MINUTES

LITCHFIELD SCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE

LITCHFIELD INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL LIBRARY

DECEMBER 4, 2003

A meeting of the Litchfield School Building Committee was held on Thursday, December 4, 2003, at 7:00 p.m. in the Litchfield Intermediate School Library.

Present were: J. Healy, Chairman; S. Kavle, G. Waugh, L. Chapman, J. Mullen, B. Buckley, K. Gilyard, R. Blazek.

Also Present: Diane Knox, BOE Chairman; BOE Members: Wayne Shuhi, Frank Simone, and Leo Paul, First Selectman, Tim Breslin, LHS Principal, Public and the Press.

Meeting was called to order at 7:02 PM by J. Healy

Motion made by R. Blazek to approve the minutes as corrected of the November 25, 2003 meeting sec. by B. Buckley

Motion Carried. All votes were in the affirmative. There were no abstentions.

Public Participation

Bob Blazek, liaison to the BOS had the following ideas which he brought to Committee from BOS:

1. Bill Dranginis wondered if Committee could develop a parallel set of prices with not just the $33M gross cost by also as net amount;

2. Kevin Creed asked when the exact date of the referendum may be and whether there will be a gape of time between completed presentation and referendum when committee can have meetings in different parts of town regarding the project. Also, to what degree can BOS come out for or against the project?

3. Dan Coelho asked if the allocation of monies within the schools for the Targeted Renovation can be upgraded to Renovation as New.

Discussion: The Building Committee is trying to get Renovation as New status at LIS with

the money that we have. How do we get the most for our money? Architect will go over

that in the coming weeks. Many of the decisions that are made will influence how much

money you get from the State. A new Auditorium at LHS will decrease the rate of

reimbursement. We are sticking with the $33M, that was our charge, but we will maximize

our reimbursement, while trying to meet a program at the same time.

Stacey Kavle spoke with the Firs Selectman who asked about providing a press release that deals with hiring Architect and Construction Manager.

Regarding presenting project to the Town, Committee wants to target various groups like fire dept. and other organizations in Town. Work with getting something on Channel 5. It’s a good thing for Committee to keep in mind and if you think of a group to target - invite them.

Regarding gross v. net $33M, the committee is staying with a gross cost of $33M. The line has been drawn. We will not know the final reimbursement until the end. What is the end? After spending $33M. You’ll have to figure you’ll have bids come in that your award will be based on their estimates. Project will be audited at the completion.

Have we allocated any money for the improvement of the athletic fields? We are not going to spend money on fields.

Mike Murray - If we don’t have PR by the committee, perceptions will be generated by word of mouth which can lead to misinformation. The Architect that was selected, what will they be paid? An Article in the paper said the Committee hired an Architect and their fee is $1.8M, but can be negotiated. Is that a fair representation? If the referendum passes are you committed t that Architect?

Committee - Architect is contingent upon successful negotiation of the contract and fees will be determined then. If the referendum passes we will keep the same Architect.

Murray - What is the SF of the project? How many Architect hours are involved in this project? $1.8 M seems like a huge fee for this project.

Committee - It’s approximately 7% of construction costs which is lower than the whole State.

Diane Knox, Chairman of the BOE - had a curriculum committee meeting. A major concern is for safety. Safety is a key and critical issue for this project. We will work with you and get the most we can for this project, want to make sure safety is a priority for this committee.

Mike Murray - To spend $200.00 to $300.00 dollars an hour seems like a lot.

Committee - We are going to negotiate with them, we have not yet. The project is larger that you think it is. We understand your concerns and we want to be aware of the sensitivities of the public,

G. Waugh - I spent the afternoon with Turner and learned that safety is number one concern with CM. No one on the committee will jeopardize safety. It will not be compromised.

Communication

Letter from State Board of Education was passed out regarding ED 049R. Responses to letter from Mac Bramley and Jeff Zullo were read by Chair to committee. The town has authorized the Committee to spend $50,000.00 to develop conceptual plans to bring to referendum. To not do that, we would actually delay the project. We are already in the queue and we will proceed. The chances of getting an approval are very high according to State Reps. We need to have State BOE work with Reps to get a decision before the referendum. A project put before the State has never been turned down.

Letter from Alan Landau was read as attached hereto as Exhibit A.

P. Sapiro arrived at 7:45PM

Jack met with First Selectman who put him in contact with someone who will look for grants. His name is Larry Wagner and Leo Paul stated that he will also help in any way.

Financial Update - meeting was cancelled for tonight.

Payment of Bills

Received an Invoice for $1,000.00 from Herbert S. Newman and Partners which said it was their final bill for ED 049R submission for professional services rendered as per agreement.

All invoices and bills are approved by Jack and he submits to Town. Leo Paul, First Selectman would like to keep this process the same.

Motion was made by B. Buckley to approve invoice from Newman of $1,000.00 consistent with contract, sec. by R. Blazek.

Motion Carried. All votes were in the affirmative. There were no abstentions.

Discussion about Architect Submission

J. Healy and S. Kavle have not had a chance to look at them, once they do will set up a meeting with Richard Munday to begin negotiations and will draw on the experience of B. Buckley and J. Zullo. B. Buckley advised that they do not concentrate on two items: dollar amount and time. Need to have a discussion with both Architect and CM before we negotiate these two items.

J. Healy commented that Leo Paul was approached by J. Noel who volunteered his time as legal aide to assist with contract verbiage. If he volunteers his time, who is liable for his work. Town Attorney, Mike Rybak and J. Noel would be liable for his actions. K. Gilyard reminded committee that we are asking people to volunteer and he is trying to help us get the contracts done. Ultimately the Town Attorney will have to review it. We have to use common sense. His word is not the final word. J. Noel is corporate counsel for ESPN. He is offering his services as a Town Resident. He is willing to do whatever we ask of him. In the past did we use the Town Attorney or the BOE Attorney? Both and would should make sure that both attorneys are under contract with us when we are ready to have a contract looked at.

Review Construction Managers Proposals and take action deemed necessary

All the proposals came in on Monday and were on time. We should take time, review these and come back at another time. Everybody that doesn’t see these things on a daily basis needs to go through them with some expertise guiding them. We need to understand what we are looking at. B. Buckley has agreed to do a 10-15 minute presentation:

1. Bid Package Summary;

2. What contracts with bidders will look like;

3. What a full set of plans would look like.

Construction Manager - two components

1. Fixed fee percentage (O& G was proposing 2%);

2. Duration of Construction

Konover has a 12-month design period and 18-month construction period - this may be too tight. When looking at proposals try to look for the durations.

Victor Cansetta of Turner Construction called and said if anyone has questions regarding proposal, call him.

Let Jack and Stacey want to know if you have any questions so we can get into to CM and back to everybody.

Motion by R. Blazek to table discussion and any action deemed necessary to Thursday, December 11, 2003, sec. by L. Chapman.

Discussion:

G. Waugh - Look at fee structure for O&G, who list specific lump sums. Do we understand that they will not exceed these numbers? Are those the maximum numbers?

B. Buckley - That is in the narrative section. To answer that questions look at pages 11 and 12 of the next section and page 11 of Konover’s. You’ll see lump sum. Additional service start after 24 months after construction phase starts. You’ll see hourly rates in section 4. O & G gave a lump sum fee for this job during the contract term.

Konover gives a fixed fee for pre-referendum and pre-construction. Fees are based on construction costs no less than $27M and 24 month construction durations. They give estimated fees.

On Turner’s proposal the blanks are not filled in. We need to take time to look at that. Which is better for us? B. Buckley personally likes a fixed term and likes to know what we are going to pay. He likes O & G’s lump sum fee.

Can Jack and bull provide the committee with all salient points of this contract on a chart for next meeting? Need tables that compare all three companies along with the time of durations. We can do that for December 11^TH meeting.

If Turner’s numbers come out lower, does size of the company determine how long it takes to do project? Jack’s experience has been that this is not the case. Size of the CM has less to do with the duration of contracts. It is the contractors themselves.

The experience of the Project manager does matter. The chemistry between the Project Manager and the Administrators is important.

Compare Konover and O&G reimbursables for construction phase.

Motion Carried. All votes were in the affirmative except Paul Sapiro who voted in the negative. There were no abstentions.

Additional Business - None

Motion was made by B. Buckley to adjourn the meeting at 8:50 PM, sec. by S. Kavle.

Motion Carried. All votes were in the affirmative. There were no abstentions.

Respectfully submitted,

Kelli L. Green, Recording Secretary