean if we resaw the the fields are those state reimburseable costs? Yeah, I don't I don't think anything that I'm aware of yet put into question eligibility other than uh perhaps the need now to pull water off of Daniel's farm which creates some off-site improvements that would be ineligible. But um not not to loop the waters, we do have a um important school security and infrastructure meeting in which all the stakeholders come together and we work the a pretty comprehensive checklist. This starts with the building at the property line and goes all the way down to you know what is the locking uh what is the lockdown mechanism at a classroom and I think that is an important process that we need to
049complete on this project to make sure we're not missing anything but also puts all the stakeholders in the room together so that everyone can speak one time and we can help prioritize these things. So, I don't want to The reason we're not coming to you tonight with all of these um items uh with a with a menu cost on them right now is that we really haven't sorted them into that context. So, I don't I don't want to preempt any decision making. I'm just um Joe's right to ask about it because they are important scopes of work that we are tracking. Thank you, Michael. Are there any other questions for Mike and Tyu Kim, our architects? >> I see uh Jack with his hand up. >> Oh, there's Jack. Yeah. Through the chair, if I
050could respond to Andy's concern about eligibility. If a field is going to be disturbed by our work, then it will be eligible it for us to restore it. uh if we make improvements to other spaces that are not disturbed by the work then there's a question about you know justification and whether it would be eligible or not but for the the fields that Michael was mentioning you know for like for instance the the new field uh between the drives that will go where the existing building now stands you know that's brand new out of the ground so anything that we do there uh whether we upgrade to you know to sod instead of seed that sort of um that would make the field available more more rapidly. Uh those things would be eligible for reimbursement.
051And again, when we disturb something like the softball field, uh it's got to be put back to use anyway. Uh it's a question of returning it, you know, as promptly as possible. So, if we can afford it, soding would give you that field back sooner and that also should be eligible for reimbursement. >> Great. Thanks, Jack. Okay. Any other questions for our architects tonight? Okay. Seeing none, we're going to jump to the next uh new business item, which is um update from Arcadus. Is that going to be you, Jack, or Rob tonight? >> I am sharing my screen now. All right. Can you see it? >> Yes. Okay. >> Yes, we do. >> All right. So, we have our agenda some project updates. Part of what we just spoke about now with the AHJ and
052athletic director requests and uh concerns. Uh our 90-day look ahead financial summary. Um and also we have action request for Bismar change order number one. Um I don't know if that's going to be during the Arcadus uh presentation or Bismar presentation, but um have it here. Um so as mentioned, Jack and I did meet with the building official and fire marshall to review the design development documents. Um out of that meeting we did put together the third-party code review RFP as they did want to have a third party um doing the code review and not not handling in-house. So that um RFP is in the packet. It's on the streets as of last week and it's due back um by the uh March 25th. Um, we have the multi- Vista proposal update. Um, so we
053received the the update following the presentation at our last meeting. Um, >> um, >> question. Nope. Uh, and then our OGA discussion. Um, so we had a our project meeting earlier today and trying to fine-tune our scheduling our OGA PCR meeting. That's our preconformance review meeting with the state. Um, making sure we hit all their checklist and our documents are in align with their requirements. Um, and that gives us our approval to go out to bid for phase one. Um, so we'll talk a little bit about that. Um, so back to some of the AHJ comments. Um when we met with uh Megan Murphy, she said there's a requirement to have a drivable emergency vehicle access on the east side of the building. Um so currently we have a roadway that uh vehicle and apparatuses
054can reach the north, west, and south sides of the building. with the east side of the building because of the terrain. Um we weren't able to give them the amount of space to have an apparatus working on the east side of the building. Um we thought we hit their concern with the the drive the driveway across the the other three sides, but she is looking for just a pathway. Um she's open to a reinforced turf. Uh but this would allow ambulances uh and other emergency vehicles to reach uh on the east side of the building to all exits. Um as stated, there was a concern with the new front field and a lack of a vehicle barrier. So we're looking into options u to provide that barrier such as a timber guardrail um on the
055perimeter of the field. And again, as Michael said, we have our meeting with all the security stakeholders next week, and this will be a topic of discussion to fine-tune. Uh the athletic director requested uh for the irrigation and possible sod at the new field and the stump field that we we will be disturbing. Uh and we can look at these elements. Uh we try to get some pricing beforehand and then add them as an ad alternate so you can make a decision post bid. Uh and also the fire marshals had stated a concern with the ca the capacity of the cafeteria. Uh I guess with uh past experiences the the capacity of the the cafeterias have not been large enough and after a few years when students uh might have been out of district and
056come back in district the enrollment grows and um now they they can't function as originally planned. Um, so today we did look at our 8-year enrollment projections and we're at 826 students. Um, and the cafeteria is designed for uh up to 900 students across three waves. So we do have some capacity for growth. Um, that would be potentially unexpected. [snorts] Any questions or comments on these items? All right. Uh, moving down. So, this is the the RFP that was published. Um, most of it is the boilerplate items from the state or from from the town. Um, and our scope of work is is a pretty basic one pager. Um so this [clears throat] consultant would come on board uh and review the documents uh for code compliance and issue their u report within um 30
057days of receiving their notice to proceed. [clears throat] So, we're looking to have bids back, as I said, on March 25th. Looking to have uh present that the the next building committee meeting. [snorts] >> Is there a deadline for questions, Rob? >> Yeah, it's the week before. So, that would be March 18th. All right. Any questions on the other questions on the RFP? All right. So, this is the updated multivista proposal. Uh we did confirm there was a question last meeting about uh reimbursement eligibility and we confirmed that the photo documentation piece uh would be eligible for reimbursement and the webcam is not eligible for reimbursement. Um so what David put together here was a um site progression over the course of construction of two times monthly uh coming out with um their camera and
058then also drone shots. So that's two times per month uh over 30 months. Uh, so that' be start to finish. Um, that also includes all the underground plumbing exact builts. So that's in coordination with Arcadus and Bismar to have them out there prior to backfill of the underground piping so that those elements can be captured and documented and uh put to the plans. Uh it also includes two times monthly interior progressions. So that's going to start uh after steel uh is erected and we have actual elevated um building structures. [snorts] Uh they will come out two times a monthly through the completion of the building and then also includes the interior MEP exact built. So any inwall uh mechanical, electrical and plumbing elements uh inwall and above ceiling. Uh so that's a fixed price and
059again with coordination with uh Arcadus and Bismar to make sure that they're out there to capture everything. Uh and as David said this is all uh can be adjusted if we want one times month uh one visit per month uh every two weeks two times per month. Um so it is adjustable. Uh he did I did send him the schedule. So this is based on the rough schedule that we have. We don't have the >> [laughter] >> exact schedule, but um [laughter] this appears to be fairly close to what it should be. Um so again, this is the photo documentation. Did we want to take any action on this tonight or you know, there's still time? There's plenty of time um to do that. But >> might I suggest uh Joe that uh since we're
060whatever our next meeting is, we're going to an executive session that we perhaps discuss this contract then >> with with maybe but certainly part of an executive session. >> Yeah, we have time on this. Um, but I do like the idea of discussing because it's quite a menu of services and they're not cheap um, by any stretch of the imagination, but they certainly will have value. Uh, any of these services will have to come out of owner's contingency. There is no line item budget associated with uh, the the photo capturing of the information. So, it'll have to come out of our contingency. So I I think I think we want to probably talk about this in executive session at one of our subsequent meetings and then decide if we want to do a part of
061it, we want to do all of it or do we want to, you know, reduce some of the some of the costs? >> What when do we have to decide this by? And the reason one of the reason I'm just think I'm not I'm I'm I'm generally in favor of of of something like this being done for a project. Um, I guess because of our the this is coming out of the owner's contingency, I would I guess in a perfect world like to see what the bids are going to be for our project be so that we have some better handle on what we may or may not need the contingency for. >> Sounds like the question is, can we take a look at this after we receive bids? Is that what you're asking, Andy?
062>> Well, we can. Yeah, we I mean we can talk about the extent of the the the the photographing that they want to do, but yes, I guess that is my question whether or not we can wait until we get our bids back. >> Go ahead, Jack. >> I think Jim was first. >> Oh, Jim, sorry, didn't see your hand. [laughter] >> Yeah, a couple questions on this. Um, one is, uh, Rob, if you could, you mentioned a portion was reimburseable and a portion was not. C, could you break that down to dollars? Which >> yes, >> dollars on the existing contract are reimburseable. >> Yep. Um, I didn't do the math here. This this photo documentation piece is is the fully reimburseable portion. So if we're looking at roughly 50, 60, uh,000. So that
063would be reimburseable. And um we can talk about the webcam which is here. Um what we've seen on other projects is you you host this through Multiv Vista and you get the time lapse and and everything but with a you know sometimes the school's IT department um you know purchases through the project a separate webcam system and we set it up and we manage it inhouse um and typically save some cost on the webcam side. And this this 16,000 roughly 17,000 is not reimburseable as it's not seen as a value added to the overall project from state. It's a convenience or a nicity. >> Can have you worked on other projects with other schools where this has been used and do you recommend it? >> Yes. Yeah. Currently at my uh Board Havens project, we
064have Multiv Vista uh on staff for services and it is a helpful tool. Uh the facility staff appreciates it now that they're operating in the building. Um and it's it's nice to, you know, even working through some closeout items and going back and having the time stamp on the exact location um to kind of vet through those those items. So, it is a it is a helpful tool. It's beneficial for the life of the building. >> And since it's all coming out of owners, uh well, there's only one contingency on this contract on this, right? But there's no other contingency except owners in the budget, right? There's no CM contingency. There will there is a CM contingency but that would be you know not under owner's control and that would be you know we'll finalize
065that at the GMP when we finalize the contract. >> So um I mean if we have to lock in on this early on we we won't it'll be out of the contingency before um well the contingency would be allocated prior to construction then is that right? >> Yeah. Yes. As soon Yes. Whenever we whenever the committee decides if they want if they want to use the surface, it would, you know, we would go under contract with Multiv Vista and the the contingency would be shifted then. But there is there is time. I mean, we we have them on they're showing here starting for the phase one, you know, moving dirt and and the geothermal. Um, but we're not going to be starting foundations and underground until the fall. So, you know, there there is time
066to make a decision here. >> Yeah. Okay, that's it for me. >> Hey, hey, Jack, did you have a question or was it answered? >> A couple couple of comments. Uh first of all, looking at our budget, uh to Jim's point, owner contingency right now sits as of the end of January, which was the version that I'm looking at here, owner's contingency sits at about $8.2 million. We also have budgeted on in the owner's oversight category of the overall master budget uh a line item called other consultants that's currently funded at $200,000 and $0 has been uh committed from that 200 so far. Uh so there actually is a budget line that this could be allocated towards. Uh as Rob said, the webcam is not eligible for reimbursement. Uh on other projects, uh as Rob
067noted, you know, the the school's IT folks have done it. Uh we've had it go different [clears throat] ways. One was uh one recent one was um uh processed as a time lapse by by the uh by a consultant that the IT people from the school hired. very minimal fee to uh stitch things together from the webcam to create an actual time lapse. Uh on on other projects we've done it where it does a sample photograph say maybe every 15 minutes during the working day um you know five days a week. So there are different ways that that can be formatted. again uh utilizing district resources rather than using the outside vendor which uh again in either case it would be ineligible but the out-of- pocket cost was lower when it was uh in internally
068managed. So that's all I had to add for that. C >> can I Joe I just want to follow up a little bit. I'm going a little bit of field here but it is related. I'm just concerned just keeping an eye on that contingency. I I we're the town is holding six contracts, right? As as I as understand Jack, you said Rob gave you this information. You you were good enough to get me this email about this. So we we got the commissioning a commissioning agent, structural review, code review, special inspector, material testing, and commercial moving. Are all those budgeted items or would any of them be be charged to the contingency? Uh we have uh individual line items for architect, owners rep, commissioning, testing and inspections, moving and this other other consultants line. So
069again, we have not tapped the $200,000 yet. Things like the third party reviewer, uh threshold reviewer, and multivista could come out of that line item that's presently $200,000. We might need to supplement some owner contingency dollars depending on what those final prices come in for. >> But it would not be it would not be a direct hit 100% out of owner's contingency. Mhm. >> But it it sounds like two or three of the contracts the town is holding will either come out of the special whatever that other category with the 200,000 was >> the the other consultants >> other consultant and some potentially from the U contingency, right? >> Yeah. So threshold review and uh the code review are musthaves, Jim. So this video and this photographic is not a mustave. It's sort of a
070nice to have. So, I think it might be prudent for us to get those other musthaves priced out and under our belt and see what we have left in our contingency for some of these things. But, I do I think I think we do have some time to make a decision on this. >> You know, Rob mentioned that he's using Multivista down at Bullet Havens. Uh, not only are they using it, but it's the state requires it to be done. on a state project >> and [clears throat] projects that we're working on in Stanford with >> also they they the city of Stanford have adopted it as a standard that it's used. So it's fairly it's not used on all of our projects but we do see it fairly often. >> That seems like a
071great idea. I just Yeah. I wanted to see what we have uh for available dollars for it. Sure. Okay. >> Okay. Any other questions? Uh [snorts] to Arcadus from the building committee. >> Um I do have a question about the change order. I don't know if you want to handle it now or when Bismar is up. >> Um I you know I'm well I think maybe what we want to do is explain it explain it now and then maybe we'll vote it later >> because I don't understand it yet. But go but go ahead. So, I don't know. Jack or Rob, do you want to explain uh the ram or >> Yeah. You want to jump? >> Don't Don't bother jumping. Don't Don't jump. Just stay stay in order and we'll uh we'll come to
072it at the end. >> Okay. Uh >> Jim, when we uh when we typically go to bid, it's the structural engineers drawings of the building and then once it's bid, the awarded steel contractor then does the detailing of the steel, how they are actually going to uh it's, you know, their their their cutting list, you know, how they're actually going to process the material and turn it into pieces and parts that get assembled into our building. Uh, and there's a cost to that. So, it it happens on every project. What we're proposing here, what was discussed with the committee and what's been committed now to a to a number for approval tonight is to have that detailing work done prior to going to bid so that all of those detailed u [clears throat] parts and
073pieces are explicitly outlined for the biders. So they know uh what the final product is going to look like not just a matter of uh this the structural engineers layout of what the final thing should look like. We have found two benefits from that. Number one, by having this information up front, the biders are more certain on what they're working on. Working on helps them sharpen their pencil on the actual calculations of the material and the labor that it's going to cost in order to put all the detailing and joints together. Uh it also uh allows the procurement the fabrication of this material to start uh weeks if not months earlier than it would if the bidder then has to go through this process after the bid is awarded. So that can uh speed up
074construction. We've had projects where the full building's worth of steel is sitting in the front yard on trailers while we're finishing up the last of the concrete, which is the ideal. you want everything prepped and ready to go. Uh the secondary benefit is that we found in some cases it's cheaper to spend these dollars upfront than [clears throat] for the iron worker to pay for this service down the road. Uh that you know the the resource that's being used now is actually more cost competitive than getting it through the steel contractor. So it's a a nominal savings there. uh but the bigger savings on a sharper pencil on bid day by the uh the [clears throat] steel contractors and then the schedule benefit of having the jump start on fabrication and we recommend it strongly
075on all of our projects because of those benefits. >> Okay, thank you Jack. Uh, do you want to continue on your 90-day look ahead? >> Uh, Mr. Mr. Chairman, if I might. >> Um, the other meetings that are on Zoom tonight um just ended. So, we have the ability to do an executive session if this committee would like to. >> I don't think that's needed, Bill. I don't think we're we've got that on our list tonight. >> So, Jack, do you want to >> Thank you for that update, though, Bill. >> Go ahead. >> All right. looking at looking at our 90-day look ahead here. Um we are going to get our bids back from the third party structural reviewer and third party code reviewer and we'll be looking to make selections on um on
076the biders. Uh we're looking to have a a bit TSKP we met earlier today talked about schedule here. So, the phase one construction documents for uh civil work and the bid package that Bismar wants to put together um will be complete this month. Uh we're looking at uh around the 25th, the last week or second to last week of the month. Um and then uh we were discussing the um procedure for this building committee and the board of ed to approve those phase one documents uh in in their meeting. So [snorts] it looks like the board of ed is meeting on April 7th. Um and our building committee meeting is falling on the 24th. Um, so we are tr trying to tighten tighten up that window a little bit to give TSKP the you know
077as much time as they can to put the package together. Um, and we would be requesting a potential special meeting special uh building committee meeting on the 31st um to you know we'll review the documents and then look for approval. Uh we've done this in the past similar to this type of meeting on Zoom. So it could be efficient. Um, uh, it can be in person as well if desired. But that is going to that would be a request of ours. So we could, you know, have a week in between the the two meetings rather than two weeks. >> Looking go ahead, Jack. Uh in our in our meeting with the uh the superintendent and other district staff uh the other day, there was a uh a strong recommendation by the superintendent that you know
078for the the board of ed's comfort in doing something they don't typically do, which is reviewing and approving documents to go to bid um or to to be submitted to the state for review rather. uh he felt that having the building committee's approval in advance of putting it in front of the board of ed uh would would expedite the process and give them a comfort level. That's the reason u that we would be requesting a special meeting on the 31st instead of using our first meeting in April uh for the building committee. So it's >> Hey Jack, I got a question about that um that phase one. Are we going to get an estimate that goes along with that package? >> Yes, we will. >> Okay. So, that'll be part of our review and our
079sign off prior to the board event. >> It'll be it'll be drawings, project manual, and estimate presented as a package for your for your approval. >> Okay. Thank you. As we work through April, um we'll set our OGA uh PCR meeting. Uh typically there is a follow-up process and then there is a period where uh it takes them to initiate the letter uh giving us approval. So we're we need to budget some time for the uh PCR process. uh you know there's been a lot of talk uh over the last uh several months with the OSA approval. So from when the OSA package was submitted u giving us the time frame that we thought it might take we should be seeing the OSA approval back in April which is also needed uh to go up
080to bid. And looking further ahead in May uh is when we start the bidding process with Bismar putting the packages out to the street. Uh and then finalizing phase two documents and the cost estimating period of of phase two. Um and then we also have the third party reviewers engaging on the on the phase 2 plans. Um so those reviews will be starting close to around close to the time of cost estimating and running through that process running through that period. Uh and then the the reconciling of those comments uh would be happening. All right. So have the schedule here uh really no changes from the last meeting. Um, we did discuss potentially moving this up to March 30, moving this out to March 31st. Um, so we have the building committee and board of
081ed approving on the 31st and the 7th. Any questions on the schedule? All right, moving on to project budget summaries. So, um, no changes. We we'll have our updated financials at the next meeting. I know there was a question on the return period for OGA on the reimbursements. So, they're typical tracks about 90 days. Uh, sometimes we see up to 120 days. So, that's it's a it's a three-month cycle. So this note here was um for the end of January. Our requisition one was submitted and we should be seeing uh a reimbursement payment in April. [snorts] So it's a 90 90day cycle. And then as we shared before our owner contingency is uh still sitting strong at 8 million uh just over 8.2 2 million. Any questions on finances? And then in our in our
082packet here, we did have the change order one from Bismar. Um so it's on the AIA document. Uh it does have it's a total cost of $172,700. Um in the backup details the scope of work for RAM drafting um and includes a U bismar markup of 10% on the cost of the professional service. Uh this is a change order for their pre-construction contract. And if I may, I'll state again, these are dollars that we were going to spend anyway, whether through the steel contractor or now purchasing this this service upfront. Um, so it's not as though this is in any way in addition to the cost of the project. It's an early spend of dollars we needed to spend someday anyway. Is the 4% general contractor override was that was that anticipated as part of
083their preconstruction contract as an override on services obtained by them? >> Generally markups on professional services that are subcontracted uh is typically 10%. So this is not out of the ordinary. Thanks. [clears throat] [cough] >> That concludes my packet. Um so I think Joe, we're you you would like to take action on this at the end of the agenda when you have action items. Uh on the >> Yeah, we'll make that part of um item number five. >> Joe, I just have a quick I'm sorry. I just >> Yeah, go ahead. An >> quick question. Sorry. But but anyway, um so wait, Jack, so you're saying that ultimately this money was part of a bigger like it it's not an additional expense. It was part of our original >> typically this is Greg from Bisark.
084Typically the detailing for the structural um components of the project is in our already our budget. So it's already in the budget of the structural package. >> Okay. we're just we're just going to be paying this sooner. But not only that, you're getting it at a less cost because uh when they do it like we've spoken to different contractors and when I shared you know cost about where the detailing would be, they're like pay them. It it's so um it takes the estimate out of the drawings. It gives you accurate and actual um quantities which just takes a lot of guesswork out which is going to help us get more competitive pricing. But one caveat that he didn't sh, you know, I think Jack didn't share is it really shakes out any change orders that
085might happen. So that's resolved um early on here in precon with the structural engineer and the detailer. So all those little boss of this clip goes here that that's already resolved by the time the bid documents are ready. >> That's a very good point, Greg. So this this also serves as kind of a risk reduction opportunity. >> Correct. >> Uh and Greg, wouldn't the um corresponding structural steel cost estimate in theory be reduced by this amount? >> Correct. >> Yeah. >> Straight deduct to the estimated package. >> Yep. >> Thank you. Super helpful. People were asking me questions. I'm like, I have to go to the meeting first before I have an answer. [laughter] Yeah. >> Okay. Any other questions uh for Arcadus before we jump to Bismar and Greg? All right. So, Greg, you're
086up. >> Good evening. You know, I got to tell you, I'm looking forward to, you know, having my normal PowerPoints and it'll be pictures of the job going along and and uh detailed. But now, I'm just going to hit our action items of what we've been working on here the past two weeks. Uh we did meet with the fire marshal and reviewed all the site logistics. We met with her early on uh before I opened it up to anybody else because we all know um she has a vision for the for the site regarding safety and fire and the fire. So um she did discuss about fortifying that front field. Uh Michael gave me some uh sketches today that we're going to be working on pricing uh a railing around the front field. So, that's
087one thing we're going to be working on behind the scene uh over the next week. The other one we did meet with is the police chief and we reviewed all the site safety signage that'll be leading up Daniel's Farm and down farm and the loop of coming out of the main gate at Daniel's Farm for trucks. Uh we're going to have a right turn only and it's going to loop around off of Strobble. So, he approved that and um his traffic commission in town also approved the site logistics. [clears throat] Um over the past month, we've been working on our rough drafts for these bid packages. Uh site package. We're going to be meeting with Michael and his team next week just to iron out a few of the civil concerns we have and really
088lock in this bid package for the next phase. We updated our pre-construction schedule and we'll be sharing that. that's in my package here. I'll send over to you, Joe. And then the last meeting we had last week was with um Alvin Bingham from CHRO to review and discuss packages. Uh you know, when we meet with the Connecticut Commission of Human Rights, they kind of, you know, I say, "Let's do just one electrical package." They suggest break it into the fire alarm communications giving opportunity to more small business opportunity. uh which went well. So, we're we're um going to be having another meeting with him showing what bid packages we see here for the project. Let's see what else. >> Last one. Uh probably next weing you'll start seeing our um preliminary construction schedule. I think
089uh we had it always as July 6th starting after the Trumble Day weekend. All right, that's all I had here for the past two weeks. And if you have any questions, feel free. >> Are there any questions for Greg? [clears throat and cough] >> Greg, I just had one question on this phase one. How many packages do you anticipate putting out on the street? Uh, we would only like to have a site package, but I did speak with Alvin the other day uh from CHRO and we're debating over putting over just a temporary fence package to give uh opportunity for small businesses. >> Okay. So, are you are you um including any utilities in this first package? >> Yes. And you know, just because the way the site is, uh, where the water we have
090to catch at Daniel's farm and bring direct, it would be nice to get a lot of the utilities in first, um, prior to excavation for foundations. And not only that, you know, we did to minimize the exposure to the town with cost, we were talking about removing sight concrete, which would be sidewalks and curbs, and having that in phase two. We also discussed having uh permanent fencing in phase two, also taking the landscaping out of the site package, having that in phase two, and this would just help reduce the overall cost of that original site package. >> Okay. Are you uh drilling geothermal wells in phase one or are you waiting for phase two? >> We would like to get the geothermal wells started in the cycle. >> Okay, good. Good. Um I suspect that
091might be a separate package or do you have something else in mind? >> Uh for the geothermal wells it's typically in the site package how we've seen it um of recent. Uh it's how we just actually did it in Stanford. So um it worked well. We end up having some competitive pricing for that. >> So rather than a separate package, you just put it under the site and they'll have their sub on there. >> Correct. >> Okay, good. Sounds good. There any questions? [snorts] Any other questions for Greg? No. Okay. We're going to move on to a the next item which is the date of the next meeting. So, we're going to need to discuss some of the options associated with the next meeting because my understanding is March 10th, which is our normally scheduled
092meeting. Uh there is um a school event, parent and teacher uh conferences I think. Uh Jeff, is that is that what I understand from your email? >> Yeah, the the Hillrest conferences are that night. >> Okay. I Is this is this uh generally with other schools in town the same night or is it just the Hillrest? >> Probably Madison. Fran, I don't know if Fran can answer for the when the Trumble High ones are. >> No, ours are this week. >> Yours are this week. Okay. So, Jeeoff, you would be the only one with a conflict in next week, correct? >> No, I would just I might be a little bit late getting there, that's all. >> Okay. Um, next week's our regular scheduled meetings. Anybody um have a conflict or are we okay to
093schedule it? It's going to be probably relatively quick meeting with an executive session and I'd like to make it in person. So, everybody okay with that? Okay, fantastic. So, we'll just hold March 10th as the next meeting and we'll check with Barbara. I'm pretty sure it's going to be a town hall. [clears throat] Uh, but I'll verify that and get an agenda out to everybody. All right. It it might I think next week is um is that good? The evening is good because the town hall is occupied during the day but the evening should be right. Thanks, Bill. >> Is that good, Bill? Okay, perfect. Yeah. Yeah. That's a regular 7 o'clock is what we're going to shoot for. All right. All right. So, that didn't go as bad. Uh as you heard, we're going
094to have to probably have a special meeting at the end of the month, 31st. So, at on the 10th, we'll decide whether or not we need to meet before the 31st. Uh there is a conflict. I'm going to I'm going to be away the 24th [snorts] of March. I think >> Joe Joe, not but isn't the special meeting April 31st? >> No, that would be March 31st prior to the board of ed meeting. >> Okay. >> Yeah, because the board wants to get our endorsement before they put their endorsement on. Okay. >> Okay. So, um the 24th, uh both Andy and I I I think you're away, Andy. I know I'm away. >> Unfortunately, I am. >> So, we're probably going to want [clears throat] to skip that one and maybe just do the 24th
095in lie of that. And what we'll have to do is hear from Barbara about where it could occur. And that's also going to be a very limited agenda meeting most likely unless something is uh that needs uh some action or we need to add a few items onto that agenda. >> So Joe to clarify, are you saying skip the 24th and just do the 31st? >> Yeah, because we're not around Jack. >> Uh Andy and I are both gone. If one or the other were around, we'd still have that meeting, but we just we're we're both away. And for the record, not together. [laughter] >> Although, I think we're both going to be in Florida. >> Yeah, >> we could arrange to meet if you'd like. I >> That's a good idea. All right. Um,
096so, okay. So, a little plan on March 10th as the next meeting. Next item on the agenda is the action and approval. Um, what I'd like to do is ask somebody to make a motion to approve change order for Bismar 0001 in the amount of $172,700. That's the correct number, right? >> Yes, it is. >> Okay. Do can I get a second or actually can I somebody make a motion on that? >> Uh >> okay Ann. That's Ann. And who's a second? >> Andy. So any other discussions? Any other questions about this? No. Okay. All in favor say I. Please, I'm going to I'm going to read your names and you guys tell me uh yay or nay. Okay. Andy, >> hi. >> JC, >> hi. >> Bill, >> yay. >> Fran, >> Yay. Ann,
097>> yay. John, >> I >> Jeff, >> yay. >> Joe, yay. A motion carries. Thank you very much. It'll be good uh expenditure and and just for the record, um I've done this many times and it does work very well for everybody. It'll be a good uh use of money. So, that's really all on our agenda tonight. Um, anybody have anything else they want to ask about or any other concerns? >> No. Okay. So, could I get a motion to adjourn? >> Motion. Second. >> Who was that? Was that Bill first? >> Uh, I let I deferred. I I'll second the motion. >> Okay. Who was first? >> I made the motion. JC. >> Oh, JC. Perfect. So, JC and then Bill second. All in favor say I. >> I. Thank you very much everybody.
098Have a great evening and we'll see you a week from tonight. >> Thank you. Have a