minutes

MINUTES

LITCHFIELD SCHOOLS BUILDING COMMITTEE

LITCHFIELD INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL MUSIC ROOM

MARCH 4, 2004

A meeting of the Litchfield Schools Building Committee was held on Thursday, March 4, 2004, at 7:00 p.m. in the Litchfield Intermediate School Music Room.

Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by J. Healy.

M Bramley moved to add item 5A to the agenda – “Payment of Bills”. R Blazek seconded. Motion Carried. All votes were in the affirmative. There were no abstentions.

A motion was made and seconded to approve the Feb. 19^th minutes. All votes were in the affirmative. Minutes were approved with the comment from M. Bramley that since the 2/19 meeting was joint meeting of various boards, K Gilyard should be noted as a BOF member, not a Building Committee member since he voted that night as a member of the BOF, and the Building Committee did not vote.

Public Participation – K Beres asked what general work would be included as part of targeted renovations. Richard Munday said they will work according to a priority list. For example, lighting will be replaced in both buildings. First priority would be given to the classrooms, corridors and administration. If budget permits lighting in other areas would be replaced as well. The same logic would apply to windows. The windows will be examined to see which need to be replaced and which can be saved. M Bramley said we will do the most we can with the money we have.

J Zullo made a motion, M Bramley seconded, to add item 7A to the agenda: “Discuss Proforma Financing Plan.” All votes were in the affirmative, motion carried.

Communication

- A Bleacher company sent in outdoor bleacher information. J Zullo to forward information to E Fabbri for the Plum Hill Playing Field Foundation.

- The BOE forwarded an article concerning Bethel High School being placed on probation due to inadequate facilities.

- Letter from the Litchfield Sports Booster Club, asking that the BC include a place for a trophy case in their plans. The Booster Club offered to pay for the trophy case, and said it’s needed because the “Litchfield Athletic Hall of Fame” which they sponsor currently has no home.

- New England School Facilities Conference is April 7^th in Sturbridge, Mass.

- Doyle Finan forwarded an article on indoor air quality.

- Preliminary Conceptual Estimates for the Bond Council

- 2 procedural letters from O&G – one regarding cash flow, the other an estimate for bond council.

- Fax from Tim Callahan (Herbert Newman) – he consulted an engineer about opening the old road that leads from the HS to Rt. 202. The engineer advised against it for numerous reasons.

Report by Superintendent on the Condition of the Buildings

- J Tindall Gibson introduced Fred McKnight, an indoor air quality specialist from Turner Building Sciences and explained three packets of information which he distributed to the BC members.

The BOE is taking the following steps to address the environmental and air quality issues at the schools:

1. A team of teachers completed “Tools for Schools” training that teaches them to monitor environmental conditions.

2. The members of the custodial crew also received new training, and have been given new supplies and tools for the purpose of improving these issues.

3. Turner Building Sciences was hired to go over the numerous environmental/air quality tests that have been done at LIS over the years, review the data and studies, explain what it means for the schools, and advise the best course of action.

The first packet of info represents data collected at LIS, the second from LHS, and the third discusses site drainage around both buildings. The third packet explores what can be done to make the buildings drier and lists a number of recommendations which the BOE would like the Building Committee to incorporate into their plan if possible. Some of the measures will need to be taken regardless of the outcome of the project.

A fourth report is also being compiled but is not yet complete. It deals with new information collected by Turner Sciences. It will list more recommendations for building repairs and address more current data.

Fred McKnight reviewed the conditions needed to produce mold:

1. Must have organic food source

2. Must have a compatible temperature (room temp for example)

3. Must have source of moisture

While not all the data is in, at LIS the issue seems to be that moisture is moving through the concrete into the building and this could be causing poor indoor air quality.

Mr. McKnight speculated that drainage could be the issue but further investigation is needed to determine if the issue is “site drainage” or damaged drains under the slab. It’s important to identify which type of problem is present because both types require different methods of resolution.

Rubber or vinyl flooring could be used but this is very expensive. Fixing drainage problems would be a less expensive solution, but again first the exact nature of the problem needs to be determined.

Although some work on drainage was done last summer, more needs to be completed this summer, and there is still some water under the stage in the auditorium. F McKnight advised that a camera could be run through the drainage to pinpoint if the drains under the building are damaged and if so to locate where the damage exists.

M Bramley reminded the group that if this project passes it will still be 2-3 years before work is done at LIS. He asked if an interim solution is possible that can begin to address some problems now, without creating a significant duplication of expenses later. F McKnight advised that they will work with the schools to come up with an interim solution.

R Blazek asked how McKnight could tell if we have a spring under the site or if it’s something more intermittent? Moisture Emission Testing tests moisture moving through concrete. F McKnight doesn’t believe that LIS numbers are high enough to indicate a stream. S Kavle asked if looking at the moisture history would help determine if it’s a problem that goes back to the initial drainage lay out or something more recent. F McKnight advised that the rust on the bolts under the stage in the auditorium indicates that the problem is at least five years old. J Zullo asked what are good moisture emissions numbers? Response was that 3 pounds per 1000 square feet is considered a good number because that kind of moisture won’t cause floor failure. The moisture emissions test done at LIS was 6 pounds/1000 square feet. McKnight said that 16 pounds/1000 sq. feet would put you underwater.

G Waugh asked if there were any studies that compared data taken before and after the new carpet was installed? Response was no, because the previous testing was not as extensive. Turner is reviewing colony forming bacteria in the carpet, but this was not data previously collected. (__ x 10,000 units/gram = normal, __ x 1,000,000 units/gram = high)

R Blazek asked what testing is being done at LHS. Response was that no moisture testing is being done at LHS, the moisture testing focuses on LIS.

J Zullo commended J Tindall Gibson and the BOE on this study and said that it is incumbent on the BC to incorporate these findings into the project.

Invoices

Two invoices were presented for payment:

1. BOE for reimbursement of advertisements for the Construction Manager and Architect.

J Zullo made a motion to approve the invoice, M Bramley seconded. All votes were in the affirmative, no abstentions.

2. Herbert Newman submitted an invoice for half of their payment as agreed. J Zullo made a motion to approve the invoice, M Bramley seconded. All votes were in the affirmative, no abstentions.

Architect=s Update and Discussion

Richard Munday presented a rough draft of a brochure, entitled “Rebuilding the Plum Hill Campus” which will be mailed out to the community by the building committee. The building committee reviewed the brochure, and made corrections and additions. (Assume that the cover is page 1)

- LIS was listed in several places as serving grades 5-6 – this was corrected to 4-6

- “For many years” was changed to “Over the past five years”

- The following line was added to the beginning of the second paragraph: “In July 2003 the Town of Litchfield approved @ a referendum the forming of this building committee to develop plans for renovations and additions to LIS and LHS within a spending cap of $33MM.

- The word “the” was replaced by “extensive” in the first sentence of the second paragraph.

- The word “offered” replaced by “planned” last sentence of the second paragraph.

- In the second sentence of the third paragraph the word “cost” was replaced by “not exceed”.

- Second page: Under New Construction – “A dedicated cafeteria for LIS” should be added to the list.

- A paragraph entitled, “Proposed Playing Fields” and denoted by an asterix also noted on the “phantomed” portion of the picture of the following page will be added to page 2.

The verbiage of the paragraph will be moved from the last page, but the words, “and maintain” will be removed.

- On page 6 reformat so that LIS is on the left hand column of the page and LHS is on the right. Adjust so that the paragraphs called “A sustainable Design Approach” and “Architectural Significance” appear below at the bottom of the page.

- Fifth bullet of the LIS column: specify “Intermediate School administration” rather than “administration.”

- Eighth bullet of the LIS column: eliminate “and”, replace with a comma. Replace period at end of sentence with a comma and add, “and add natural lighting.”

- Ninth bullet of LIS column: Replace entire bullet with, “Address indoor air quality.”

- Eliminate 13^th bullet of LIS column.

- Under the paragraph entitled, “General” of the LHS column, add “12 additional” after the phrase, “The plan adds a total of”

- In the paragraph entitled, “Architectural Significance” correct the word “increasing” to “increasingly.”

- Under the paragraph entitled “Budget” correct figures as follows:

LIS: $10.4 million

LHS: $22.6 million

Total: $33.0 million

Budgeted State of Connecticut Reimbursement: $9.7 million

Budgeted Total Bonded Cost to Litchfield: $23.3 million

- The information in the paragraph entitled, “Cost to the Taxpayer” may be adjusted based on the outcome of the Board of Finance meeting on March 8^th, 2004. See below.

- The phrase “school calendar is not disrupted” should be changed to, “disruption to the school calendar is minimized” in the paragraph entitled, “Construction and Phasing”

- On the back cover, the word Finance is misspelled and should be corrected, Town Treasurer, David T. Wilson should be added to those listed. Margaret K. Perusse should be listed as, “Business Manager” and the word “Manager”, now listed on a separate line, should be eliminated. Also – all the names should be alphabetized.

- The Bulk Rate permit number and zip code should be added.

G Waugh made a motion to include the auditorium site identified as “potential auditorium site” in the building and site diagrams. R Blazek seconded the motion. The motion passed five to three with J Zullo, L Chapman voting no, J Healy abstaining and the rest voting yes.

A lengthy discussion on whether or not to include the “Plum Hill Playing Fields” in the brochure followed. R Blazek felt that it is dangerous to include them since they are not a part of this project. M Bramley contended they should be included because 1. Many people would not vote for this project by itself since the project does not address the needs of the fields, and 2. The diagrams depict the site of the school. In order to show an accurate picture of what the campus will look like, the fields must be included. S Kavle said that this is the reason they asked for the Plum Hill Fields to be shown in a faded or “phantomed” coloring – so that it is distinguished from the rest of the project.

J Zullo made a motion that the BC move the explanation listed on the last page of the brochure to the page next to the picture noting the fields. M Bramley seconded the motion with discussion. G Waugh suggested that the word, “Proposed” be included in the title to help alleviate R Blazek’s concerns that Plum Hill Fields have not yet been approved by the Wetlands Commission or the Town Meeting. The motion was revised to include the word “proposed” as noted. All voted aye, motion carried.

It was noted that the square footage of the areas of new construction should be noted on the diagrams in the brochure.

G Waugh pointed out that the natural lighting to be added in the LIS cafeteria should be noted on that diagram.

A lengthy discussion on the paragraph entitled, “Cost to Taxpayer” took place. M Bramley was concerned because the figures listed in that paragraph are not based on the current grand list of $640,000. Using the current mill value he calculated the average tax rate over 20 years to be 2.75 mills. J Zullo countered that the current mill value will not remain, it will change, and traditionally the grand list changes over time. The figures listed in the brochure were developed by the town’s financial consultant, IBIC, LLC., under the guidance of the First Selectman, Town Treasurer, and Board of Finance – they should determine the mill rate impact, not the BC.

R Blazek made a motion that the BC include the line, “At the current mill value of 640,000 the debt service for this project will average 2.75 mills.” G Waugh seconded the motion.

J Zullo advised that the committee should defer to the town treasurer on this matter. The motion was called, and was passed five to two, with J Zullo and S Kavle voting no, J Healy abstaining and the rest voting to approve the motion.

J Zullo made a motion that the BC reconsider the financial information on the brochure based on the First Selectman’s, Town Treasurer’s and Board of Finance’s input at the 3/8 BOF meeting. S Kavle seconded. Then after brief discussion J Zullo and S Kavle withdrew their motion and second, and J Zullo made a new motion to reconsider the previously approved motion.

K Gilyard seconded with discussion.

M Bramley maintained that there will be people who expect the figures to be based on the current rates and will not trust figures predicated on possible future changes. First Selectman Leo Paul entered the discussion saying that J Zullo was absolutely right, it is not the purview of the BC to determine mill rate. The town has hired a financial consultant for this purpose. K Gilyard said that public confidence depends on keeping the information simple.

Motion was called, approved by 7 to 1, with all voting aye except G Waugh.

M Bramley moved to table the discussion on this paragraph until after the 3/8 BOF meeting. J Zullo seconded the motion. All voted aye, no abstentions. Motion carried.