Approved November 2, 2022
MPS BUILDING COMMITTEE MEETING
Oliphant Administration Building
Michael S. Pinto Conference Room
26 Oliphant Lane, Middletown, RI 02842
10/19/22 5:00pm
Members in Attendance:
| Present | Voting Member | Name | Title |
| X | Yes | Edward Brady | Co-Chair, Community Member |
| | 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 |
| X | 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 |
| | 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 |
| | Alternate | Christopher Logan | Alternate Town Council Member |
| X | Alternate | Liana Ferreira-Fenton | Alternate Member of School Committee |
| | 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 |
o The meeting was called to order at 5:02pm by Co-Chair Ed Brady. Nine (9) out of twelve (12) voting members were present or represented by an alternate.
o Also present: Derek Osterman, Justin Bernard, Jarred Jackson, OPM team, Colliers Project Leaders; Peter Connerton and Kathleen Brady, Community Members
o Present via Zoom: Tina Stanislaski and Laura Wernick, HMFH Architects; Doug Brown and Ed Cifune, DBVW Architects
o MOTION: Don Morin moved to accept the meeting minutes from October 12, 2022 and Vince Lechmanick seconded. The motion passed unanimously (9-0).
o Co-chair Ed Brady suggested that we pass over this agenda item as Superintendent Kraeger was unable to attend. It will be placed back on the agenda for a future meeting.
o Derek Osterman handed out an Educational Planning Update from Manuel Cordero of Civic. Civic conducted facility walkthroughs and principal interviews at all Middletown school facilities to gather educational program information and to evaluate existing educational spaces for compatibility with district goals.
o Goals were provided by the two elementary schools and compiled for both similarities and differences.
o Faculty and staff forums were held, and the conversations consisted of space types and design patterns. This information will be shared with district leadership to help advance the educational program and specification. Manuel wants to go back to the high school to gather additional input.
o Colliers agreed to post the presentation from Manuel to Dropbox.
o ACTION: Post presentation from Manual Cordero to Dropbox. – Justin Bernard
o Bill Nash provided an update on signs he has ordered. He’s expecting to receive 110 signs by Saturday or Monday. They are available for $8 each and members of the Building Committee can pick them up from Bill when he receives them. Thirty of the signs will be going to Newport Mayor Napolitano per her request for distribution throughout Newport.
o Shawn Brown informed the Committee that many meetings by members of Town Council, School Committee and others have taken place with various community and civic groups in recent weeks. Flyers will be mailed out to all households in Middletown. HMFH and DBVW asked if they could obtain copies, and Shawn said he would email the flyer to everyone.
o ACTION: Email flyer to all Committee members, Colliers and HMFH/DBVW. – Shawn
o The architect team offered to help with answering community questions that may arise. Tom Welch explained that community forums are sparsely attended, and the same people always attend. A panel discussion that can be shared via social media and Cox cable would be better. Justin Bernard agreed to pull together a group of key players to develop a panel discussion on video that can be shown on social media and cable TV.
o ACTION: Pull together a small team to develop a video for social media and cable TV – Justin Bernard
o Marc Tanguay handed out a spreadsheet showing the impact that the $235M bond would have on the tax rate. The residential tax rate would increase from $12.02 per thousand to $12.90 per thousand assuming a 5.5% interest rate over twenty-five years, or $88 per $100K of home assessment value.
o Derek stated that most of the pertinent information had already been shared so he took the time to formally welcome HMFH/DBVW to the team and added that HMFH has the contract and will be sending an edited version back along with a fee proposal.
o Co-chair Ed Brady suggested that we pass over this item.
o MOTION: Don Morin moved that the Building Committee adjourn at 6:11pm and Vince Lechmanick seconded. The motion passed unanimously (9-0).
Future Meeting Schedule – The next meeting will be held on November 2, 2022 at 5:00p.m. at the Oliphant Administration Building.
Respectfully Submitted,
Don Morin