Thursday, December 6, 2007
Wayland High School
Commons Conference Room
Attendees
HSBC members: Lea Anderson, , Josh Bekenstein, Dianne
Bladon, Steve Breit, Jim Howard, David Lash, Joe Lewin, Cindy Lombardo, Eric
Sheffels, Jennifer Steel, Karen Talentino
Absent: Brian Chase, Fred Knight, Mary
Lentz, Steve Tise
Ex Officio members: Joy Buhler, Gary Burton, Louis
Jurist, Pat Tutwiler
HMFH: George Metzger
Call to order Ð HSBC Chairman, Lea Anderson,
called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m.
Dr. Gary Burton
introduced John Moynihan, Facilities Director for Wayland, to the HSBC. John comes to Wayland with 25 years
experience in facilities management.
MSBA Update Ð Lea
reported that the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) at its Board
of Directors meeting on Nov. 28, 2007, invited Wayland High School to move
forward to the Feasibility Study phase of applying for state funding. There were 423 Statements of Interest
submitted from 162 districts. 91 of
the SOIs are related to buildings that were rated 1 or 2 - in pretty good
shape. Wayland is one of 83 schools
invited to proceed with the application process. Of these 83 schools, 49 are invited to
work on Feasibility Studies, 27 schools are invited to develop repair plans,
and 7 schools are well into design or construction and are invited to work with
the MSBA on project scope Ð basically a retroactive application for
funding. These schools are Bedford
High School, Chelmsford High School, Thoreau Elementary School in Concord,
Meadow Brook Primary in East Long Meadow, Plymouth River Elementary School in
Hingham, Manchester JHS/SHS in Manchester-Essex Regional School District, and
the L.D. Batcheldor Elementary School in North Reading.
The MSBA has defined a
rolling capital pipeline of $2.5 billion spread over five years. The MSBA will introduce projects into
this pipeline as they are deemed ready.
Each school district has identified one priority project for a total of
162 projects. In addition to the 83
selected, there are 45 schools on hold, which the MSBA will work with to
clarify their SOIs.
The invitation to
collaborate on a Feasibility Study is not approval of a project and the MSBA is
advising towns to Òproceed with cautionÓ.
The MSBA lays out next steps in very general terms. They are to select an OwnerÕs Project
Manager subject to approval by the MSBA, to select a Feasibility Designer
through the MSBAÕs Designer Selection Panel, to submit the Initial Compliance
Certification, and to execute a Feasibility Study Agreement with the MSBA
detailing scope, schedule, milestones and cost-sharing parameters of the
Feasibility Study.
The MSBA has assigned
Wayland a Òcase workerÓ named Sean Walsh.
Walsh was one of three people to visit WHS on June 14th to
assess crowded conditions. He has
contacted Wayland and set up a first meeting on February 13th with
Gary Burton, Joy Buhler, Fred Turkington, Barb Fletcher, and Lea Anderson.
The HSBC discussed
preparation for this meeting.
Committee members suggested
sending a memo to the MSBA during January with a suggested set of issues to
cover Ð we should set the agenda, as much as possible. The MSBA already has copies of all the
studies and reports. We should aim to avoid a detailed deluge of information at
this first meeting.
Dr. Burton asked Sean
Walsh if the HSBC should proceed with an Owners Project Manager search. We are advised to wait until after the
meeting.
George Metzger said that
his impression from meeting with MSBA officials is that they are open to seeing
what an applicant has done and seeing how relevant that work is. They will not make us redo things if
what was done is relevant. He said
that the OPM selection will be done by the local community with approval from
the MSBA. He also noted that the
MSBA has engaged Innovation Information Consultants to advise on enrollment.
Eric Sheffels reported
that he had spoken with Charlie Buuck of Turner Construction who confirmed that
Turner was closing down their K-12 education division. Eric advised the group to proceed with a
search for a new Owners Project Manager at the appropriate time.
Report on Construction Manager at Risk Ð Joy Buhler, Business Manager for the Wayland Public
Schools recently attended a seminar comparing ÒDesign Ð Bid Ð BuildÓ (M.G.L. c.
149) to ÒConstruction Manager at RiskÓ (M.G.L. c. 149A). Joy also has been recently recertified
as a Massachusetts Certified Public Purchasing Official by the Inspector
GeneralÕs Office. This
certification is a requirement of the MSBA regulations.
Joy presented a summary
of the differences between the two approaches to design and construction. Under Chapter 149 (Design-Bid-Build)
there are three distinct phases to a public construction project: the architectural
design and development of plans and specifications; the bidding and award of
the construction contract; and the actual construction of the building. This process entails advertising for
required sub-bids for trade contracts in 17 different areas, opening filed
sub-bids, evaluating and qualifying sub-bidders, and then opening bids from a
General Contractor (GC), awarding the contract to a qualified bidder with the
lowest price. A fixed price
contract is awarded to the general contractor and construction begins, with the
owner responsible for additional price increases resulting from change orders
and unforeseen latent conditions.
This approach has been used on all school projects in Wayland to date.
Under Chapter 149A
(Construction Manager at Risk) the Construction Manager or General Contractor
(CM/GC) is brought in during the design process to work with the architect as
design documents, plans and specifications are being developed, providing
construction-related recommendations during the design phase. Selection of the CM/GC is a two-phase
process: a Prequalification
Committee issues an RFQ and selects at least three qualified firms to receive
the OwnerÕs RFP. A Selection
Committee reviews and evaluates proposals for both price and technical
components before selecting a firm.
Under c. 149A, the qualifications of the CM/GC can be considered as well
as the price, and the Owner has the ability to select a firm other than the one
coming in at the lowest price. The
contract with the CM/GC is Òcost-plusÓ, not a lump sum price contract, with set
fees for preconstruction and construction services plus a Òguaranteed maximum
priceÓ (GMP) that is negotiated with the CM/GC at some point later in the
process Ð no earlier than when design documents are 60% complete, but as late as
100% complete.
Under c.149A the Owner is
required to pre-qualify and bid all trade contracts over $20,000 and award the
trade contract to the lowest pre-qualified bidders. Fast tracking of a project is possible
as trade contracts can be bid and issued and construction can begin once the
design work for that phase is completed.
Joy reported that there
are only 11 municipalities that have received authorization to use Construction
Manager at Risk, most of which are for school construction projects. The MSBA regulations allow communities
to consider using Construction Manager at Risk. (The MSBA may allocate up to 1%
reimbursement for approved projects using CM/R construction delivery method.)
CM/R is more
complex. Wayland would need to
apply to the Inspector GeneralÕs Office for approval to use c. 149A. The process requires certification from
the local governing body (which body is unclear Ð Town Meeting, Selectmen,
School Committee, HSBC?). Joy sees
a need for more in house expertise to handle the increased administrative
elements of CM/R.
Comments from the HSBC
followed:
-
A project is allowed to revert to c.149 from 149A at any time.
-
In the commercial world CM/R is always used.
-
Big construction companies like Gilbane and Dimeo prefer CM/R.
-
Chapter 149 is very adversarial.
Owner has no control.
-
With 149A (CM/R), Owner gets to pre-qualify and has a better vested interest. It is more time consuming, however.
-
CM/R might cost more going in, but costs less coming out.
-
CM/R seems to have more flexibility.
Owner gets to pick the CM/GC they want and value engineer as they go.
-
We would rely on our OPM to do much of the administrative work. When selecting OPM, we must consider
this. OPM is critical.
-
Is there any ground work we should be doing prior to the MSBA allowing us to
begin OPM selection?
-
The contract the state requires is ridiculous. OPMs might be unwilling to sign it
because of liability issues.
Both Joy and John
Moynihan reiterated that CM/R is an enormous task and expressed concern that
Wayland does not have the capacity to absorb this size project without
help. The HSBC reiterated that this
will be an important point when we advertise for an OPM.
Communications Ð Lea
asked the group for comments on what the HSBC should be doing at this point to
communicate with the public. It was
suggested that not much will happen until the MSBA gives us direction. We should continue to encourage people
to attend our meetings and be as open as we have been in the past. The process with the state could be very
slow, so it does not make sense to set up forums until there is something to
do.
The redesigned web site
is nearly ready for review by the HSBC.
Once it is ready for public access, the HSBC will use it to provide up
to date information. It was
suggested that we take advantage of all the electronic and other newsletters in
town to get information out. It was
also suggested that we engage people at an overview level this time and not
inundate them with a lot of detailed ÒbureaucraticÓ information.
Dr. Burton was asked to
use his Town Crier column to discuss high school issues- such as the thinking
that goes into spending emergency funds to repair the high school versus making
do until the town agrees on a solution.
It was agreed that a
timetable from the MSBA will drive a communications plan.
Motion Ð A motion was made by Josh
Bekenstein and seconded by Joe Lewin to approve the minutes of HSBC meeting #50
held on Thursday, October 18, 2007.
Vote Ð The motion was approved unanimously
- 11 in favor, 0 opposed
Comments from observers: There were no comments.
Adjournment Ð The HSBC adjourned at 9:2050
p.m.
Observers: Janet Correia, Sam DiSavino, John
Moynihan, Lisa Valone