Approved August 30, 2023
MPS BUILDING COMMITTEE MEETING
Oliphant Administration Building
Michael S. Pinto Conference Room
26 Oliphant Lane, Middletown, RI 02842
August 16, 2023 5:00pm
Members in Attendance:
| Present | Voting Member | Name | Title |
| X | Yes | Edward Brady | Co-Chair, Community Member |
| X | Yes | Charlie Roberts | Co-Chair, Community Member |
| X** | Yes | Rosemarie Kraeger | Superintendent of Schools |
| X | Yes | Tami Holden | Member of School Committee |
| X* | Yes | Theresa Spengler | Member of School Committee |
| X | Yes | Poe George | Director of Facilities Management, Transportation and Safety |
| X | Yes | Thomas P. Welch, III | Town Council Member |
| N | Yes | Donna Sweet | Middletown High School Principal |
| N | Yes | Michelle Fonseca | Asst Superintendent for Teaching and Learning |
| N | Yes | Shawn Brown | Town Administrator, Local Budget Official |
| X | Yes | William Nash | Community Member |
| N | Alternate | Gregory Huet | Alternate Member of School Committee |
| P | Alternate | William O’Connell | Alternate Member of School Committee |
| N | Alternate | Christopher M. Logan | Alternate Town Council Member |
| N | Alternate | Bill Niemeyer | Gaudet Middle School Principal |
| N | Alternate | Marc Tanguay | Town Finance Director, Alternate Local Budget Official |
| P | Alternate | Marc Thayer | Alternate Community Member |
| P | Alternate | Don Morin | Alternate Community Member |
X = Present/Voting; R=Represented; P=Present/Non-voting; N=Not Present
* Theresa Spengler arrived at 5:04pm; Bill O’Connell represented her until then.
**Superintendent Kraeger arrived at 5:07pm, increasing the voting members from seven (7) to eight (8).
· Call to Order
· The meeting was called to order at 5:00 pm by Co-Chair Ed Brady. Seven (7) of eleven (11) voting members were present or represented by an alternate. This number increased to eight (8) when Superintendent Kraeger arrived at 5:07pm.
· Also present: Derek Osterman, OPM, Colliers Project Leaders, Middletown Fire Chief Jim Peplau and one community member.
· Present via Zoom: Matt LaRue, Connor Heinzman, Justin Viglianti, and Soha Mohammed-Eltaher, HMFH Architects; Ed Cifune and Doug Brown, DBVW Architects; and Manuel Cordero, Civic.
· Present via cell phone: Tina Stanislaski, HMFH Architects.
· Approval of Meeting Minutes from August 2, 2023
· MOTION: Tom Welch moved to accept the meeting minutes from August 2, 2023 and Bill Nash seconded. The motion passed unanimously (7-0).
· Public Input
· No Input
· Prior to the next agenda item Co-Chair Brady suggested that the Committee amend agenda item #4 to change the word “Vote” to “Discussion” under the Architects update in both locations where it appeared. He was not sure if enough information would be available to take a vote.
· MOTION: Ed Brady moved to change the word “vote” to “discussion” in the two locations under that architect’s update on the agenda. and Tom Welch seconded. The motion passed unanimously (7-0).
· Architect’s Update and matters related thereto:
Discussion to Adopt Design Criteria:
· Derek Osterman suggested that Matt LaRue provide a refresher of the two design schemes shared at the prior meeting prior to reviewing the scoring for the design criteria.
Discussion on Preferred Scheme Goals to Advance a Single Scheme
· Matt walked the Committee through the Sectional Z and Two-Sided T options. The Committee asked numerous clarifying questions about the two designs, and a few action items arose from the discussion.
· Discussion highlights:
· The access to the site from the former Drive-In entrance will be one way in only.
· Future expansion for seven additional classrooms on the sectional Z design and six on the two-sided T design can easily be planned for up front.
· The current Gaudet school serves as the regional FEMA shelter for the area as well as a backup shelter for the Navy base, and the new school will have to do the same. This would dictate that access to the gymnasium should be as easy as possible.
· The gym on the Sectional Z design is easily accessible from the outside but it is on the second floor of the two-sided T option. This fact, along with other key design features such as the Sectional Z working better with the topography of the site makes the Sectional Z design the preferred option.
· Derek Osterman informed the Committee that the Sectional Z design scored slightly higher than the Two-Sided T when scored against the design criteria. For these reasons, the Committee decided to vote on the preferred design.
· MOTION: Co-chair Charlie Roberts moved that the Building Committee reconsider its decision to just discuss and instead to vote to select the Sectional Z as the preferred design over the Two-Sided T and Theresa Spengler seconded.
· DISCUSSION: Bill Nash suggested that HMFH look at the advantages of the Two-Sided T design to determine if any of them can be incorporated in the Sectional Z design. The motion passed unanimously (8-0).
· ACTION: Educate the Committee on the number / percentage of students that ride the bus to the Gaudet Middle School and Middletown High School. – Superintendent Kraeger
· ACTION: Share the building design with parents, teachers and principals to gather feedback on the drop off points for students. – Superintendent Kraeger
· ACTION: Determine if a pathway around the school can be shown on the schematics to allow for easier access to all the athletic fields without having to cut through the school. – HMFH
Report on Existing and Design Parking Capacities:
· Matt LaRue reported that there are currently 329 parking spaces at the Gaudet Middle School and 287 parking spaces at the High School. Their current assessment reveals that 354 parking spaces are needed at the new middle/high school.
· Theresa Spengler questioned this number, being concerned that the number of parking spaces for high school students was too low. Matt LaRue stated that the number came from former Principal Jeff Heath. Superintendent Kraeger was asked to check with the current administration to verify the number needed.
· ACTION: Determine the number of parking spaces high school students will need during the school year. – Superintendent Kraeger
Review NE-CHPS Stage II Submission Owner Requirements
· Matt LaRue informed the Committee that there are five items needed for the Stage II submission from the NE-CHPS criteria:
1. District Level Commitment
2. Systems Maintenance Plan
3. Indoor Environmental Management
4. Anti-idling Measures
5. Energy Star Equipment
· Derek Osterman informed the Committee that these NE-CHPS criteria need to be incorporated into the policy manual for the School District. Theresa Spengler asked Derek to work with the School Committee to have a draft policy ready for their October meeting.
· ACTION: Draft a policy for the School Committee to review at its October meeting incorporating the NE-CHPS criteria. – Derek Osterman
Two Week Look Ahead:
· Matt LaRue provided a two week look ahead to the Committee. At the meeting on August 30th, HMFH should be able to provide a cost estimate for the preferred design and data analysis of the traffic investigations.
· The entire presentation from HMFH can be viewed here: https://5il.co/22nox.
· Educational Planner Update and matters related thereto:
Demographics Update
· Manuel Cordero informed the Committee that the demographer, Cropper GIS has completed their work. The school design must use the projected school enrollment five years out when determining the capacity of a school building design. The consultant started with the October enrollment but got RIDE to supply end-of-year numbers due to the large fluctuations in enrollment numbers for the Town. End-of-year numbers are higher than October numbers. Additionally, with RIDE’s approval, the demographer accounted for an anomaly in the data due to a “COVID dip,” which was most pronounced in the pre-K through 3rd grade levels.
· The forecasted student enrollment for the new school will be 491 students in grades 6-8 and 585 students in grades 9 through 12, with an additional ten 18+ students for a grand total of 1086 students. The key assumptions are as follows: end of year enrollment numbers are being used, planned housing construction is rising, fertility rates are relatively high, and the population of Navy base personnel living in the district is increasing by roughly 10%.
· The enrollment projections presentation can be viewed here: https://5il.co/22noy.
· Owners Rep Update and matters related thereto:
Discuss Schedule, Budget and Communications
· Derek Osterman shared a milestone schedule update, highlighting that the educational planning document and cost estimate will be presented to the Committee soon. The milestone schedule can be viewed here: https://5il.co/22noz.
· Derek also informed the Committee that the project is still on target from a budget perspective. He will have more definitive budget information from Marc Tanguay when he returns from vacation.
· Regarding Communications, initial meetings with Main Street Media, the Superintendent and Town Administrator will take place the week of August 21st. Vacations have made it difficult to get everyone together thus far.
· At this time (~6:45pm) Charlie Roberts departed the meeting. Marc Thayer represented him for the remainder of the meeting, retaining a quorum of eight (8) voting members.
Planning for Communications During Back to School
· Derek Osterman asked the Committee to list the key events and communications media that should be targeted for communications. The following were suggested:
· End of Summer Beach event on Monday, August 28th
· Open houses at schools
· Fall sports events
· Opening day of school – teacher convocation
· Community forums
· Newport This Week and What’s Up Newp
· Middletown newsletter
· Senior newsletter
· Weekly communications from School Administration via Constant Contact
· The Committee also requested that Derek ask Main Street Media how best to address rumor control.
· It was also suggested that a flyer be put together quickly for distribution at the End of Summer Beach event with bullet points highlighting what work has transpired and what is yet to come, including the educational plan, a conceptual design of the new building, the fact that the new building will serve as a community center and FEMA shelter, sharing a link to the website for more information, adding that information about financial impact and a fourth CTE will be coming soon, etc.
· Poe asked about the master plan and Derek said that work is taking place to investigate closing Aquidneck School and moving elementary students to the former high school.
· Tami asked if something could be drafted to inform the voters what the impact would be if the Town did nothing. Don said he was working with Poe and the consultants on a document and that he would have a draft for the Committee to review at the next meeting.
· ACTION: Share a draft of the impact on Middletown if the Town does nothing document with the Committee at the next meeting. – Don/Poe
· Adjournment
· MOTION: Theresa Spengler moved that the Building Committee adjourn at 7:05pm and Bill Nash seconded. The motion passed unanimously (8-0).
Future Meeting Schedule – The next meeting will be held on August 30, 2023 at 5:00p.m. at the Oliphant Administration Building.
Respectfully Submitted,
Don Morin