001Alrighty, the webinar is live. Our YouTube feed is live. Miss McMerry, the meeting is yours. Thank you, Mr. Gilmer. I'd like to call the May 27th meeting for Facilities and Operations Committee to order. And we will start with our pledge of allegiance. I pledge 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 for all. Okay. All right. So again, welcome everyone. So first on the agenda will be approval of the minutes from our April 28th meeting. May I please have a motion to approve? Some moved. Is there a second? Is there second? Thank you. Um, any comments or questions? Okay, hearing none. All in favor say I. I. I. All right. There are no opposed. So motion
002passes. Thank you. So, Mr. Slaughter, I will turn the meeting over to you for the items recommended for work session and or um action. Thank you. Thank you. Uh good evening directors and uh public joining us for the facilities and operations committee. Uh the first item that we have on the agenda uh for recommended for work session and action meeting is the Pennale Middle School change order request. Mr. Linsky, if you would bring that up, please. So, this change order request is for Gem Mechanical uh related to the HVAC systems at the Pendale Middle School project. Uh currently, there were additional leaks found on the circuits. Uh there was also some additional parts that were found that were bad that had occurred between the time that this was bid out and when the project actually
003started. uh this is work is in the amount of $15,385.70. I also mentioned that this would be uh one of a another change order. Uh we're currently working on a leak on the fourth circuit now that was not a part of the original scope. So we will probably be back with the change order for the leak detections on that. Any questions? I'll call the motion first. Um, may I please have a motion to approve uh Penddale? Um, so moved. Sorry. Thank you. Any comments or questions? Mr. Mr. um Slaughter, please go ahead. I'm sorry. No, I wondered if there was any questions regarding Okay. Um I Well, I already had discussed this a bit with you prior. Um, so what happened was not this was, for lack of a better term, an unforeseen condition until
004it was opened up to see exactly what was going on. Is that correct? That's correct. The way this project was bid, that was the replacement of the compressors that were failed and the topping off of refrigerant. At when we replaced the compressors and did a vacuum test on the system, we found that there were additional leaks that were not part of the original scope of work. There were also uh three scored contactors that required replacement and there was also a failed solenoid valve uh as we performed our vacuum test. So this work was unforeseen prior to uh to starting the work. So let me ask a question. Do we have the same compressors located elsewhere in the district buildings that we should look at those now as well? So we certainly have compressors that are
005the same age as that as these. Uh these items were repairs, not replacement. So these will go back on the uh capital projects list as a future replacement down the road. But in order to get uh air conditioning in in the parts of the building, uh we had to get these repairs in line and done prior to uh June uh for for use. All right. Thanks so much. Any anyone else on the committee have any comments or questions? Okay, hearing none. All in favor say I. I. I. There are no opposed. So motion passes. So thank you, Mr. Slaughter. Thank you. Uh the next item that we have on the on the uh items recommended for work session is a facility use fee waiver request. This is uh on behalf of Hatfield Township to use
006the Penfield uh middle school auditorium for the township organized transition from the developer to the homeowners association uh for the Dell web development in Hatfield. Uh it's anticipated that they'll have 325 people uh which is larger than their facility can hold. Uh just as a reminder, Hatfield Township is the one that assisted the school district previously when the ESC was unavailable uh due to problems and the meetings were held at that township building. So this is uh the return of a favor if you would. Yes. Perfect. All right. May I please have a motion? So moved. Second. Oh, I have a second. Second. Okay. Um, any comments or questions from the committee? Grateful to be able to return the favor and appreciate that their help uh when we needed it as well. Yes. Agree. All
007righty. Um, any other comments or questions? All right. Hearing none. All in favor say I. I. I. There are no opposed. So motion passes. Thanks, Mr. Slaughter. Thank you. The last item that we have on the uh got a late late approval there. Uh the next item that we have on the recommended for work session action meeting is permission to advertise for the environmental monitoring of the high school project phases two and three. Uh this monitoring company will oversee and test uh as we're performing uh abatement in portions of the building. Uh so we have the consultant that's already on board. We will be bidding for the removal contractor. This is the environmental monitoring contractor uh that will do perform the air testing. Okay. Thank you. May I have a motion, please? So moved. Second.
008Second. Okay, great. Any comments or questions? No. All right. Hearing none. All in favor say I. I. I. I. No opposed. So, this motion passes. Thank you. All right. We're moving on toformational items now. The firstformational item we have is the update from CHA. With us tonight, we have Mr. Colin Casease, who is going to fill us in on what's happened since last month. Yep. Hi everybody. I'm happily filling in for Mr. Lynch tonight. Couldn't make it. And he may stroll in here a little late, but tonight uh it looks like it's uh my job to present. So you can go to the first slide. Perfect. Thank you. So as far as upcoming and recent events, we had quite a bit. Um as you know, the project has received uh preliminary final approval from the
009planning commission and we're going to be returning to the board of supervisors tomorrow night. Um, we've also made some progress with Pico and their engineer. They were able to confirm the electrical equipment specifications and we're happy to report that procurement is underway for some of that critical electrical equipment uh for the project. Um, for North Penn Water and Sewer Authority, um, we completed the execution of the legal documents for the conveyance of the water lines at the high school. Um, happy to report as far as the, uh, phase one, uh, the general contractor has the meter pits approved and released and we're patiently waiting to see what the delivery date is for both of those pits. So, uh, looks like all, you know, full speed ahead and at our next um, construction meeting, we're hoping
010to have a date of when they'll be arriving. We can go to the next slide. As far as the um conservation district permit, um phase one and phase two have both been submitted. We have approal approval for phase one, which is just a simple ENS permit. Um that's going to allow us for some of that critical work that we have this summer. Um the technical review for the balance of the project is pending and in the conservation district's court. Um the permit is expected hopefully September of 2025. That's our target date. And um you know, I think we all talked about this many times, but you know, it's critical to have that permit in hand. That's going to allow us to kind of proceed into phase two, the construction of the addition and then also
011the clearance of um of the trees and staging area for that transportation building. And we'll talk a little more um about that later on. As far as Pendot, um the team is seeking county input on Sony Town uh road widening. Um this determines if we if curb and proportions of sidewalks can be can be deferred. Um TNM is also working with their signal um on on a traffic signal plan u with comments and revisions that were requested by the township. As far as Sunnytown Road, the township has requested a pedestrian study to be completed. Um this is um kind of as you exit the back of the building um back of the site. Uh that study has been completed and there will be a pedestrian uh crosswalk at Snider Road um kind of where the
012new parking lot area will go and our our construction staging area and eventually you know when we turn those in athletic field. So that kind of back piece of the site. As far as the utility survey, the conservation district did ask for some additional test points and surveying um as did the township engineer. Um that work was completed and we um shared those results with the conservation district on the last submission. Uh as thanks as far as uh ongoing activities for phase one um obviously notice to proceed has been issued. We're having regularly regular bi-weekly construction meetings. I think we're up to meeting number six now. So we have you know lots of discussion lots of planning as we head here into the summer. Um happy to report that um work in the natiatorum has
013started. Um that work began on the 20th. So, right after that groundbreaking, contractors uh mobilized. We got temporary fencing up. We have dumpsters on site and we have um we have crews in there um every day at this point starting that initial selective demo, deenergizing systems. Um later on this week, we're going to start working on removing that pool bulkhead and uh draining of the actual pool itself. Um as far as phase 2 design documents, um phase 2 was advertised. Those drawings and specifications are on the street. they've been distributed to contractors. Um we have a pre-bid meeting for that pro for that piece of the project on June 24th. Um bids are due July 17th or one week later if we do decide to extend the um the deadline. Uh for transportation uh the
014trans uh transportation building uh site and design are nearing completion. Um we've uh collected pricing through Gordian. um anticipated contract award is late summer which kind of aligns with the phase two piece of the project and again start date is dependent on the timing of that MPDS removal um and that'll allow us for clearing with the phase 2 general contractor to prepare that site um for the Gordian group. So Gordian piece of the project uh go up just a little bit Mr. Linsky. Thank you. The AM radio tower. Um so uh a small but good update on this piece of the project. Um tower demo is scheduled to begin the week of um June 23rd. Weather dependent. Um this one, you know, is is just beyond rain. It's also like wind dependent. You know, if
015it's a windy day, we obviously don't want to be taking 160 ft tower down. So, you know, we have a tenative start date of June 23rd. That's, you know, hopefully well after graduation without too many rain outs, right? Um and uh we did have our pre-construction kickoff meeting with that team um with the GC there, Tamco, um who was excellent, very very professional, and and me and Mr. Slaughter um had a nice sit down with them and and they they're they have a plan and they're ready to uh execute that project this summer. Okay, now you can go to the next one. Thanks. So, as far as um phase one schedule, so obviously we have lots of completes on here, which is good. We're heading in the right direction. We're still in that shop drawing
016procurement phase, but we are starting work. And Mr. Linsky, can you scroll down just a little bit more? I just want to get the bottom of that slide here. I don't want to. Yeah, perfect. So, like I said, we started work um in the niatorum this week. Um selected demo is is u is progressing well. They're chipping tile off walls um and getting ready for some of that bulk demo here to start. Um looking forward to the summer. Uh we have some of those strategic site activities. So, we have relocation of water lines. We have the new sanitary main that runs through the courtyard and out to a manhole that eventually will receive um the new main from the transportation building which is planned uh later on in the fall. Uh we have fuel tank
017removals um in the rear of the site and um over near um Cape Pod and we also have that critical propane station uh relocation that's also planned this summer. Um while while that tank's being relocated um Mr. Slaughter's team. They've been uh actively preparing for this and they have a temporary fill truck prepared to fill buses um while that propane station is down. Um and then third floor KOD is going to start as soon as um staff and students are out. So contractors are ready. Um they've been walking through the building on on days off and and they're ready to uh to begin work. And and they've also been uh releasing some of the critically critical procure uh procurement items. So they have case work released. We have um shop drawing submissions into the township.
018So, you know, the the um the team is really prepared to to execute this project as as soon as school's out, we're ready to go. Okay. So, as far as phase two, um I know we had a board meeting, um I think it was last week or the week before and and we had a larger update on phasing for phase two, but as far as an outlook for phase two, so really we're we're waiting to see when we're going to get that approval process completed for the conservation district and the township, um obviously the project's been advertised, like I said, uh we have drawings out to contractors and they're starting to prepare their numbers, hopefully good numbers for us. Um, and then as far as schedule-wise for phase two piece of the building, the APOD
019edition will begin in the fall of 2026. And we'd love to give a date on this, but like like we're working towards that MPDS approval. So, you know, it could be late September, it could be October, hopefully in that range. It's kind of just um contingent on that approval and getting through land development. Um, APOD renovation would uh follow in the summer of 2026 and that would continue to August of 27. So that that piece of the project would be both floors at one time of APOD. So um we we do some abatement on the second floor, drop down to the first floor, and then you start demo activities right behind them. So that's kind of the plan of attack for Apod. Um for BP pod, very similar. We're doing half at a time on
020this one though. We're going to start on the second floor, complete the second floor, come down to the first floor, do the cafeteria over a summer, and then continue with the kitchen. that's going to extend a little bit longer um into November of 2028 or sorry, December of 2027 to complete the kitchen. Um D& Pod is is a split one. So this one we're going to kind of split D& in half and we're going to do um second floor and first floor of those split areas at the same time. Um D& pod's a little challenging because it's in the heart of the building and we can't take a full floor at a time because you block pathways to other pots. So that one's was a challenging phase. uh a challenge phasing wise and to make
021sure we keep flow through the building. So, the best way to do it was to split it um in in a half and do both floors at the same time and then switch to the other half and do both of those floors at the same time. And then following that would be CPOD, which is very much like Apod. We'd be taking full C pod at one point. We do top and bottom at the same time. That would start in January of 29 and continue to December of 2029. as far as abatement bids. Um, so they're going to bid at the same timeline as the renovation. That work is going to start with the um with the addition actually. So there's some early abatement that needs to happen um where a addition is being built and
022a renovation will eventually occur. So there's some select window abatement in those areas. So when we um construct the addition, there's some corridors that intersect into APOD. kind of create some new pathways for the new flow of students from a addition into AP pod. And there's some critical abatement that needs to work in those areas to allow for that selective demo to happen and keep the A addition on schedule. Um, as far as phasing, like we said, it's coordinated with the renovations. Most phases will start with abatement. You know, there'll be some smaller activities up front like temporary partitions and getting prepared to begin work in that phase, but abatement will follow right after we would abate begin selective demolition and then continue on with with the scope of renovations in those phases. Um, and
023it would finish um abatement would fully finish in summer 2020 and um down in the gym. So, going over to um to phase 2A is what we're calling the transportation building. Um, so we're working through some of the final details um with Shraider Group and and the district. Um, we've had meetings with the cooperative purchasing contractor um to review the phasing for that work because it is tied into the phase 2 portion of the project phasing when it comes to the site um and where we kind of are are at with the phase 2 renovations and where the site is and which summer it lands on. So, there was some critical work that needed to be phased together on the site. Um again start date for the transportation building work is contingent on that MPDS
024approval. So similar to a addition as soon as we get that permit we can start clearing trees prepping the um the building pad and uh and staging area for the transportation building and then that state contractor state contract would come in that GC would do that work and begin construction of that building. Um the building will be will be erected while the existing uh transportation center remains operational. Um once it's complete, we're going to occupy the new building, abate the existing building, demolish it, restore the parking lot to its new [Music] configuration. And then the last side, which is always great, everybody everybody's eyes dances to that grand total, right? So 259, 562, 287, right? So nothing changed there as far as budget. Um I know it was presented at the last meeting at least
025I I kind of remember I was tuning in on YouTube but um you know we we are able to break the budget out now into the five phases that it will become and we have our grand total at the end. So there hasn't been any changes since that last board update. Okay. Hopefully I didn't go too quick and I'd love to take any questions. Thanks Mr. Case. Anyone have any questions? Are there any hands? Because I can't see the hands. Okay. Um, oh, Mrs. Joel, thank you. I have a quick one. Sure. So, I'm sorry. I I guess I keep getting confused. Phase two is going to be renov. Yes. They're not getting split. I thought we're doing like A pod as a separate bid and then B pod is a separate bid and No.
026No. So, so A, B, C, and D will be all the same set of contractors. So, that that will be we're essentially splitting the building in half. So, you have A, B, C, and D is phase two. Phase three, uh, phase three would be the remainder of the building. Um, besides what was completed in bid package one on KOD in the nuditorium. Got it. Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Ramish. Yes, it's been um really wonderful to be able to see the action start. So, um, the fencing makes it very obvious, um, so everyone now knows. Um, but just, and maybe this is for Dr. Waters or, um, for Mr. Mr. Slaughter, um, just want to make sure that we are keeping our community up to date on any changes that may happen during parent drop off
027or keeping the community um, I think well informed. Um, Mr. letter. I will say that the tilebreaking was really just a a well done event and I loved the student engagement in it. Um, and I did have the opportunity to talk to some of those kids who will be, you know, who swim in the natiatorum but who will be future students who will benefit from the renovation. Um, they're very interested in aspects of the project. They wanted to know how many gallons of water the pool holds. They want to know what it looks like when a person is standing in the diving well um when the pool is empty. Um all kinds of exploratory kind of ideas which was really fun to see. It was more than just about breaking the tile off the wall.
028It was that there was just such an opportunity for student learning and student engagement in ways that I hadn't considered until they posed really great questions. So, wanting to know if we're going to kind of keep the community engaged in matters of of schedule, but also matters of um unit curiosity. So, yeah, working with Mr. Ran um there there really is not much of an impact right now. So, we haven't put out any information on that uh with it being just the the natiatorum. uh once we get through this summer and for the start of school, there would be anformational update on the third floor and then as we move from third floor to second floor, there would be another information update and and so on so forth and so on as we move to
029the first floor. Uh likewise, once we really get uh starting on the A-pot edition, that's when all the traffic nightmares are going to start. We're taking up a lot of the parking lot in the back. We're trying to reconfigure where all the parking's going to be. Um, so we're working, you Dr. Nicholson, Mr. Ron, and myself are working through that, trying to make sure everybody's, uh, updated. I can tell you a couple things from the tile breaking. Uh, the good news is that all that tile that we broke and all the leftover tile is now making its way to North Wales for the the mural. Uh, it's going to be utilized in the mural over there. So, we're working on moving that over this week. I know the exact gallons on the pool. It's 490,000
030gallons. Uh, we had to report that to the sewer authority. So, we know uh that's a fact as well. So, it was nice to have all the students there. Everybody looked like they were having fun uh smashing tile off the wall. Little nervous with the kids in the flip-flop, but we all we all made it okay. Nobody got hurt. Mr. Casa. All right. I I've got to be the local news nerd, but reading about uh Tmenson Township's presentation on how they currently bill uh sewer usage, would that have any impact with the 490,000 gallons? Are we just at a flat fee or is that metered? So, it's typically metered off of what we take in and there's a separate meter for the pool because uh they don't count that as sewage, but when we do
031a dump like this, uh they they will probably be a fee for that. Yeah, because they have to they have to process the water. Even though we let the chlorine levels get down to uh where they asked us to, which is under point five%. Um, I'm I'm sure there's still going to be some processing on their part. Hey, it's it's why we're the facilities and operations committee. I had to ask. Thank you, Mr. Slaughter. I didn't know that. Okay. Thank you, U, Mr. Slaughter. Um, I'm going to echo what Mrs. Ramage said regarding the tile breaking. It was so much fun to see those young students, the kids. Um, they were having so much fun. They were loud and you did a really great job of circling them. So, it was really cute. It was
032so fun. U, I do have a few questions for Mr. Case regarding the update. Um, and maybe the first one, Mr. slaughter is for you. Since the project is technic is actually underway, similar to what we did with NAP and with the stadium, I'd like to start including um a safety update in the monthly meeting uh to understand if there's been any safety concerns, any warnings. I'd like to step off right away with that and keep that going. again informational situational awareness early on but I think it's still really important that we maintain that. So if you can just add that next month um Mr. case on the first slide. Um I think it was the first slide around the PICO working with PICO for the remainder of the specifications for the electrical equipment and
033um is this can you tell me specifically what these electrical components are and is there a concern with long lead times uh that could be affected now? Um, so I don't know the exact specifics, but it's generally related to the substation that we're going to be replacing. So that substation, the engineer has to go through that. They know what size is coming in. We're going to be increasing the um KV of that gear out there. So they're going to be they do a study on that. They make sure that, hey, they know what the building's usage is. They know what the new building usage provided by the engineer that we all do their calculations. It's a bit of a checks and balances. Um, and then we get those back. Um, as far as your procurement
034question, it looks like we're on schedule so far for that stuff. Um, we haven't really seen any changes as far as delivery timing of that equipment. So, so far, Snider Hoffman's been doing an excellent job pushing Pico where they can. Um, it it's it's always a challenge. You're always seemingly waiting for Pico to get back to you at some point for anything on a project, whether it's during the design piece of the project or during construction. But we're happy to have everything back in hand that we needed and getting that that equipment released. Okay, great. And then two more things. Um there I think it was the second slide or the third slide you used because this is what you you know you're used to it an acronym E and S. Sure. I can take
035that one. So ENS. So that's erosion and sediment control. So okay. So that's like your silt socks, your inlet bags, your silt barriers. So everything on site that's in place to protect storm water runoff while the um earth is disturbed on the project. So erosion yeah erosion and sediment control. Yep. ENS. Okay. Thank you. You know I think that is it for my question. So I have no great any further ones. Is anyone else in the committee? If not thank you so much for the update. Sure. Happy to fill in. Thanks. Thanks for having me tonight. Mr. Slaughter. Certainly. The nextformational update is the 10-year capital plan. Mr. Lensky, if you could bring that up, please. So, some items of note that have changed. Uh, the peach items are items that move from recommended projects
036for 2025. They were board approved. Uh, so they are now going to move into the uh pre-under construction. So, that those items were all updated. Uh, I think one other item. If you scroll down to page three, Mr. Linsky, right? Uh, one more. Sorry. Yeah, one more after that. Sorry about that. This is for There it is. Okay, so York Avenue. Uh this was a little bit further down on the list, but uh because we have had conversations with Lansdale Burrow and concern concerns over ponding water and tripping hazards, uh that's been moved up. So that will go out for bid uh this summer to be completed. Uh this just this is just the sidewalks at the front of the building at York Avenue. So, uh, that that's a change from any previous capital project
037update. Is that a safety concern now? It is. All right. And it was brought to our attention by the Barrow. Well, it was already on the plan and the ramps were replaced two uh two or three years ago, but now the sidewalks out front have settled and created tripping hazards and uh it someone had brought it to the attention of the burrow. The burrow called me, we have a very good relationship with Lansdale Burrow. I said, I'm aware of it. He said, you're going to fix it this year. I said, yes. So, okay. All right. Thank you. So the the peach changes are all the changes from last month. Uh no dollar amounts have changed. It's just that they were all board approved to move forward. So that's why they're in peach and then they
038will become blue uh as soon as we start on that work. Any questions on the updates to the 10-year capital plan? Okay. Uh, seeing that, let's move on to item number C. I'm sorry to report that we were not selected for the solar for schools grant. Um, so I did want to approach the committee about whether we wanted to move forward without the grant money. Uh, Mr. Linsky, if you could bring up that and go to slide 10, please. So originally the um the payback should we have received the grant would have been somewhere between five and six years. However, since we didn't receive the grant, we still have the option to move forward with solar in phase three of the project. The solar would be on the gym roof and the new APOD edition.
039Uh the payback now moves to 11.1 years. So we we do see a savings of $54,239 year one. That goes down slightly because there's a maintenance cost that's applied every year and that is actually broken out later in this in this slide presentation. Um there are still some incentives. There's a IRA incentive and a PICO incentive that's worth about $470,000 roughly. So, we still do get some money back, but I wanted to see if there was any interest to move this forward to the board for a vote. Well, okay. So, this is a conversation. Um, does this need to be then actually an item for work session or an a item for backup and action? I'm not clear. I mean, this is trulyformational. This is truly informational. If if this committee has a desire to
040move forward, I will put it on the recommended for work session next month and uh put a little different slide presentation together. So, so help me understand um why would it need to be um onward included as an item for action? Uh if if the board wanted to move forward and add this into the project, it's currently not part of the project right now. Oh, oh, oh. All right, that I'm sorry about that. I I was getting lost in the detail. All right, I got it. Understand. Thank you, Mr. Slaughter. Mrs. Ramage, sorry. Um, just want to ask a little bit about so the the grant I know we weren't awarded this year. Is it a grant that comes forward every year, every three years? So, will could there is there I appreciate that you
041said that there might be rebates from PICO and other alternatives to help bring down the costs? Would there be another opportunity to take the lessons learned from this grant submission and and reapply? I don't have the answer to that. I would have to reach out to our rep, Shannon Crocker, uh to see if that's an annual. This came from the Department of uh economic uh equity. I believe it is economic development. I'm sorry. Um, so they have multiple grants annually. I don't know if solar for schools is going to continue next year, but we could certainly apply if if we did. I think that that might be a good opportunity to I mean a good question to kind of reach out to them on and then just see if we can't again. I think I
042think they're I I'm interested in seeing this continue in the project, but also see it as an opportunity for, you know, to to look for subsidies, to look for grants, um, and other ways while we're continuing on with the project. Absolutely. I'll take care I will look into that. Mrs. Stole. So, u Mr. Slaughter, thank you, Mrs. Murdy. Mr. slaughter. Are you saying that there's no solar component in our um in our project right now unless that's correct even that because I thought that that's kind of we indicated that we'd want that kind of thing put into the project. So I'm wondering well it could be it it could be as part of phase three but we applied for this grant to try and offset a large amount of the cost and maybe do it
043outside the project. uh it wouldn't be ready to be installed until phase three because we need uh a lot of the phase two work already done. Um so we can certainly add it to phase three. It's not currently in as part of the project now. It was a project we were going to run in parallel. Okay. I I don't know. I thought um we were going to make sure that we were trying to put in like um you know renewable energy in this project when we could. So I didn't think it was going to be how do I put this? I don't you know I just I don't something that's in phase three and then possibly gets cut because of whatever conditions occur at the time. You know like I don't know. I just I
044I I just thought it was part of the whole project as we were moving along that it was that that is we indicated that we wanted that and that it would be part of this phase as well. Part of phase two it would it so it could be inserted into phase two right now. It would have to come at the very end of phase two. Um probably at the very end. So we we can certainly add it in if that's your desire. That would be my desire. I Yeah, I I I would not like to spend all this money on this project and then not have some kind of renewable energy used in it. I think we have a great opportunity with this project to do so. And um I that's just the way I
045feel. So I hope that we have I hope that we do get the opportunity to apply for a grant again, but I definitely want some type of solar energy or renewable energy put into this project. um moving forward. Yeah, the thought the thought was that we would apply for this grant, do it in parallel with the project as a separate project, but we could certainly incorporate it into the project as well. I I um Mr. Kasa, do you have any comments? You're good. I don't see your hand raised. Um I'm good. Thank you. All right. Following up to Mrs. Stole's comments, um Mr. Slaughter in terms of this project of this overall project this board I know is committed to um including environmental renewables being a good environmental steward going forward. So I understand what
046you're I understand what you're saying about um what happened and I know Mrs. Romage is is very knowledgeable with grants and you're going to work together with that. But back to Mrs. Stole's point. I I too am committed to moving forward with this. If embedding it in the project schedule um is something that is needed, then let's do that. Now, um, down the road, this this work will not be done till until phase three, right? Is that correct? Uh, well, we could include it at the tail end of phase two. So, while we're working on CPOD, this work could take place because the work in the other two areas where that goes, uh, the roof on the gym has already been completed. We need the roof on A-pod to be completed and the feeds from
047the solar system, the solar panels would go down into the A-pod electrical room. What What time frame is that? 28 27. Uh I believe so. Yes. 20 late 27 early 28. So back back to back to the headline which was all right we didn't re we weren't successful receiving the grant the the payback or the ROI um was six or se five to seven years I don't recall exactly and now it would be 11 so between now and 27 okay it's not that long but there still still could be opportunities to also decrease the capital cost of it um but the most important part is is that we're still saving in the first year $54,000 and we all know energy costs are continuing to rise, right? That's the projection. So, I think we would be
048remiss in not at the same time as we're doing this work, all this work on the roofs and the buildings, logistically it makes sense to continue with it even with an 11.1 year payback. Um unless unless we are not thinking about this correctly, I think we owe it to the community, the students to to move on and look for other opportunities to, you know, offset cost of the actual capital investment. Absolutely. And that $54,000 was calculated based on this year earlier this year's electrical rates. Obviously, they're going up significantly. So, right, I think the annual savings could be better than what's projected here in this in this program. Yeah, that that was a pretty conservative um yeah, you know, savings. That's for sure. So, I I I don't I Yeah, I mean, I think I've
049that's where I am and I think the rest of the committee is as well. So, um but but back to Mrs. Stole's point again, I do agree that this should be a specific line item in the project, whether it be phase two or phase three, you determine where it goes and understand that the summary budget um that Mr. Case showed. Now, maybe that looks slightly different because we will be looking to pay for this differently. I don't know. Um, but you all can figure that out, but I I do want to see it included in in the schedule, please, as a line item. We'll work on putting it in the bid package, too. Thank you. All right. Is Is that work for you, Mrs. Stole, Mrs. Ramage, and Mr. Casa? Yes. Yes. Thank you. All
050right. Thank you, Mr. Slaughter. I I was just wondering and thank you. This sounds all uh logical and sets um it signals the the priority. Um I just wanted to make sure from Mr. Slaughter, this committee or the administration uh at large is are we missing an an opportunity or have we missed an opportunity to to have an overarching priority set? I'm not sure if it's somewhere else in the bid docs, the template, um just guiding language um for anything going forward. Uh that that we want to have this type of renewable energy or other green initiatives infused throughout any project where appropriate. So, um yeah, of course, bid package one is out, but we can take a look at at what additions we can do to bid package three. Uh our concerns with the
051two roof areas that were selected were these were pretty wide open roofs with not a lot of HVAC equipment uh and really uh lended itself well to having a solar array on them. Uh I'm sure we can find other areas that would work in that and and work it into one of the other bid packages. Yeah. And and to be clear uh Mr. slaughter and I mean for the entire community and and those involved this isn't about us missing anything. It's this is a massive project and just trying to see are there opportunities for us to fine-tune and uh reinforce what it is we're trying to do with so many moving parts. So, um I I I don't see any problems with where we're at, where we're going. just trying to find opportunities to make
052sure that as we go forward um right we don't want to build around just individuals having this commitment. We want to make sure that uh anyone involved in the entire project understands what the priorities are and and that makes me think about that inact club visit. You know those students aren't going to be here years from now but a couple years ago they had some great ideas right about rain gardens on roofs and you know some that are possible some that are not. I think we owe it to those students as well as those in the future to when we find the appropriate um vehicle to try to to bake this in. So, thank you for for trying to be creative, Mr. Slaughter. Certainly. And the Inact Club is still engaged. Uh they just helped
053us with the rain garden design. Uh and I am also meeting with them this week to go over some of the renewables that are, you know, going looking to be incorporated into this project and what else we could do. So there there's even though they're, you know, juniors and seniors and won't won't probably won't see the end of this, we are going to keep them engaged in in the processes moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Slaughter. Really appreciate the effort and the update. Mr. Slaughter, two things. um when it's um I guess it's now the fall. If the enact club could come back uh to FNO and discuss you know their involvement and where they are and feed into the overall project update. I would welcome that. And then the second piece is with what we've
054you've done or you know that Shrader Group's done and and CHA's done. Um the solar project is you know is um a go for sure. The other aspect of it that I think isn't as transparent is the fact that all of the equipment will be of the latest generation and will be highly energy efficient. So that is an advantage as well. Um so putting highlevel language into bid packages um I I think when you're putting out a bid or you're putting out technical specifications, it really needs to be clear if there's an area that we want them to focus on. So hence why you chose the two roofs you did. So I'm not sure um what that would look like just being high level but you know so there are efficiencies in a lot of
055the mechanical equipment that's been installed in the project based on where it is right now. Uh obviously we've we've chosen to move forward with condensing boilers which run at a much higher efficiency rate than conventional boilers. Uh there is a time and place for conventional boilers. So, a mix of of those uh really helps in the overall efficiency. Uh we have a cold winter and it it's down below 25 degrees. A conventional boiler is as efficient as uh the condensing boiler. So, uh there's also pump efficiencies that we're looking at. And the fact that we're going to a digital building controls automation system for the entire high school means that we'll have pretty much have finite control over everything. And you know that the sequence of operations of the equipment will also help save money
056as well. Okay. I I think that's important to note especially in light of what Mr. Kasa said that that's part of the specifics of what we're doing to achieve what Mr. Casa is is I I believe speaking to I don't want to speak for Mr. Kasa, but it sounds like that's kind of how we're moving ahead in in spirit and technically moving ahead. So yeah, there there's also some window efficiencies. Uh we've increased the R value of all the roofs that we're replacing to the the the new standard. So there's there's efficiencies everywhere um that we're working on right now as part of the design. That's a little small. The fact that the school's 50 years old, I mean that speaks volumes in terms of lowhanging fruit to become more efficient, right? Yeah. It's it's
057it's it's lowhanging fruit. It's definitely not any scientific experiment or No, we're not splitting the atom. It's it's very lowhanging fruit. I agree. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions on the solar? Okay, the nextformational item is a update on some rack grants that we've applied for. We just met with some of our our local representatives to go over what was available and we're working on submitting two placeholders uh for projects. Right now, we are going to apply for the high school for grant funds to assist in the cost of the construction project. The second grant we'd be looking for is for a summary of the playground work from the report that was done last year. So, we're going to take that overall cost, apply for a grant for that as well. The two uh caveats
058to this grant are that the we would have to supply a 50% amount uh as a matched number to the whatever grant we apply for but we do also have 10 years to uh to to get that work in place. So uh if if we do get approved we have 10 years to do the work and and have to put up a 50% amount by the submitter. So we those are the two that we will be applying for uh this month to get in a placeholder there then will be a formal submission and I've been uh being assisted by the professional grant writer director Ramage. So thank you for that help. Any questions with the RACKP grant? You're calling me out now. That's on Mr. Casa. Uh, thank you. Uh, yeah. U Mr. Slaughter, I
059just want to make sure I'm not um having the wrong assumption for the summary of the um playground report. What does that mean? Like actually the investment to build out what summary says or is paying for the summary? I'm just going to So this So no, we we we already have the report. Uh we're going to summarize all the recommended improvements to the playground with the cost that was provided in the report. So we're going to apply for the total amount. Got it. Of repairs and replacements that were itemized in the report. Thank thanks for making that clear. And um I think for the community also u to make them aware that that the U rack or RACP grants this is through the general assembly um and signed off by the governor if if I'm
060correct and it's um really to help with uh significant comm community investment and that could be private sector right or it sometimes it it shifts over the years but for um anything school district related. I think we can make a very strong case, especially if we have our local representatives um signing on to and supporting this. When I think about just as an example, it doesn't mean that the other grant uh application, it's equally as strong and good reason. But this demonstrates, you know, I I was at NAP. you go walking the dog and you know you see many different families using those playground facilities and I believe those are the first facilities that are truly right uh like accessible um and ADA accessible um and it was an option uh that there there could
061have been lesser options but we made sure to to put in the right materials so even wheelchairs um that that it was genuine accessibility And it just goes to demonstrate that at times I've been there and it's been beautiful to see families that maybe they go to parochial school in the area or other other parts of the district and other great schools that aren't part of North Penn school district. Perhaps they're part of a a cyber academy. That's the perfect example of taxpayers being able to benefit from what the community provides at North Penn. And right, it's not just about when kids are there at school uh right during uh education hours, but it's outside of that what we provide for the community just like at Crawford when there are open opportunities for the community
062to use the track uh right when it's when it's open uh and not being used by so many different groups. So, I I you know, this isn't about just um patting ourselves on the back, but I want the community to understand through this committee what it means um you know to have playgrounds all across North Penn that could receive this grant and what that means for accessibility for every type of family and child across the district. Some people might not use the word equity, but I would say that's an equitable approach and a damn good use of taxpayer funds. Um and finally, North Penn School District getting back some of right most of what it sends to Harrisburg that we don't get back um every single year. So, anything that this committee can do to
063help support either of these grants, I feel um we could help lend a strong voice, pick up the phone and talk to to our elected representatives as well. And I hope the community is able to also do the same because it will make a because it will make a difference. Yeah. Thanks for that, Mr. Aasa. You're so right. All righty. Any other comments or questions from the committee? Okay, Mr. Slaughter. The next item we have is the student representative update. Uh Kaden, I don't know if you have anything for us or any questions or comments. No, I just wanted to say that it's really cool to see these renovations starting to go underway as a senior and I can't wait to see it continue to progress. Thank you, Kayen. All righty. Kayen, I just want
064to congratulate you. Uh well, thank you for your participation and your comment um and recognition that you know, you may not get to benefit, but there's still value in this renovation. So, I appreciate that. And I just want to say how much we enjoyed your performance and yeah, you're in the in the um in the spring musical. You were you were phenomenal. So, thank you so much. Love you. I watched it, Kaden. I didn't It was It was amazing. Really? Thank you. That's probably one of the best shows that we put on at North High School in my opinion. A and your last one right at the school. So, how special is that? Yeah. Okay. All righty. Thank you, Mr. Slaughter and Mr. Casease and Mr. Linsky for the updates this evening. Uh, so we'll
065now go to public comment. I believe Mr. Gilmer, is there anyone in the um audience that would like to make public comment? We do. We do have one. Okay. I'll read the disclaimer. Individuals attending this meeting virtually and intending to speak to the committee should be aware that they are being recorded. In order to meet the requirements of Pennsylvania Sunshine Law, it is necessary to record the names of all citizens who speak to the committee during the meeting. To asssure compliance with this requirement, it is essential that those planning to address the committee raise their hand electronically and state their name and municipality. Members of the audience are asked to limit their questions and comments to matters being discussed at tonight's meeting or matters that may come before the facilities and operations committee. Members of
066the audience are asked to limit their questions and comments to three minutes and this is in reference to board policy 903. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Gilmore, please go ahead. All righty. Up first is uh Jason Laneir. Jason, I've enabled your microphones and you're ready to begin. Please state your name and municipality for the record and begin your comments, please. Uh Jason Laneir Lansdale. Um the the only thing I I would want to talk about here, and I think the board needs to do a little bit more study on this, is the solar project. There solar solar is a is a nice to have vanity project when you don't need electricity. But to think that you're powering anything except that is is strictly a vanity. You're not creating enough power to to to to sustain the
067school should the electricity go out. This is very limited ability to store and and and use the power in any capacity other than to run a few lights once in a while. And to pretend that you're going to be saving money with this. Well, also it's an investment. It doesn't that doesn't wash. It does not wash. You're spending I don't know how many millions of dollars the solar project would cost, but you will not be saving that money in 11 years because the any grants that go to pushing for solar are going to be going away based upon the fact that there is no um numerical benefit to solar. You cannot it's problematic to store the electricity with batteries and maintaining the batteries. It's a it's it it only as you know is out when
068it there's a certain uh intensity of sun. So even in in today's uh today's weather would be would call it into question. So you this is going to be uh this is strictly a vanity project. There's not benefit for the environment because these are not made in the United States. These are made in China where they don't have the same regulations that they do in the United States, you are doing a net deficit to to the uh environment. If that's what your concern is, if your concern is that, hey, I'm living out on the off the grid somewhere. Got it. I understand. But that's not the case here. This is to make make uh people feel good about uh some kind of sustainability uh sales point which cannot be uh cannot be calculated. It can
069it there's no empirical evidence that this is actually doing what the intended point is. It's all based upon calculation. So assuming a lot of things but what we do know is what the solar cell efficiency the PV cells are terribly inefficient. The amount of money it costs to make the batteries to hold the energy is huge and to maintain those batteries is phenomenally expensive. So please save this and save the lecture on sustainability and and patting yourself on the back making. It's like it's a really good idea that way. It's not. And to if if I'm wrong, show the numbers. show the numbers where this makes sense. If you had the grant and most of it was being paid for by our tax dollars otherwise, okay, maybe you could you could it's not really going
070to cost the same, but there's no investment line for school districts to be putting money into solar systems. That is an investment is not the right word. This is Is there anyone else a vanity project? Audience would like to make public comment, please. Anyone else? Mr. Gilmer, I was getting to my mute. Um, no, that will conclude public comment for tonight. Okay. Thank you. Alrighty. So, Mr. Slaughter, back to you. Uh, please with the list of items for uh action meeting. So, uh yes, the list of items recommended for action meeting. The first item is the Pendale Middle School change order request in the amount of uh $15,385.70. The second item is the facility use waiver request for Hatfield Township. And the third item is permission to advertise for RFP for environ environmental monitoring for
071phases two and three of the high school construction project. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Slaughter. All righty. Our next meeting for facilities and operations committee will be in a virtual format and that meeting will be held on Monday, June 30th at 7 p.m. So I will ask for a motion to adjourn, please. So moved. Thank you. All righty. Thank you everyone. Thank you Mr. Gilmer. Thanks everyone. Good night. Have a good night everyone. Good night. Congrats Kate. You were great. Yeah. Congratulations Katie. Thank you.