Approved February 15, 2023
MPS BUILDING COMMITTEE MEETING
Oliphant Administration Building
Michael S. Pinto Conference Room
26 Oliphant Lane, Middletown, RI 02842
February 1, 2023 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 |
| 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 |
| | 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 |
| | Alternate | Christopher Logan | Alternate Town Council Member |
| | 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 |
· Call to Order
· The meeting was called to order at 5:01 pm by Co-Chair Charlie Roberts. Nine (9) out of twelve (12) voting members were present or represented by an alternate.
· Also present: Justin Bernard and Jarred Jackson, OPM, Colliers Project Leaders; Doug Brown and Ed Cifune, DBVW Architects; Manuel Cordeiro, Educational Planner, CIVIC; Peter Connerton, Middletown Town Council member; Theresa Spengler, Middletown School Committee Chair; and other community members.
· Present via Zoom: Tina Stanislaski, Matt LaRue, HMFH Architects; Derek Osterman, OPM, Colliers Project Leaders
· Approval of Meeting Minutes from January 18, 2023 and January 25, 2023
· MOTION: Ed Brady moved to accept the meeting minutes from January 18, 2023 and January 25, 2023 and Don Morin seconded. The motion passed unanimously (9-0).
· Update from School Committee and Town Council Verifying Approval of the Plan (Middle School / High School)
· Co-chairs Brady and Roberts explained that the Town Council encouraged the Building Committee to move forward with the Plan, although no formal vote was taken. At their last meeting the School Committee unanimously voted that the Building Committee move forward with their work. The Town Council is meeting on February 6th when it will discuss the issuance of the school bond and its impact on the taxpayers.
· Discuss Memorandum of Agreement, Anticipated Costs and Near-Term Schedule of the Plan
· Co-chair Brady suggested that the Building Committee document a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Town Council, School Committee and Building Committee to understand the process for decision making as the project progresses. Co-chairs Brady and Roberts will draft the MOA and asked Colliers for assistance; Derek Osterman agreed to help.
· ACTION: Create a first draft of a Memorandum of Agreement to be reviewed with the School Committee and Town Council for Approval. Co-chairs Brady and Roberts
· Update from Finance Director, Marc Tanguay, on Property Tax Impact of the Plan
· Marc Tanguay distributed a handout to the Committee outlining the impact a proposed $190 million school bond would have on the Middletown tax rates. The residential tax rate would go from $12.02 per $1000 assessment (rate from 12/31/2021 assessment) to $13.62 for the 30 year amortization and $13.77 for the 25 year amortization.
· Update on Enabling Legislation for Ballot Vote
· The Town Council will be reviewing the enabling legislation to allow for a ballot vote on the bond referendum at its next meeting on February 6th. The legislation will allow for a special election on May 2nd. Superintendent Kraeger mentioned that the town of Coventry is also seeking a special election on that date and that Town Administrator Brown thought it would be a good idea for Middletown to hold its election on the same day.
· Update from Town Administrator, Shawn Brown, Concerning Extending Deadline on Signed Construction Contract from December 2023 to June 2024 and Increase of Base Reimbursement from 35%-40%
· The Town Administrator was not able to attend the meeting so there was no update on this item.
· Given the tight timeline, co-chair Brady explained that Colliers and the architects will be soliciting proposals for geotechnical and site surveys.
· Don expressed a concern about the lack of any approved funding to pay for this work. Co-chair Brady agreed we needed an MOA to guide us until we have funding approved.
· Review/Update from Manuel Cordeiro of CIVIC Design
· Manuel has met with the architects from DBVW and HMFH and they have established an outline of a plan to move the process along. Manuel is planning on meeting with the Middle and High School administrators and will walk the buildings with the architects.
· Manuel will also be setting up focus groups to discuss educational aspirations with the staff at each of the schools. Since voluntary meetings are sometimes sparsely attended, Manuel is open to attending existing staff meetings if that is an option. Surveys will also be sent to get input from the middle and high school staff members.
· Community engagement has yet to be planned, but resident surveys will definitely be used. Manuel would also like to reach out to parent teacher groups, booster clubs, etc. to gather as much information as possible regarding the future vision for the schools.
· Tina Stanislaski suggested that Superintendent Kraeger connect with the superintendent in Westport, MA should anyone want to see a nearby middle/high school. If the group wants to visit a middle/high school designed by the HMFH team, Tina can arrange for a visit to the schools in Saugus and Winthrop. Co-chair Brady suggested that the architects share the plans for the Saugus and Winthrop schools at the next Committee meeting where a potential visit can be discussed.
· ACTION: Share the designs from the Saugus and Winthrop Middle/High Schools at the next Building Committee meeting. – HMFH Architects
· A consultant has completed a demographic study of the school district. The information will be shared with the school district staff and the town in the coming weeks. Rosemarie has the NESDEC enrollment numbers that she can share with the architects, OPM and Building Committee, and she will connect with the Department of Defense (DoD) to obtain forecasted military enrollment numbers.
· ACTION: Share NESDEC enrollment numbers with the architects, OPM and Building Committee. – Superintendent Kraeger
· ACTION: Reach out to the DoD to obtain forecasted military enrollment numbers. – Superintendent Kraeger
· Discuss Options for Housing Grades 4 and 5 Until a PK-5 Elementary School Is Built
· Matt Larue shared some conceptual drawings of the current Middletown High School and Doug Brown explained how grades 4 and 5 might occupy the existing high school. Doug mentioned that the current gymnasium and cafeteria on the main level would be maintained with the classrooms occupying a section of the upper level, leaving most of the upper level vacant. Given that the layout of the school has multiple levels that have exits at ground level along with two courtyards, the school lends itself well for a potential long-term PK-5 elementary school.
· The architectural team will investigate the use/retrofit of the high school for grades 4-5 in the near term as well as potential PK-5 in the long term. Doug explained that RIDE’s concern with renovating existing schools is that it disrupts existing students, so that concern will need to be taken into account during this investigation.
· Ed Cifune explained that the stage II application needs to address the timing for the Town to address the long-term plans for the pre-K through 5 students. Will it be done during the existing bond term? Or after the bond term ends? The Town needs to come up with a long-term plan and include it in the stage II application.
· Rosemarie added that there is an opportunity for the Town to offer regionalized early childhood education at the high school building.
· The fallback to using the high school can always be to keep the 4th and 5th graders at the Gaudet School, although Doug pointed out that the operational costs at Gaudet would be high. He also hinted that the Town many not want to move the 4th and 5th graders into the high school if that is not likely to be the long term solution for preK-5. Essentially the Town needs to come up with a master plan for all grades from PK-12 and include it in the stage II application. DBVW and HMFH will work together to come up with options for the Town to consider.
· Co-Chair Roberts asked if the consultants could provide the Committee with an estimated cost for a new pre-K through 5 school. Derek suggested that the team focus immediately on the near term needs for the middle/high school plans and then focus on the pre-K through 5 options in the future.
· Review/Update Building Committee Membership
· The Committee reviewed the membership requirements outlined in 200-RICR-20-05-4 Section 4.9.2.A.2 for School Building Committee Members. The requirement is for a minimum of eight people consisting of the following:
1. Superintendent – Superintendent Kraeger is the representative.
2. At least one member of the School Committee – The Building Committee currently has two members appointed: Tami Holden and Doug Arnold, with Liana Ferreira-Fenton and William O’Connell as alternates. Since Doug and Liana are no longer members of the School Committee, new appointees are needed. Tami and Superintendent Kraeger will ensure that this gets addressed at the next School Committee meeting.
3. Local official responsible for building maintenance – Poe George is the representative.
4. Representative of the office or body authorized by law to construct school buildings in the municipality – Town Council member Thomas P. Welch III is the representative with Christopher Logan as the alternate.
5. School Principal from the subject school – Jeff Heath is the representative with Bill Niemeyer as the alternate. Superintendent Kraeger added that she would like to have the other principals serve as alternates as well.
6. A member who has knowledge of the educational mission and function of the facility - Assistant Superintendent for Teaching & Learning Michelle Fonseca is the representative. Co-chair Roberts asked Superintendent Kraeger if an alternate could be appointed. She will have to consider this.
7. A local budget official or member of the local finance committee – Town Administrator Shawn Brown is the representative with Town Finance Director Marc Tanguay as the alternate.
8. At least one member of the community with architectural, engineering and/or construction experience to provide input relative to the effect of the project on the community and to examine building design and construction plans for reasonableness – The Building Committee has four community members: Co-chair Ed Brady, Co-chair Charlie Roberts, Bill Nash and Vince Lechmanick, and it also has two alternates: Don Morin and Marc Thayer.
· Open Discussion
· Community member and former Town Council member Terri Flynn expressed her concern about the cost of the new middle/high school and the fact that the Town is not addressing all schools. She plans to attend the next Town Council meeting on February 6th and express the same concerns.
· School Committee Chair Theresa Spengler shared her concern about the price tag but also expressed her support for the project as the schools are not currently designed to support the twenty-first century educational needs of Middletown students.
· Co-chair Brady asked Poe George about the Facility Condition Index and Poe said that the work has been completed and he expects the report to be available in a couple of weeks.
· Adjournment
· MOTION: Bill Nash moved that the Building Committee adjourn at 6:37 pm and Don Morin seconded. The motion passed unanimously (9-0).
Future Meeting Schedule – The next meeting will be held on February 15, 2023 at 5:00p.m. at the Oliphant Administration Building.
Respectfully Submitted,
Don Morin