East Haddam School Building Committee Meeting

April 27, 2005

Adopted June 1, 2005

 

 

Call to Order

 

The meeting was called to order by Todd Moss at 7:05 p.m. at the Nathan Hale High School – Room 117.

 

      Roll Call        

 

Attendance

 

Members present:       

            Todd Moss                             

            Mary Beth Mordecai              

David LaFemina                     

Craig Parker

Kerri Willis Budzik

Melissa Ziobron – Arrived 7:12 p.m. and Departed 8:00 p.m.

                                   

Members absent:

John Gibson                           

Denise Gable

            Dana Barnes

 

Others present:

David King, KBA

Wyley Peckham

 

Approval of Minutes

 

Motion by Kerri Willis Budzik to approve the minutes of March 30th, 2005 meeting amended as follows:

 

·       3rd  page, under Open Space Submission, strike “Mrs. Budzik informed the Committee that former Building Committee’s did not have authority in property negotiations. 

 

·       2nd  page, last paragraph, add  ” Mrs. Budzik stated that to follow-up on prior discussions regarding the Building Committee’s authority to handle the property negotiations directly, she reviewed the charge of the prior Building Committee, as well as the referendum, and found that the prior Building Committee also did not have the authority to negotiate for property directly and the authority to do so would have been that of the Board of Selectmen”.    

 

 

Seconded by Dave LaFemina and carried by unanimous vote. 

 

Audience of Citizens

 

Wyley Peckham provided Committee members with his opinion on property acquisition.  He stated that eminent domain was a means of bad faith negotiations.  He reviewed the Building Committee’s criteria.  Committee members thanked him for attending the meeting and expressing his views.  Mrs. Budzik informed him that property negotiations were performed by the Selectman’s office and not the School Building Committee.  Mr. Moss informed him that the referendum approved acquisition of the land by means of negotiation or eminent domain.  Ms. Mordecai advised Mr. Peckham that acquisition of property through means of eminent domain was the last choice of the people negotiating the land and not what they want to do.  Mrs. Ziobron urged Mr. Peckham to make a similar presentation at the Selectman’s meeting. 

 

Old Business

                 

                        Architect Report – KBA

 

Dave King informed the Committee that Phase 1 Environmental assessment has been completed and that no significant findings were determined.  The Civil Engineer has currently placed 10 monitoring wells and test pits on site and the preliminary soil samples for septic design looks good.  He stated that the surveyor would be on site to do additional topographical mapping in certain areas and to pickup and add to the land survey the monitoring wells.  He stated that an official proposal from the traffic consultant was complete and would be passed on to the Town Attorney.  He stated that site plan adjustments were made based on the proposal.  He informed the Committee that a kick off faculty meeting would be performed on May 10th, 2005 at the Elementary School Cafeteria at 3:30.  He informed the Committee that he had attended a meeting in Harford on High Performance Schools.  Mr. King displayed and discussed schematic site plan maps.  Craig Parker questioned Mr. King how he planned on coordinating architectural services in a timely manner.  Mr. King responded that organization meetings would be scheduled on a weekly or biweekly basis, for efficient coordination of services, and that Committee members are welcome to attend such meetings.   Mr. Moss stated that he intended to attend these meetings.  Ms. Mordecai stated that she would bring the site plan maps to the next PTO meeting and Mrs. Ziobron stated that she would bring them to the next Board of Education meeting. 

 

                       

 

 

 

 

BOE Report

 

Mr. Moss informed the Committee that Bob Carroll and Dr. Steve Durham had nothing to report. Mrs. Ziobron informed the Committee that it is the Board of Education’s priority to opening the school on time.  Ms. Mordecai questioned if there would still be a January 2008 opening date.  Mr. Moss responded that it will require a lot of coordination for the teachers to change classes in the middle of the school year and that it would be up to the Board of Education to make the final decision as to the move in date. 

 

Letter Regarding Seismic

 

Mr. Moss distributed and discussed the following documentation:

 

·       Letter dated April 25, 2005 written to Mr. Mazzotta from Todd Moss in regards to the 4 – 8 Middle School about the Seismic Design of the School.  The letter refers to an email received from Dr. Jelle Zeilinga de Boer of Wesleyan University about an article from the Middletown Press about seismic activity in Moodus.  The letter informs Mr. Mazzotta that State building codes require the structural, mechanical, electrical and architectural systems be designed to meet current seismic criteria and earthquake loads.  It states that the design of the building will meet the current codes in place to address such concerns. 

·       Letter dated March 15, 2005 from David King from Kaestle Boos Associates, inc to Todd Moss about the New 4-8 Middle School in regards to seismic design building code requirements.  This letter was forwarded to Mr. Mazzotta.      

 

Mrs. Ziobron stated that correspondence should be sent to Dr. Jelle Zeilinga de Boer of Wesleyan University.  Mrs. Budzik disagreed.  She stated that the correspondence should be sent to East Haddam residents only.  Mrs. Ziobron stated that a public relations subcommittee should be formed.  Committee Member’s agreed to form a subcommittee at a future date. 

 

                        Property Acquisition

 

There was nothing to report.

 

                        Newfield Contract

 

Mr. Moss informed the Committee that Newfield Construction had an executable contract with the former Building Committee which was contrary to what this School Building Committee had been advised.  Mrs. Ziobron reported that the Board of Education was unaware of the executable contract.  Construction Manager as an Administrator and Construction Manager as Constructor were discussed.  Mr. Moss stated that he preferred the Construction Manager as the Constructor because it holds the Manager responsible for the project consequently taking on more risk.  It was stated that a project manager would not be needed if a CMC contract was chosen and that the project manager’s fee would off set the cost of the CMC. 

 

 

Open Space Submission

                            

Committee Member’s agreed to wait until the Selectman, Town Attorney and Dana Barnes met with the property owners for property negotiations on Monday, May 2nd .  It was stated that a special meeting would be scheduled if necessary and a Sub-committee would be formed for writing of the application for Open Space.  It was stated that property negotiations may not be executed in time for the Open Space grant application in May and that if appropriate, an application could be submitted in the fall.       

 

New Business

 

Craig Parker informed Committee Members that he contacted Connecticut Light and Power.   He stated that there were currently two activities which could be performed.  The first would be to determine the electrical power requirements to service the school and second to pursue the construction and load management incentives.  It was stated it would be in the best interest of the School Building Committee to work in conjunction with the Banner Lodge and other Town developments in an effort to reduce costs.  Craig Parker questioned Mr. King if a traffic planner should start to be involved in the project.  Mr. King responded that he would have an answer for the next meeting.  Public Relation efforts were discussed.   Mr. Moss stated that he would write a press release which incorporates a time line.    

           

Determination of Next Meetings

                       

Motion by Mrs. Budzik to change the regular scheduled meeting times to 7:30 p.m.  Seconded by Ms. Mordecai and unanimously passed.    

 

The next regular scheduled meeting will be May 25, 2005 at 7:30 p.m. at the Nathan Hale High School – Room 117.      

 

Other Discussion

 

There was no Other Discussion segment offered.

        

Adjournment

 

Motion by Ms. Mordecai at 8:25p.m. to adjourn.  Seconded by Craig Parker and unanimously passed.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

E. Ruth Ziobron

 

Filed at Selectman’s office

 

Attendance

Letter dated April 25, 2005 from Todd Moss to Mr. Mazzotta in regards to seismic design of the school.

 

Letter dated March 15, 2005 from David King, KBA to Todd Moss in regards to seismic design code requirements.