Wellington School Building Committee Minutes

WELLINGTON SCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE
MINUTES
November 2, 2011
School Administration Building Conference Room
7:30 AM

Meeting #141
Committee Members Attending: Joe Barrell, John Bowe, Mark Haley, Bill Lovallo, Lucy Pullen, Heidi Sawyer, Eric Smith

Absent: Patricia Brusch, Laurie Graham, Mary McHugh, Joel Mooney, Ike Papadopoulos,

Liaisons Attending: Amy Wagner

PMA - Owner’s Project Manager (OPM) Attending: Sean Burke

Skanska: Bill Endicott

Architect: Jonathan Levi, Jonathan Levi Associates (JLA), Elizabeth Utz

Clerk: Chris Kochem

Mark Haley, Chair, called the meeting to order at 7:35 a.m.

Requisition from Skanska
The Skanska requisition in the amount of $1,710,740.58 for billings for August through September 30, 2011 was presented. With this requisition, 95.2% of the contract will be paid.

Sean Burke of PMA said that the value of the requisition and the subcontractor values seemed to be fine. He said he had concerns about the format of the requisition and getting the allowances reconciled. He noted that about $135K still needs to be reconciled. With about $1.3 million left in the contract to be paid, he is comfortable with the requisition amount.

Bill Endicott of Skanska said that Skanska will chip away at the values that are not reconciled as they work towards their final requisition. 

Bill Lovallo stated that there has been ongoing dialogue with Skanska at WBC meetings directing Skanska to reconcile the values. He said it was unfortunate that Skanska still has not done what they said they would do in this regard. He recognized that it is important for Skanska to be able to make payments to the subs. He said this is not a value issue but an issue of where to allocate payment. He recommended that the requisition be approved and that they track the items that have been highlighted.

Joe Barrell said that he will vote to pay this requisition but he is uncomfortable doing so. He noted that Sean Burke has the most expertise in this regard and it is not good that Mr. Burke is uncomfortable. He expressed dismay that this issue has come up in August, September, and October and was supposed to be resolved by now.

Mark Haley said that Skanska has begun to make these adjustments and they will continue to do so.

John Bowe made a motion to approve the Skanska requisition of $1,710,740.58. Bill Lovallo seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved. 

Prime Contract Change Order #8
This change order is an accounting exercise that “rolls up” the change orders that have already been approved by the WBC into the contract with Skanska. The value of PCCO #8, per the handout, is $164,626. Sean Burke will confirm that these changes to the contract are in the correct line item category. The approval of PCCO #8 will officially adjust the Skanska contract value to $29,542,161. 
Bill Lovallo made a motion to approve PCCO #8. John Bowe seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved.

Change Order Requests (All CEA's are in scope; all COR's are out of scope.)
·    CEA 043 for $7,913 – add PT blocking above the 2nd floor windows to fasten ipe trellis. Bill Lovallo made a motion to approve CEA 043. John Bowe seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved.
·    CEA 044 for $33,256 (Bul 93C) – exterior fins added and modified support detail and reduced size. Bill Lovallo made a motion to approve CEA 044. John Bowe seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved
·    COR 031 for $11,148 (Bul 105) – adjust light gage framing at light shelf to accommodate steel tolerances. Bill Lovallo made a motion to approve COR 031. John Bowe seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved.
·    COR 178A for $20,470 (Bul 183) – add railings in front of glass walls. Bill Lovallo made a motion to approve COR 178A. John Bowe seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved.

Wellington School Railings
Amy Wagner stated that, because of her long-standing experience as an educator, she has a concern about the height of the glass walls. She wants to make sure that children do not think that they can pull themselves up onto the balustrade. Ms. Wagner requested that the height of the railing walls be raised and also that a narrow Plam strip be added to the top. Her goal is that the width at the top of the railing be very limited so that children would not have the perception that they could stand on the top. 

Jonathan Levi of JLA presented a handout showing samples of guardrails in other buildings. He said that, while he is not trying to trivialize Ms. Wagner’s concerns for the children’s safety, other comparable institutions around the state use similar designs. Mr. Levi said that the top of the current wall is four inches wide and that the guard rail assembly is designed according to the Massachusetts State Building code. In the 1970’s, the code height was 36 inches; it has since been raised to 42 inches. The parapet is considered as safe as a railing. Mr. Levi said that JLA used the experience of the professionals to do this design and that he believes this change request is an unnecessary expense. He noted that this design is his liability for the next six years.

Ms. Wagner said that, ultimately the School Committee needs to be involved in this decision. Bill Lovallo concurred with Ms. Wagner. He said that it was appropriate to bring the School Committee into the decision as they will be the caretakers of the building.

Eric Smith summarized that there are two issues: 1) the height, which is at 42 inches and that Ms. Wagner wishes to be higher and 2) the four inch flat top that could tempt a child to try to stand on it. He noted that the building has been designed to the attendant safety requirements. However, he also noted that, if there is a request for an additional safety margin by the School Committee, then the WBC should meet this request. 

Jonathan Levi said that, if the WBC is going to increase the height of one area, then the height should be increased in all of the areas.

Mark Haley said that he would request a meeting with the School Committee, which Jonathan Levi will attend. Mr. Haley asked that Mr. Levi bring at least three suggestions for the railings to the meeting. 

VCT Floor Finishes
Skanska stripped and waxed the VCT floors in the hallway this week and used the high speed buffer; it looks good and cleans up pretty well. Skanska plans to do the classrooms on Veteran’s Day weekend (Nov. 11-13) and during Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 24-28). Bill Endicott will work with Fred Domenici of the Belmont School Department to coordinate which classrooms are done during each weekend.

Concrete Floor in the Core
Bill Endicott said that, given the cure time, the concrete floor in the core will probably have to be done during the winter break (Dec. 24-Jan. 2). They will strip down the entire core and will put down a new finish so that scuff marks will no longer be visible.

Bathroom Floors
The epoxy floors become slippery once there is soap and water on the floor. Heidi Sawyer said that the location of hand dryer, which is away from the sink, causes the children to walk with wet, dripping hands to the dryer. Mark Haley asked Mr. Levi to work on a solution for this problem and to include the location of the hand dryers in the solution.  

Lobby Finishes
There will not be glass displays in the lobby. Skanska has identified a solution to fill in the area.

Gym Floor
The gym floor was re-sealed during the weekend of Oct. 28. Mr. Haley is setting up a meeting with Jim Davis and the gym teacher to decide on locations of the items that were purchased (i.e. chin up bar) but not have been installed. In addition, some lines still need to be drawn on the floor for volleyball. Heidi Sawyer said that the gym safety pads are connected at the top and bottom but may need a connection in the middle. 

Entrance Wings and Fins
Bill Lovallo reviewed different scenarios to getting the entrance wings and fins completed. It is not feasible to do this while school is in session. All else will be done including the soffits and the lighting but not the actual entrance wings. There was concurrence to leave the entrance wings and fins until June 2012. 

Temperature within the School
Some teachers have reported problems with keeping their classrooms comfortable. Also, some teachers report issues with glare. They want to be able to pull the shades down and open the windows but they currently can’t open the windows because the shades are in the way. The air system is designed to bring air into all the classrooms and take it out again. Ms. Wagner asked if they can adjust the temperature in individual classrooms. Bill Lovallo said that the building was designed to allow the rooms to be comfortable no matter what the weather is. Bill Endicott of Skanska said that the water and air balancing have been completed but the commissioning has not been done yet. 

Shades – the grommets will probably be installed Thanksgiving weekend.

Neighborhood Concerns
Lucy Pullen said that she had received a letter from Margaret Waters. The Waters family is hearing a buzzing noise on their second floor, she hears buzzing. Bill Lovallo will assist Lucy Pullen with a reply to Ms. Waters. It was noted that the commissioning agent will provide the WBC with a report as to whether the system is operating as it was designed. 

Lucy Pullen, Elizabeth Utz and Jonathan Levi left the meeting at 8:35 a.m.

RTU-3 
RTU -3, which is the unit for the primary wing’s heat (also have a fin tube for heat in this area), has not yet been approved for heat by the inspector. Skanska is preparing a proposal for this unit. Their recommendation will be to take the side of RTU-3 that does not comply with clearance and disable the gas burner and add an electrical heating coil inside the unit ductwork to make up for the disabled heating capacity. Joe Barrell expressed reservations about this suggestion but said he is willing to review the proposal. Bill Lovallo reported that the WBC has engaged a third party to review the suggested change.

Heidi Sawyer asked how long until the heating issues are resolved. Bill Endicott of Skanska said that, within a month, the commissioning should be done and that the RTU fix should be done in early December. Bill Lovallo said that the commissioning process is done during both seasons so they will need to commission again when the weather gets warm. When the system is complete, the Wellington custodian (Jimmy) will be able to see what the room temperatures are room by room from his computer.

Mark Haley said that it is important that teachers do not put file cabinets or other items in front of the diffusers as these items will affect the heat in the rooms.

Temporary Certificate of Occupancy
Bill Endicott will update the original request and send it to Glenn Clancy so that the town inspectors can mark the work as completed.

Modulars
This morning, the Modspace team began working on the demolition of the modulars.

Mark Haley made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:55 a.m. The motion was seconded by John Bowe and unanimously approved.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Haley
Chair