Approved October 11, 2023
MPS BUILDING COMMITTEE MEETING
Oliphant Administration Building
Michael S. Pinto Conference Room
26 Oliphant Lane, Middletown, RI 02842
September 27, 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 | Georgia Fortunato | Interim 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 |
| X | Yes | Donna Sweet | Middletown High School Principal |
| N | Yes | Michelle Fonseca | Asst Superintendent for Teaching and Learning |
| P | 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 |
| P | Alternate | Bill Niemeyer | Gaudet Middle School Principal |
| X | Alternate | Marc Tanguay | Town Finance Director, Alternate Local Budget Official |
| N | 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
· Call to Order
· The meeting was called to order at 5:02 pm by Co-Chair Ed Brady. Ten (10) of eleven (11) voting members were present or represented by an alternate.
· Also present: Justin Bernard, OPM, Colliers Project Leaders and Manuel Cordero, Civic.
· Present via Zoom: Matt LaRue, Connor Heinzman, Justin Viglianti, and Soha Mohammed-Eltaher, HMFH Architects; Ed Cifune, DBVW Architects; and Derek Osterman, OPM, Colliers Project Leaders.
· Approval of Meeting Minutes from September 13, 2023
· MOTION: Tom Welch moved to accept the meeting minutes from September 13, 2023 and Bill Nash seconded. The motion passed unanimously (10-0).
· Public Input
· Antone Viveiros expressed concerns about the cost of the project.
· Architect’s Update and matters related thereto:
Lockers Review for 6th and 7th Grades
· Matt LaRue updated the Committee on the options with lockers. They propose 1:1 lockers for all 6th and 7th graders. They also propose maximizing efficient use of space by integrating lockers above other spaces that take up floor space. Small lockers (24” high x 12” wide x 15” deep) can be placed outside classrooms. If desired, 1:1 lockers can also be installed for all 8th graders for consistency and flexibility across all floors.
Traffic Information Report
· HMFH informed the Committee that the traffic consultant believes that the future middle/high school traffic will be evenly split between Turner Road and Aquidneck Avenue. Most of the traffic arrives from the north via East Main Road. They also feel that Turner Road is sufficient in size to handle the anticipated increase in traffic as it will be distributed throughout the day. The traffic load on Aquidneck Avenue should remain about the same.
· Don asked what the anticipated numbers will be, and Connor Heinzman shared the following: number of arrivals will go from 267 at Gaudet today to 435 in the future; departures will go from 148 at Gaudet today to 326 in the future.
· Traffic observations at the current high school will take place soon.
Two Week Look Ahead:
· HMFH meetings with the athletic directors, CTE instructors and drama instructors to review space program efficiencies will be completed in the next week.
· A RIDE SBA design review meeting is scheduled for September 28th.
· A second round of geo-technical borings are proposed for October 11-13. Poe George has confirmed that these dates are fine.
· The final site survey will be completed in the next week.
· The second sustainability charrette is scheduled for October 11th from 3-5pm, just before the next scheduled Building Committee meeting at 5pm on that date.
· A two-hour integrated design process meeting (required by NE-CHPS) is proposed for October 12th and will be accessible via Zoom.
· The presentation from HMFH can be viewed here: https://5il.co/25zb8.
· Educational Planner Update and matters related thereto:
Status Update on Education Plan and Program
· Manuel Cordero provided an update of the Middle & High School Educational Planning Progress Report. The first four sections of the report are complete: 1. Overview and Planning Highlights, 2. Faculty Forum / Teacher Surveys, 3. Space Adjacencies and Teacher Focus Groups and 4. Facility Tours and Debriefs. The final section 5. Educational Program and Goals will continue to be updated as additional planning continues.
· The presentation from Manuel can be viewed here: https://5il.co/25kwk.
· Owners Rep Update and matters related thereto:
Project Q&A Document Review
Bill Nash had to leave the meeting at 5:48pm, dropping the quorum to nine (9) voting members.
· Justin Bernard updated the Committee on a Q&A document that has been created that can be used for talking points. The document is based on input from the Building Committee members. The Building Committee asked Justin to work with Matt Sheley to post the Q&A document to the website being assembled by Main Street Media and the Town.
ACTION: Work with Matt Sheley to post the Q&A document to the website. – Justin Bernard
Review Statements Regarding if the Bond Vote Fails and Existing School Deficiency List
· Justin presented the document that Committee member Don Morin drafted outlining the impact on the Town if the bond vote fails. Don walked the Committee through each section and informed them that a shortened version will appear in the local media outlets this week. The Committee asked Colliers to work with Matt Sheley to post it to the website.
ACTION: Work with Matt Sheley to post the “Impact If the Bond Vote Fails” document to the website. – Justin Bernard
· Poe George explained that he put together a list of those items that will need to be addressed in all four schools in the near term, and the consultants added items to the list. The Committee asked Colliers to work with the Communications team to determine how to make this document useful for the public and then to post it to the website.
ACTION: Revise the Existing School Deficiency List and post it to the website. – Justin Bernard
Communications Update
· Derek Osterman explained that the website being developed by Main Street Media is the one that is linked from the Town website: https://mdl.town/NewSchool. Documents referenced in this meeting will be posted to this site.
· Derek added that filming will be scheduled to capture input from parents and school staff to gather input regarding what approval of the school bond means to them.
· Adjournment
· MOTION: Tom Welch moved that the Building Committee adjourn at 6:34pm and Don Morin seconded. The motion passed unanimously (9-0).
Future Meeting Schedule – The next meeting will be held on October 11, 2023 at 5:00p.m. at the Oliphant Administration Building.
Respectfully Submitted,
Don Morin