MINUTES
SPECIAL
MEETING
LITCHFIELD
SCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE
LITCHFIELD HIGH SCHOOL CAFETERIA
MARCH 13,
2004
A Special Meeting of the Litchfield
School Building Committee was held on Saturday, March 13 2004, 10:00 AM. in the Litchfield High School Library.
Present were: Jack Healy; Chairman; William
Buckley; Lynn Chapman; Gary Waugh; Jeff Zullo.
Also Present: Mary Lawler of
Litchfield Morris Rotary Club; John Tindall-Gibson, Superintendent of Schools, BOE
Members: Diane Knox, Wayne Shuhi, Frank Simone, Harold Fairchild; Tim Callahan
of Herbert S. Newman and Partners; Bruce Walpole of O&G Industries; Public
and the Press.
Meeting was called to order at 10:00
AM by J. Healy.
J. Healy introduced the Members of
the School Building Committee and Presenters.
He explained the format of the meeting and gave a history of the
project.
A Presentation of the School Project and Budget was made by T. Callahan of
Herbert S. Newman and Partners and B. Walpole of O & G Industries.
Public
Participation:
Alan Claman Regarding
overcrowding, can we get numbers on population?
J. Tindall Gibson - LHS Population: 671, LHS Capacity: 560;
Project Capacity: 748. Population of
K-12: 1320. Graduating Class: 101, Grade
9: 129, Grade 6: 124/
Betsy Glassman Where on the map is
wetlands.
J. Zullo Playing Fields Plan gets
within 150 feet of wetlands. [He pointed
out location on map]. The fields will be
raised approximately 7-8 to give plateau and there will be a 6-8 slope down
to the track. Plumb Hill Road will be
closed at White Woods Road and Bus Parking Lot will be relocated.
B. Glassman Will there be a trail
to White Memorial?
J. Zullo There is a gravel access
road which is not part of the wetlands.
B. Glassman Who is responsible for
maintaining fields?
J. Zullo - Plumb Hill Playing Fields
Group will maintain field and Town will pay for maintenance of about $30-$40K
per year.
B. Glassman Is there Natural Area
left for Environmental Studies?
Zullo All the wooded areas are not
going to be gone. Theyll be clearing
some trees for fields, but there will still be significant wooded area.
J. Healy The plan for playing
fields is separate from our project.
Lisa Post How does the planned
drop offs mitigate the back up problem?
T. Callahan We are going to do a
traffic study to see if this will mitigate the problems we currently have.
L. Post Have you increased student
parking?
T. Callahan We have identified
areas for possible student parking.
L. Post Does building proposal
have a two story addition?
J. Healy We looked at proposals of
two-story additions and went with a one-story addition. Better light coming in
to classrooms on other side of courtyard, no elevator, better control by staff.
L. Post Can this accommodate at
least ten years of population growth?
J. Tindall-Gibson Yes, we had a
10-year study done.
Harold Fairchild- The courtyard at
LHS, I heard there is an oil tank there and sewer lines that may be a problem.
B. Buckley We were told that an
oil tank was there. We are aware of that
and there is a record of that. We may
look to move it to accommodate construction.
J. Zullo Architects are planning
an area of ingress and egress for the courtyard.
Liz McGregor Targeted Renovation,
does that mean some areas wont have nay work done?
L. Chapman Targeted Renovation
will be flooring, lighting, painting to cover the whole school.
G. Waugh There was a request at
the last meeting to put in tile flooring that could be maintained longer and
better. Lighting, drop ceilings all will
be looked at by the Committee.
David Smith The Cafeteria is
separate, to the east side and no indication of access.
T. Callahan It is not a separate
building. That section is underneath the
gym with access from the lower level.
B. Glassman Is the new gym where
the old gym was?
J. Healy It is projected to be
moved about 150 southwest toward the baseball field. The new construction will come over the paved
area.
B. Glassman Is there additional
parking where we usually watch baseball?
J. Zullo There is no plan for
parking in that area.
B. Glassman Only one entrance?
J. Zullo Thats a good thing. We looked for that for safety reasons.
Charlie Post The current condition
of soccer field is dismal. The new
playing fields will help. I dont think
the parking is adequate.
J. Zullo The goal for parking is
to try to have the same net parking as we do currently. We have adequate staff parking and event
parking. Student parking is limited.
C. Post Are the two projects
[School Project and Playing Fields Project] contingent?
J. Zullo They are totally
separate, but obviously the integration is a nice fit.
C. Post The playing fields are
open to the public. Is there going to be
separate access for public?
J. Zullo During the school day
those fields will be used only by students.
Its still under study whether to put in a separate parking area off the
White Woods Road for the public.
Victoria Claman I dont think there is anyone in
Town who doesnt want to see the school project. It was turned down because of the price
tag. There were also hidden costs in the
past. [short term interest]. The maintenance of the playing fields is a
cost.
B. Buckley There is no extra
cost. The cost has bee a major
consideration for this Committee. Short
term borrowing expenses are included in this estimate. Bruce Walpole has taken those numbers as
2005-05 dollars based on inflation factor.
Steel prices are going through the roof.
We are right up to the $33M but who knows what steel and oil will cost
in 2006. The maintenance of roofs
Nobody came to us with roof problems.
The Town maintains the shell of these buildings. When we replace the roofs as part of this
project, we want to make sure roofs are inspected and maintained. There is a dollar value to maintain both
fields and buildings.
Catherine Davis I am impressed
with the reuse of the whole school system.
A good expansion of life cycle. I
am concerned about a separate component of this project. Who will handle the situation should the
playing fields not proceed?
J. Zullo If it does not go through
and this project does, as a Committee we intent to close Plumb Hill Road. We will continue to utilize existing
fields. In the future you would see a
request for capital to expand the athletic fields. The Plumb Hill Playing Fields Group is
putting up the capital and maintaining the fields. The Town will pay for this maintenance. Where we are today is a direct result of the
lack of good planning and maintenance to buildings and fields in the past.
J. Healy The school project is
separate from the playing fields project.
We are concentrating on classrooms and buildings.
Liz McGregor If we get tight on
the budget is there a predetermined list of items that will be subtracted from
the budget.
B. Buckley Such things as floor
finishes well be looked at first. We can
do that with a lot of finishings, painting, walls, less expensive alternates
for all of that. These drawings are
conceptual, as design is developed, they will come back with ways to save
money. The last thing we want to do is
cut components.
J. Zullo One variable from the
other plans is that the soft cost component, Architects fee and Construction
Managers fee, is firm fixed. We negotiated firm fixed flat fees.
Rick Sanders In this plan is
mechanical and electrical addressed.
T. Callahan Mechanical systems
will be replaced. In out walk through it
looks like the whole system needs to be replace.
J. Healy We are talking with
Northeast Utilities about this in hope of getting funding to help do these
mechanical and electrical upgrades.
R. Sanders Will all the duct work
be replaced?
T. Callahan We havent ascertained
if all the duct work will be replaced.
If its structurally sound, it will be cleaned and brought up to
standard.
Lisa Post The last vote we thought
the school vote was going through and then it was voted down.
G. Waugh It was rescinded. This will be the only vote. We are required by 6/30/04 to approve this
project. We are hoping for a large
margin in favor of the project. Right
now the reimbursement rate is 41%. In
the future it may only be 31%.
L. Post Is there anything in place
to get the vote out.
G. Waugh A brochure will be mailed
out, information exclusively. After the
referendum is set, the Committee must remain neutral.
J. Zullo- Its the hope of the
Committee and the BOS, BOF & BOS that this project passes. All three boards voted unanimously to
endorse the project.
J. Noone People can attend
meetings and read the newspaper. Is
Cable 5 going to be involved. Its
important to get the word out.
L. Chapman At Thursdays
presentation at Bantam Borough Hall as LHS Student recorded it. We will review and edit it and Cable 5 will
show it repeatedly.
B. Buckley One of the things
important to recognize is that the Building Committee represents a good cross
section of our Town. People from
different points of views were put on it.
Now we have a plan supported by a wider cross section of Town.
D. Smith In the future meeting
announcements should be in the newspaper consistently.
R. Sanders I commend the Committee
for putting together a great plan.
J. Healy thanked Mary Lawler for
setting up these presentations and thanked all for attending. He urged people to call a committee member if
they had any questions and attend meetings.
Motion to adjourn was made by B.
Buckley at AM and seconded by
J. Zullo.
Motion Carried. All votes were in the affirmative. There were no abstentions.
Respectfully submitted,
Kelli L. Green, Recorder