MPS BUILDING COMMITTEE MEETING
Oliphant Administration Building
Michael S. Pinto Conference Room
26 Oliphant Lane, Middletown, RI 02842
12/14/22 5:00pm
Members in Attendance:
| Present | Voting Member | Name | Title |
| X | Yes | Edward Brady | Co-Chair, Community Member |
| X | Yes | Rosemarie Kraeger | Superintendent of Schools |
| X | Yes | Tami Holden | Member of School Committee |
| X | Yes | Poe George | Director of Facilities Management, Transportation and Safety |
| | Yes | Thomas P. Welch, III | Town Council Member |
| | Yes | Jeffrey Heath | Middletown High School Principal |
| | Yes | Michelle Fonseca | Asst Superintendent for Teaching and Learning |
| X | Yes | Shawn Brown | Town Administrator, Local Budget Official |
| X | Yes | Charlie Roberts | Co-Chair, Community Member |
| X | Yes | William Nash | Community Member |
| X | Yes | Vincent Lechmanick | Community Member |
| | Yes | Doug Arnold | Member of School Committee |
| | No | David Annese | Director of Technology |
| X | Alternate | Don Morin | Alternate Community Member |
| X | Alternate | Marc Thayer | Alternate Community Member |
| X | Alternate | Christopher Logan | Alternate Town Council Member |
| | Alternate | Liana Ferreira-Fenton | Alternate Member of School Committee |
| X | Alternate | William O’Connell | Alternate Member of School Committee |
| X | Alternate | Marc Tanguay | Town Finance Director, Alternate Local Budget Official |
| | Alternate | Bill Niemeyer | Gaudet Middle School Principal |
· Call to Order
o The meeting was called to order at 5:00 pm by Co-Chair Charlie Roberts. (10) out of twelve (12) voting members were present or represented by an alternate. Committee member Bill Nash had to leave at 5:50pm.
o Also present: Justin Bernard and Jarred Jackson, OPM, Colliers Project Leaders; Doug Brown and Ed Cifune, DBVW Architects; Middletown Town Council members Paul Rodrigues (arrived at 5:20pm) and Peter Connerton; Former Town Council members Terri Flynn and Antone Viveiros; Forest Avenue School Principal Erica Bulk and other community members.
o Present via Zoom: Tina Stanislaski, HMFH Architects; Derek Osterman, OPM, Colliers Project Leaders, Manual Cordeiro, Educational Planner, CIVIC
· Approval of Meeting Minutes from November 16, 2022
o MOTION: Don Morin moved to accept the meeting minutes from November 16, 2022, and Ed Brady seconded. The motion passed unanimously (10-0).
· Update on any Further Discussion of Regionalization with Newport or Portsmouth
o There were no new updates regarding regionalization. The Town Council President was scheduled to speak with the mayor of Newport earlier in the day, but there was no update as Town Councilor Rodrigues had not yet arrived at the meeting. The Town Administrator mentioned that the Town has been in contact with Portsmouth, but there is no interest in regionalizing at this time.
o Further discussion can take place at a proposed joint meeting of the Town Council, School Committee and Building Committee on January 4, 2023 at 5pm a the Town Hall.
· Update on Total Project Cost for Option A (New High School/Middle School) by Consultants
o The OPM team from Colliers presented a cost estimate review using current enrollment assumptions and an assumption with approximately 20% additional growth. Using these enrollments, RIDE allowable gross square footage calculations were done, as well as current RIDE allowable costs per square foot. The summary is as follows:
o RIDE allowable square footage calculations: 189,355 to 221,000 gross square feet
o RIDE allowable costs per square foot: $555/sf middle school; $589/sf high school with additional reimbursement of $5100 per Student FFE and IT Equipment, an additional $1 million for site remediations and an additional 10,000 sq feet for an administration wing.
o Using the current enrollment assumptions and the 20% additional growth, coupled with the RIDE allowable costs per square foot, the estimated costs are as follows:
· RIDE Allowable: $121.4 million - $140.5 million
· At $600 / square foot: $126.2 million - $146.1 million
· At $700 / square foot: $146.1 million - $169.2 million
· An additional $10 million was recommended to cover improvements to the elementary schools and to relocate the grade 4-5 Learning Academy
o The Town would be eligible for a reimbursement rate of 35% base + 17.5% bonus points for a total of 52.5%. The Town is working with local legislators to try to raise the base and bonus points to hopefully get this up to 60%.
o Based on other projects currently underway, Colliers felt that a $700/square foot projection is the most realistic, and even felt that the budget would still be tight at that number.
o Tina Stanislaski added that a site and geotechnical survey would be very beneficial to understand what type of site remediation work might be needed. Doug Brown added that there could be some cost savings since many of the necessary facilities requirements are already on site.
o For more information, the presentation is posted to the Building Committee Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/home/School%20Building%20Committee?preview=Middletown+Cost+Estimate+Presentation+12.14.2022+Final.pdf.
· Update by CIVIC (Educational Planner)
o Manuel Cordeiro shared an educational planning update. CIVIC has been working with the Middletown School District since the summer. Work began with desktop analysis of all previous work conducted, including the Stage I submission and previous visioning.
o CIVIC conducted facility walkthroughs and Principal interviews at all Middletown school facilities to gather educational program information and evaluate existing educational spaces for compatibility with district goals.
o A summary of the unique and shared goals as well as the challenges for the two elementary schools was completed. The same was done for the middle and high schools.
o In late September/early October, CIVIC conducted faculty and staff forums at each school. Facilitated discussions were focused on current and aspirational educational practices, as well as the alignment with educational spaces.
o The feedback gathered included quantitative and qualitative insights, including conversations about specific space types and design patterns. Teachers were asked about the suitability and critical adjacencies of a dozen spaces. This information, in conjunction with previous information collected, will be distilled and shared with the district leadership and help advance the educational program and specification. A summary of some design concepts for the educations spaces has been documented.
o For more detailed information, the document is posted to the Building Committee Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/home/School%20Building%20Committee/Educational%20Planning?preview=Envisioning+the+Future+of+our+Learning+Environments+-+CIVIC+-+Dec+14+2022.pdf.
· Update by Shawn Brown/Marc Tanguay Concerning our Bonding Limits
o Initial discussions have taken place, and a follow-up meeting is scheduled for Monday, December 19th with the Town’s financial planners at which time more information will become available. A projected bonding capacity timeline will be shared at the next meeting.
· Review of Option A Timeline and Required Reviews and Approvals
o Shawn Brown shared that the Town would need to develop a legislation proposal in early January to submit to the Legislature by February 13 in order to allow time for the Secretary of State to approve a special election in April. This is all predicated on the fact that the current reimbursement bonus points expire at the end of 2023, and a construction manager would need to be under contract by that time. Shawn is working with local legislators to potentially push the expiration out to June of 2024, which would allow the Town more time to plan.
o Charlie asked Superintendent Kraeger when new enrollment projections would be available and the Superintendent stated early January. These numbers will include the percentage of students from military families.
· Review/Update Task our Action Pending
o Ed stated that there are no other open actions pending.
· Open Discussion
o Don asked about doing some investigation of the site of the proposed new middle/high school. Doug Brown suggested that someone look for any drawings from the Gaudet School construction and Charlie asked if any drawings existed for the former drive-in property that was acquired by the Town. The School has the Gaudet drawings and the Town has the former drive-in drawings. Ed offered to stop by both sites to review the drawings to see if there are any wetland delineations, site surveys, geotechnical reports, etc.
o Forest Avenue School Principal Erica Bulk asked where the Learning Academy was planned to go. Charlie explained that the thought process was to move it to the existing high school until a new pre-K through grade 5 elementary school could be built. Ed asked if perhaps the Learning Academy could remain at Gaudet until a new elementary school could be built as it was currently located at one end of the school. Superintendent Kraeger stated that the students would need a cafeteria and gymnasium, which are currently located on the other side of the school.
o Former Town Council member Terri Flynn suggested that the Committee be wary of acronyms that are used as the public is not always clear about their meaning and suggested that meetings be recorded and posted for those unable to attend to watch at their leisure. She recommended that presentations be published on a website for the public to view. Don informed the Committee that he now has access to the School Building Committee website that is under the Middletown School Committee website and that he was willing to post information there if desired. He added that Colliers offers a website option (Colliers 360) and Shawn Brown mentioned the Middletown Shares site. Don suggested we put the communication strategy on a future agenda an align on where information should be published to make it more readily available to the public.
o Former Town Council member Antone Viveiros mentioned that he was part of a team that looked at the status of the school buildings back in 2005. At that time the plan was to look at the curriculum first and then tailor the schools to meet the needs of the curriculum. He expressed his dismay that not much has happened since that team met seventeen years ago.
o Don suggested that the Building Committee look at its membership due to the changes in School Committee membership. This will become a topic for a future meeting.
o Former Town Council member Terri Flynn asked why the elementary schools aren’t being addressed first in case the potential for regionalization came to fruition. Elementary schools would always remain in Town even if regionalization took place. Don stated that there are logistics issues with this approach as there is not enough room for a new elementary school on either of the two existing sites.
o Town Council President Paul Rodrigues stated that he was not supportive of building the middle/high school first when the Aquidneck Elementary School was in the worst shape. Charlie explained that all schools need work, and while Aquidneck is in the worst shape, the high school and middle school are not far behind, while the Forest Avenue School is in the best shape. Shawn Brown added that the middle and high school offers the highest RIDE reimbursement rates per student and we wanted to apply the highest rates to the most expensive schools before the reimbursement rates drop. Charlie emphasized the need for a summit between the Town Council, School Committee and Building Committee on January 4, 2023 to get everyone on the same page.
· Adjournment
o MOTION: Don Morin moved that the Building Committee adjourn at 6:26 pm and Ed Brady seconded. The motion passed unanimously (10-0).
Future Meeting Schedule – The next meeting will be held on January 4, 2022, at 5:00p.m. at the Middletown Town Hall. The proposal is to use that time for a summit between the Town Council, School Committee and Building Committee to get everyone aligned.
Respectfully Submitted,
Don Morin