Approved June 21, 2023
MPS BUILDING COMMITTEE MEETING
Oliphant Administration Building
Michael S. Pinto Conference Room
26 Oliphant Lane, Middletown, RI 02842
June 7, 2023 5:00pm
Members in Attendance:
| Present | Voting Member | Name | Title |
| X | Yes | Edward Brady | Co-Chair, Community Member |
| R | 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 |
| R | Yes | Jeffrey Heath | Middletown High School Principal |
| N | Yes | Michelle Fonseca | Asst Superintendent for Teaching and Learning |
| R | 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 |
| X | Alternate | Bill Niemeyer | Gaudet Middle School Principal |
| X | Alternate | Marc Tanguay | Town Finance Director, Alternate Local Budget Official |
| P** | Alternate | Marc Thayer | Alternate Community Member |
| X | Alternate | Don Morin | Alternate Community Member |
X = Present/Voting; R=Represented; P=Present/Non-voting; N=Not Present
* Theresa Spengler arrived ~5:04pm; Bill O’Connell represented Theresa prior to her arrival and again when she had to leave early (~6:10pm).
** Marc Thayer arrived ~5:04pm.
1. Call to Order
· The meeting was called to order at 5:00 pm by Co-Chair Ed Brady. Ten (10) out of eleven (11) voting members were present or represented by an alternate.
· Also present: Justin Bernard and Derek Osterman, OPM, Colliers Project Leaders, Town Council member Peter Connerton and a community member.
· Present via Zoom: Matt LaRue and Tina Stanislaski, HMFH Architects; Doug Brown and Ed Cifune, DBVW Architects.
2. Approval of Meeting Minutes from May 24, 2023
· MOTION: Tom Welch moved to accept the meeting minutes from May 24, 2023 and Bill Nash seconded. The motion passed unanimously (10-0).
3. Public Input
· No requests to speak were made by the public.
4. Architect’s Update and matters related thereto:
Demographics:
· Matt LaRue informed the Committee that the end-of-year demographics numbers have been received from RIDE. The consultant (Cropper GIS) has requested some additional information. Another update using the end-of-year numbers for a stand-along analysis will be provided in a couple of weeks.
Concept Floor Plans – review of updated schematic options
· Matt LaRue informed the Committee that the utilities, circulation, topography, solar orientation, and surface runoff are all well understood for the existing site.
· Matt shared three alternative building schematics: one with a west entry, one with a south entry, and one that reused the existing gymnasium from the Gaudet School.
· All options allow for separate entrances for middle and high school students. The west entry option has four floors for the high school section only. The south entry and gym reuse options have a maximum of three floors for each of the middle and high school sections. The south entry option provides the most solar exposure. Given that the new school will be located farther from the existing parking lots, additional small lots and bus loops will be added nearer to the new school. An additional one-way entrance from Aquidneck Avenue where the old drive-in entrance was located will be added for all options.
· The site slopes down from east to west, allowing for the additional fourth floor on the west entry option as the high school section is sited on the low end (farthest west) of the site.
· Matt added that the existing planetarium could potentially be saved with the gym reuse option.
· Tami asked if any option was preferred when considering natural light to the classrooms and Matt said they all equally supported this. Co-Chair Brady asked about roof lines and Matt explained that they were all designed to incorporate uniform roof lines with some step downs due to the site topography. There are several additional lower roofs around the schools, especially with the south entry option.
· When asked about the advantages and disadvantages of the gym reuse option, Matt explained that this option would offer two separate gyms that could help support different schedules for the middle and high school students, and it would retain some value from the existing school. A disadvantage is that the gym will be located much farther away from the classrooms than the other options and leads to a sprawling building. It is too early to determine if this option would save any money or how RIDE will view it.
· Don asked why the south entry option wasn’t designed with a four-floor high school wing and Matt stated that they put the high school on the higher (east) end of the site. If the middle and high school wings were flipped, a fourth floor could be considered, and the overall footprint of the building could be reduced.
· Tami asked about expansion possibilities and all options offer some room for expansion, mainly to the east. Co-chair Brady suggested the design team consider locating the new school as far east as possible to minimize the amount of unsuitable fill that might need to be removed.
· Marc Thayer asked if the existing gym at Gaudet was suitable for re-use due to water concerns on the site. Bill Niemeyer explained that most of the water concerns are on the west side of the current school, opposite the side where the gym is located.
· Matt informed the Committee that no decision is needed tonight but one will need to be made in the next few weeks to allow the team to work on the schematic design.
· Co-chair Brady asked if additional borings or test pits should be done. Derek stated that it would be better to share the building concepts with RIDE to get their input before expending additional money on an option that may not be well received. Tina asked if any site investigative work was done when the turf field and track were initially installed. Superintendent Kraeger didn’t think so, but she said she would investigate it. Co-chair Brady added that work may have been done when the spectator stands were added.
· ACTION: Determine if any borings, test pits or other site work were performed when the artificial turf field and/or stands were installed. – Superintendent Kraeger
Two Week Look Ahead
· Matt shared the two week lookahead. Traffic counts and observations are complete.
· Phase 1 Site Geo Environmental investigations are complete. No recognized issues were observed.
· Demographics work, site/alternative schematics will continue, and the traffic investigation and geo-environmental reports should be received in the next two weeks. An outreach slideshow that depicts what exists today in Middletown compared with what could potentially be done using pictures from other schools will be completed.
The entire update from the architect can be viewed here: https://5il.co/1w4jd.
5. Educational Planner Update and matters related thereto:
· No update.
6. Owner’s Rep Update and matters related thereto:
Development of Future Building Committee Agendas – review and approve the process to be used for future meetings.
· Derek Osterman informed the Committee that he had a meeting with the Town Administrator, Superintendent and Building Committee Co-Chairs to discuss how to run things moving forward. Colliers would like to receive requests for agenda topics by noon on Thursday prior to the meeting, with the intention of posting the agenda by Friday of the week prior to the meeting.
Reporting on Budget and Schedule – review and approval of the template to be used at future meetings.
· Derek shared a sample budget and schedule template with the Committee. He intends to set up a separate meeting to review the templates with the Co-Chairs of the Committee for feedback. The sample budget template can be viewed here: https://5il.co/1w4ju, and the sample schedule template can be found here: https://5il.co/1w4jk.
Draft RIDE Stage II Application, including discussion about June 19th presentation to School Committee and Town Council.
· Derek informed that Committee that a meeting to present a draft Stage II application will be held with the Town Council and School Committee on June 19th. He anticipates that the deadline for the Stage II application will be extended into 2024, allowing the Committee to slow down the process. This could potentially save some money by delaying the need to hire a construction manager in December, 2023 and instead hire a general contractor later in 2024. The expected new timeline will delay the September Stage II application until February of 2024 with the RIDE approval moving from December of 2023 to May of 2024. More information on the new timeline will be shared at the June 19th meeting.
· Marc Tanguay informed Derek that the June 19th meeting will be moving to June 20th in observance of the Juneteenth holiday on the 19th.
7. Schedule of Sustainability Workshops – update presented by Colliers and School Administration
Initial Session Scheduled for June 21st
· Derek Osterman informed the Committee that the sustainability workshop / green design meeting is scheduled for 3:15pm – 5:00pm on June 21st at the Oliphant Administration Building, to be followed by the regularly scheduled School Building Committee meeting with a RIDE representative at 5:00pm. Matt Sheley has created a flyer for the sustainability workshop. It can be viewed here: https://5il.co/1w4k4.
8. Community Outreach Update – update presented by Colliers
PR/Communications Plan Development
· Derek Osterman has met with a few firms to request proposals for communications support leading up to the ballot vote in November. He hopes to have the responses by next week to decide how to move forward.
· At this point in the meeting (~6:10pm) Superintendent Kraeger and School Committee representative Theresa Spengler had to leave, dropping the quorum to nine (9) of eleven (11) with Bill O’Connell representing Theresa.
9. Update from Town and School Administration and matters related thereto:
Legislative Update
· Marc Tanguay informed the Committee that House and Senate bills for the $190 Million Middle/High School Construction Bond vote in November have been approved. The House and Senate bills to increase the foundation level from 35% to 40% were not approved, but instead the General Assembly agreed to increase the amount of bonuses Middletown is eligible for from 17.5% to 20%, increasing the possible reimbursement from 52.5% to 55%. The General Assembly also extended the deadline for the funding bonuses to June 30, 2024. The House and Senate bills to add an energy bonus are still pending; Middletown is heavily lobbying this week to get the energy bonus increased. Derek added that the additional bonus being sought is 10%, but it may require the building to be a net zero design. There is no appetite from the General Assembly to move up the reimbursement schedule.
· Co-Chair Brady stated that the new building will be designed to the RI energy code, and Bill Nash added that the state is looking to update the code in the next few months.
· Tina stated that there are some federal programs coming out for net zero/net positive initiatives. She shared that it costs more for a building to achieve a net zero or net positive design, but if federal funds are available to offset the additional cost this is an option that could be considered.
Possible Upcoming Meetings on Development of New CTE Program
· Derek informed the Committee that DBVW has been in contact with Electric Boat to investigate marine trades as a possible future program partnership opportunity. More discussions will take place on the potential fourth CTE program in the coming months.
10. Adjournment
· MOTION: Tom Welch moved that the Building Committee adjourn at 6:23 pm and Bill Nash seconded. The motion passed unanimously (9-0).
Future Meeting Schedule – The next meeting will be held on June 21, 2023 at 5:00p.m. at the Oliphant Administration Building.
Respectfully Submitted,
Don Morin