Appropriations & Oversight Committee — 2015-05-11
Attendance
Jaclyn L. Bird ; Robert A. Boisselle ; Donald L. Conn Jr. ; Scott M. Forbes ; Gail Infurna ; Jennifer L. Lemmerman ; Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis ; Monica C. Medeiros ; Peter D. Mortimer ; John N. Tramontozzi ; Francis X. Wright Jr.
Agenda
- Call to Order
- Public Participation
- Orders
- ORDER-2015-142 : Authorization of a School & Municipal Building Renovation & Repair Bond in the amount of $305,000.00
- ORDER-2015-141 : Authorization of a Bond in the amount of $1,398,853.00 to pay for costs of constructing Window and Door Replacements at the Hoover Elementary School
- ORDER-2015-140 : Authorization to enter into a Project Funding Agreement with the Massachusetts School Building Authority for the Hoover Elementary School
- Adjournment
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE CALENDAR● MAY 11, 2015 Aldermanic Chamber Committee Meeting 8:00 PM The public should take notice that the Melrose Board of Aldermen may, on certain occasions, have a quorum in attendance due to standing committees of the Board of Aldermen consisting of both voting and non-voting members. Members attending this duly posted meeting are participating and deliberating only in conjunction with the business of the standing committee. Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Peter D. Mortimer Chairman Present Jaclyn L. Bird Vice Chairman Present Gail M. Infurna Ward 5 Alderman Present John N. Tramontozzi Ward 1 Alderman Present Monica C. Medeiros Alderman at Large Present Robert A. Boisselle Ward 4 Alderman Present Francis X. Wright Jr. Ward 3 Alderman Absent Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis Alderman at Large Present Jennifer L. Lemmerman Ward 2 Alderman Present Scott M. Forbes Ward 7 Alderman Present Donald L. Conn Jr. President/Ex-officio Member Present In Attendance: Director of Public Works John Scenna, Superintendent of Schools Cyndy Taymore, Fire Chief Christopher Leary, City Auditor/CFO Patrick Dello Russo, City Planner Denise Gaffey, City Treasurer Art Flavin
ORDER-2015-142 Bond Authorization of a School & Municipal Building Renovation & Repair Bond in the amount of $305,000.00 Recommend Passage Board of Aldermen
ORDER-2015-141 Bond Authorization of a Bond in the amount of $1,398,853.00 to pay for costs of constructing Window and Door Replacements at the Hoover Elementary School Recommend Passage Board of Aldermen
ORDER-2015-140 Authorization Authorization to enter into a Project Funding Agreement with the Massachusetts School Building Authority for the Hoover Elementary School Recommend Passage Board of Aldermen City of Melrose Page 1 Updated 6/9/2015 5:52 PM
Transcript
▶ 39:57 Peter D. Mortimer: favor anyone opposed motion passes the meeting is hereby adjourned and now the committee got appropriations good evening ladies and gentlemen it's May 11th at 815 in the evening this is the committee on appropriations I am the chairman Peter Mortimer the vice chairman is alderman Jacqueline Byrd it's a committee of the whole so we have with us alderman gail inferno alderman Tramontozzi alderman medeiros alderman Boisselle alderman mcintyre margolis alderman Lemmerman alderman forbes and president khan is there a motion to open the floor for public participation please alderman inferno has opened the floor for public participation said motion was duly seconded by alderman mcintyre margolis all in favor please say aye aye any opposed hearing none public participation is now open
▶ 41:42 Peter D. Mortimer: is there anyone in the gallery wishing to come forward and comment or ask questions about any of the orders before us this evening seeing none motion to close we have a motion to close public participation by alderman mary beth mcatea margolis duly seconded by alderman gail inferna the first order before us is order 2015-142 it is an authorization of a school and municipal building renovation and repair bond in the amount of three hundred and five thousand dollars motion to suspend the rules we have a motion to suspend the rules that we may hear from appropriate city officials here in attendance this evening said motion by alderman medeiros is duly seconded by alderman forbes all in favor please say aye aye any opposed hearing none the
▶ 42:29 rules are suspended gentlemen lady would you please come up and uh approach and approach the committee ms gaffey will you be speaking on this order as well no all right thank you good evening good evening sir um this order is there are two main components to this order they both involve building repairs and renovations a portion of which are in school buildings and a portion which in a municipal building mainly focused and centralized on our central station the order comes recommended by the Department of Public Works many of you know the Department of Public Works assists both fire and schools within the maintenance of their buildings but this order becomes recommended in conjunction with both superintendent from superintendent
▶ 43:37 a more and chief Larry the school portion is driven by an increase in school population and the municipal portion is the need is driven by the deteriorating conditions of the central station and the immediate need for some upgrades there both superintendent and Tamar and chief Larry are with us this evening to discuss the need I have prepared some backup which I forwarded on Friday it includes a project estimate some conceptual layouts the school portion will focus on additional classroom space at the Winthrop school and furnishings for those additional classroom spaces it also has two additional components it looks at converting a computer lab at the Roosevelt and a computer lab at the Lincoln
▶ 44:34 into classrooms on the municipal side the funds will be used to repair some of the major leaks to the roof there not only is the roof leaking and it's caused causing exterior damage to the building but the water is getting in the building and that's what people that's where the firefighters spend their time that's their home their living quarters the bathroom and so forth and so on so also included in that package is some of the photos from the central station and some of the conceptual alternatives we're looking for at in terms of central their bathroom renovations we've also included some of the damage photos of the damage to the inside of the building that the leaking roof was caused as a separate attachment i included a roof assessment that was done by a local vendor
▶ 45:38 and it obviously shows the existing conditions of that roof and all of the options repair is an option all and you know why not completely renovate it i think the numbers show that that would be close to a million dollar project so in terms of the backup um that's a brief summary of it and if you'd like we are more than willing to answer any questions regarding these orders president khan please has there been any kind of study or assessment time to determine how much more life we can squeeze out of the central fire station there have been studies done i don't know when the most recent one was performed building all three stations are in just desperate need of repair How long do you think we can keep repairing this station before it's outlived its functional use if it hasn't already?
▶ 46:39 Well, that's a good question. That's for someone with some engineering background, I think, to make a determination. Mr. DelRusso, can you tell us the terms of the bond? It's a multi purpose on the classroom. An office renovation at 128,500 is scheduled for 20 years. The school classroom furniture at 31,500 is currently scheduled for seven years. The Central Fire Station interior repairs of $63,500 is scheduled for 13 years. And last but not least, the $81,500 for the Central Fire Station roof repairs is scheduled for 17 years. And is the difference in the terms a function of the different life expectancies of the material? I would assume seven years is probably as far as you can go out for furniture, is that correct?
▶ 47:58 Correct, that's my understanding. And can you describe for us what specifically is going to be done in the schools? At the Winthrop School, the main entrance to the school is, if you look at the older plans, it was once a classroom. been from a classroom that was renovated into an entrance area for the secretary principal and some specialists so we're going to reconfigure that and make smaller principal space smaller admin space and create a classroom in that wing and some additional classroom space for one-on-one learning and other areas of the school focused on an area that i've identified in that backup on the second floor that's currently being used as common space for the teachers and the other
▶ 48:54 classrooms was we're renovating we're not renovating we're switching existing computer labs into kindergarten classrooms into other classrooms in the other two schools in the other two schools to accommodate the um uptick in the k enrollment and basically if you are familiar with those buildings those labs are four walls and you know typical computer tables around the room and no other furnishings so they they need to be completely furnished kindergarteners have some when you furnishing kindergarten rooms you have some additional needs as some additional requirements ones everything has to be secured bolted to the wall so there's some considerations the labs is going to be relocated to different space it's part of the larger plan on the tech plan where
▶ 49:50 we're going to go mobile throughout the system where we'll have more uh laptops and tablets on carts so that kids can be using the as we've talked about just a few weeks ago it seems so that students can be accessing the computers in the classroom rather than walking down to a lab and then walking back well it's a bit nostalgic for me to see this order because i think that the winthrop school is probably in the condition that it was in the 1960s when i was in elementary school here and i hate to see my old classrooms which probably have my name carved in on your desk somewhere uh disassembled that's all i have for now mr chairman thank you very much uh president khan my brothers went there and my daughter graduated from the winthrop last year
▶ 50:34 Peter D. Mortimer: it's it's the uh it's the grand old lady of the melrose school system it's i think it's our oldest one i am just a quick follow-up if the board will allow me a little attitude do you happen to know which year uh at president khan's previous question which year the fire station was built 1895 1895. thank you very much sir next in queue we have alderman boy cell please in looking at your plans for the winthrop school on the second floor you're moving people from the first floor to the second floor into a storage area that exists there do you have the proper ventilation and heating for that area we brought um both uh the architect and the hvac company we've been working with for the past year on the high school into the space to examine it and that and they
▶ 51:22 feel that it can be adapted so that it is a safe space okay so look at the top shows the existing right bottom it's the proposed right there's a note there that says split system to service this area that's indicative of the hvac that's planned to be added to this area again these are these are conceptual drawings and the next step would be the code requirement and that that will as we mature them once the funding source is in place we can take that next step the cost is estimated into this project it is estimated okay good i just don't want to see the the poor principle of suffocating and freezing during the winter at this point the need has been identified and the cost is uh is uh is is in the budget yep okay thank you very much thank you mr chairman thank you alderman
▶ 52:06 Boisselle uh next in line we have alderman Medeiros please thank you um i think uh president khan touched upon some of what i had in mind for questions but i am a bit concerned about the fire station now i know we have some issues with the height of the trucks and the new trucks will this repair allow a newer truck to fit in the central station this this one yeah right this funding is to repair leaks existing leaks in the roof today and the damage that those leaks have caused and to further um move the renovation of the bathroom project along um that's all we're going to do with this at the moment and again that's a historical roof as well so these repairs are going to have to go before the historic commission and that adds a little cost because
▶ 53:07 we're replacing with slate and that's why those numbers are are where they are that that's all we're focused on the roof and not the roof in its entirety the failed portions of the roof the interior damage that those failures have caused and the bathroom so so no no no and how what's the life of the current engine that we have at the fire station well the ladder trucks out of there and we probably get another seven is if we're lucky out of that so presumably we're going to be bonding for maybe up to 13 years maybe a little more on a couple things and and we probably can't use the roof longer than seven is that no the the roof it has nothing to do with the the apparatus floor This is just the roof at the top of the building.
▶ 54:18 Monica C. Medeiros: The ceiling height for the apparatus floor remains the same. Okay. So will we be able to move that apparatus floor? Like if we have to change the apparatus floor, will that make us have to change the roof that we just are putting on, say, this year or next year? No. No. So we can make other changes to the building without changing the ceiling. Okay. Thank you. in terms of the the school situation how many more children will be able to fit into these new classroom spaces so we have the current we have to add a fourth grade next year and a fifth grade the next year after to Winthrop so we have a two-stage plan and this is part of it but we have one classroom that is available we need a second classroom to be available
▶ 55:22 so this will within two years the Winthrop will be maxed out because you have kids that you have extra classes in k through three and so that's rising and as you all know i'm adding two more k's as it is not at the Winthrop but at other buildings that have that space so but the Winthrop will be maxed out in two years and then do we have any kind of any opportunities to get any school building assistance on any of this no no and do we think that this is going to be adequate for next year or how do we find out about the new enrollments coming into so you you heard the mayor in his speech reference a demographic study so along with the Denise Gaffey who's going to do a master plan we're going to do a demographic
▶ 56:19 study for the school population and that should be able to give us a projection it's for 10 years the projection but the first five years are solid they feel are more solid and we that'll give us a better idea of what we're experiencing whether it's a bubble or a trend and if it turns out to be a trend i will have to return to the school building committee and start talking about uh long-term plans to accommodate that trend and my last questions are about moving the office to the second floor it's not it's the office is not going to the second floor so from what i've been told from my own secretary is the entrance used to be on first street and then somewhere along the line it got not too long ago to the side into what was a
▶ 57:08 classroom so we're going to recapture that classroom which means dismantling the principal's office which is next to that entrance space so that it can be classroom size and basically we're going to take an area maybe the size of the room next door and divide it and it'll have to be secretarial space in the set and the principal space similar to what is that Horace Mann in size so you know so that we can have an appropriate class size on the first floor again and we're also going to move the entrance back to first Street and so so people can come in a handicap accessible uh if parents or anybody needs to come in and visit the office and the new space yes yes that's why it has to stay on the first floor and i know we have cameras at at some
▶ 58:00 portions of the winthrop is that correct i believe outside right because of the playground do they allow the staff to see the front door yes yeah and the project includes a new system for the new first street entrance and it's outlined as part of the estimate okay thank you thank you alderman Medeiros next to speak will be alderman mcintyre margolis please uh thank you mr chairman um thank you uh for coming and putting this together um madam superintendent it's two new classrooms at the winthrop for fourth and fifth grade yes so one for next year no no actually the two new classrooms is basically what we've been doing is um for the past three years um mr schenner and i do our but we do a biannual walkthrough and examine space and we've been
▶ 58:51 slowly moving space trying to maximize what we have and one of the things that we're trying to do is um we have um special ed's pull-out space maybe that needs to be moved to a more appropriate size space to free up other space it's basically a domino effect that we go through every year right and so um what we're going to going to do is we're going to there's a book room on the second floor a very large l-shaped book room we're going to split that in half and take half of that for pull out space okay and that'll be the second the space on the second floor but eventually do you think that by next year that will turn into a regular class no there's an there's there's a an Excel another classroom on the second
▶ 59:37 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: floor that we use for you know other things like music art that we will have to look at okay so at the moment there's no additional the only additional kindergartens are at Lincoln and Roosevelt right right and those will be basically from their computer labs what we'll do is again because we want kindergarten on the first floor again because you're talking about the babies we're shuffling classes around but we have two rooms that are basically shells with no furnishings right thank you and chief on your bathroom renovation was there damage in that bathroom from the roof leaks there was some water damage yeah as a result of the failing group okay and um is it a gender-specific bathroom i know you
▶ 1:00:23 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: have a new relatively new female firefighters yes currently we have the one bathroom that's going to be divided into two separate bathrooms one female and one male because now we have three females working within the station okay great and that is a plan for this that is the plan that will come into effect when this renovation is finished correct so right now you don't have a separate bathroom facility for the for the female firefighters okay all right that's all I have thank you thank you very much Alderman McAteer-Margolis next in line we have Alderman Bird please thank you Mr. Chairman so for this particular order it sounds like you know we're responding to some external needs for one the increase in enrollment at the
▶ 1:01:13 Jaclyn L. Bird: Winthrop and in the other the you know the roof damage sort of sort of short-term solutions that we that we need to take on DPW is now handling the facilities management for all the municipal buildings except for Memorial Hall is that right in Mount Hood right okay okay so how are you sort of are we being proactive about maintenance in other areas are we planning out sort of what needs to I know City Hall had major leaks this winter too I'm sure you know there's probably not a building didn't have some damage from the weather but are we doing a lot of proactive work as well are we able to in a position to do that we're in a much better position and as crazy as the winter was it was actually a good thing to go through a winter at that extreme you know you can see what leak what
▶ 1:02:02 froze what leaked you know what at what capacity do you have to start remove snow from the top of the roofs where the leaks are when the snow's up there um we're currently combined compiling a cip manual for all the buildings throughout the city and try and identify the systems that are in it and when they should be replaced and trying to come up with a proactive plan i think we need one more year at maintaining buildings before we can propose something like that but um that's what we've been been doing citywide these are these are issues that uh are accelerated by other other needs i mean there are more kids in the schools and the building is leaking severely um and it's the it's the worst roof in the city right now right now that's understandable um and i'm glad
▶ 1:02:53 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: to hear that you're doing the um the cip manual project i think that's great did you have your hand up did you no oh okay that's all for me thank you mr chairman thank you thank you alderman bird alderman lemmerman please thank you mr chairman um thank you i i was just wondering uh mr shenning you mentioned that this furthers the bathroom renovation it does this complete it or do you anticipate that you'll have to it will complete it so that there there was there was a um an order that this board approved which originally funded it when we got into it we realized that there were significant issues above and beyond splitting a bathroom and they included a roof right above the bathroom that was leaking causing even further damage this will complete the funding this will
▶ 1:03:39 Scott M. Forbes: allow the chief and i to work with his union and his personnel the people that are in the building to come up with the best plan moving forward on how to reconfigure their space and um and hopefully stop the leaks above them okay and you anticipate this will cover the rest of that to finalize that project okay great thank you thank you mr chairman thank you very much alderman lemmerman alderman forbes please uh thank you mr chairman alderman lemmerman actually just stole my question but uh looking at these photos i do just have a quick question for you chief i'm looking at all these photos of the deteriorated uh mortar joints i'm just uh looking at these are these deep enough where you're concerned that these are are a problem with the structure of the building
▶ 1:04:20 Robert A. Boisselle: if not addressed it's something that that dpw has looked at and has had someone out to to see what needs to be done the building all three buildings are need repair um this is just a i guess stop gap measure to stop the leaks get the bathroom going but we we do need to look at a major overhaul sure all right thank you mr chairman thank you alderman forbes for the second time alderman boyce l please talking about mr forbes alderman forbes and his review the pictures here there's one picture really it's outstanding it's the uh the hatch the roof hatch well it's even worse than that looking I can see through the hatch into the sky and so for it now this is going to be replaced and remodeled in
▶ 1:05:15 Robert A. Boisselle: some way with the roof being fixed is that correct is that part of the one of the areas that will be rehabbed completely yeah good next question will be concerning the schools that you're talking about the demographics of new students coming in and so forth are we talking or thinking about taking the BB school out of Mott ball and putting that into action I think it depends on the numbers it's not not there is nothing off the table at this point in time but we really need sufficient information before we come forward with any proposals to the school committee I mean instead of trying to spend millions of dollars trying to build a new school we have one just sitting there ready to and looks pretty in pretty good condition from what I've seen ready to go and
▶ 1:06:02 you'll be able to house a good what two three hundred students and they're easy not quite it only has twelve classroom space which means that's two of each class I and I don't have twelve yeah twelve classrooms I believe is what it has it's one of the smaller schools it's similar to Hoover in size but you'll be be able to get at least 100 150 right in there well yes i hope so but you would we want to make sure that we can get six grades in in there whatever we do so that you have a complete complement of grades so the bb school is on the table for probably reactivation um it's one of many considerations okay thank you very much thank you mr chairman thank you alderman boycelle seeing no further alderman oh president khan please yeah just uh obviously if the roof
▶ 1:06:56 is leaking and the building is being damaged we have to fix it but the thing that i'm concerned about here and that i'd like to see us pay more attention to as we go forward is our public safety buildings are outmoded and in terrible shape i'm concerned about continuing to spend money on buildings which have outlived their useful life so i hope we keep a close eye on the police station and all three fire stations to make sure that we don't sink millions of dollars into buildings that are going to be out of use shortly after we spend the money i know that's a discussion that we've had internally with both chiefs we our department that's something that will hopefully be able to sit down and look at public safety buildings comprehensively and figure out a plan
▶ 1:07:44 Peter D. Mortimer: on where to go in the future yeah these aren't just buildings that aren't in great shape they're old old buildings that really uh come from another time i i don't know whether foster on fire apparatus was ever used in uh fire so um i i don't want to spend more time in future years well might not be me but i don't want other boards of alderman spending more time floating money into buildings which we should uh maybe move on from that's all thank you president khan uh seeing no further alderman wishing to be heard on this order we are open for a motion we have a motion to recommend this order for passage by alderman byrd duly seconded by alderman boy cell motion to recommend the order for passage
▶ 1:08:31 Peter D. Mortimer: at our next full board meeting seeing no further discussion all in favor please say aye aye any opposed hearing none this order has been voted to be recommended for passage at our next full board meeting thank you lady and gentlemen thank you thank you chief chairman would you entertain a motion i will sir i would move for concurrent action on uh 2 15 4 1 and 2 15 2 15 1 4 1 and 2 15 1 4 0 one order is a bond order and the second order would be the contract that would be executed if the bond order were to pass second correct sir uh president khan has made a motion duly seconded by alderman mcateer margolis to join orders 2015 and order 141 and order 2015-140 i need to read them both the first is an authorization of a bond in the amount
▶ 1:09:28 Peter D. Mortimer: of one million three hundred ninety eight thousand eight hundred and fifty three dollars to pay for costs of constructing window and door replacements at the hoover elementary school the second order Order 2015-140 is authorization to enter into a project funding agreement with the Massachusetts School Building Authority for the Hoover Elementary School. All in favor of the President's motion to join these orders, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, the orders are joined. We are still under suspension. So, City Planner Denise Gaffey, would you join us? Superintendent Taymor, I think you may want to weigh on this. do you want any of your team with you yes ms gaffey lady and gentlemen please step forward
▶ 1:10:22 Denise Gaffey: would you like to make an opening statement ms gaffey sure thank you very much please proceed my name is denise gaffey i'm the director of planning and community development welcome and i will start by just introducing the design team immediately on my right is on janice vermayak she's with icon architecture she is the architect for this project and then on the far end is ari Charles he is with Collier international they are the owners project manager for the project just by way of background I know that you are you're all pretty familiar with this project we first began conversing about it over a year ago when we met in front of the board back in February of 2014 to get your authorization to submit a statement of interest which allowed us to to pursue a
▶ 1:11:10 Denise Gaffey: grant opportunity with the school building authority through their accelerated repair project and we were fortunate to get the go-ahead from them back in August we were back in front of you to to seek funding to kickstart the project to do the feasibility study and to do the schematic design the initial phase of design and that was in order to get in front of the the school building assistance the school building authority again and to hopefully get approval to continue to move forward so between last August and February of this past year when we made the submission to the SBA we had several meetings the design team which has been assigned by the SBA met with this met with our team here with
▶ 1:11:54 Denise Gaffey: superintendent with principal Cordick and with John Shenna and myself we had several hands-on meetings we also met with the building committee a couple of times to get to a schematic design package that everyone was comfortable submitting to the SBA so that package was voted on by the SBA at their March meeting and so the at that time the school building authority approved has approved our project and has authorized us to move forward and seek funding for for the for the complete project so in in front of you the you have an order to your tours which I know have just been consolidated one is to authorize the mayor to accept the project funding agreement with the SBA and then the other of course is to to fund the project and the funding language which
▶ 1:12:48 Denise Gaffey: was submitted with the order is language that is essentially dictated by the school building authority it's language that you're very familiar with similar language that we've passed for other similarly related projects and it's also been reviewed by bond council and the total project cost for this project which is just to clarify a complete replacement of all the windows in in the Hoover School which are original to the building which was built in the mid 1950s I believe and new some new doors and a new front entry that's the scope of the project the total project cost is 1 million three hundred ninety eight thousand eight hundred and fifty two eight hundred fifty three dollars SBA will match this amount at approximately 51 will provide a grant rather at
▶ 1:13:37 Denise Gaffey: approximately fifty one point four two percent and is anticipated that the city's cost will be roughly seven hundred thousand for this project so I'm also submitted with the order was an amortization schedule which was prepared by our bond council and submitted by our Flavin who's here tonight you have a copy of the budget the total the total project budget which provides all the detail on on on total costs to get to the one point roughly one point four million dollars and also we've submitted several sketches which outline the existing conditions in the building and shall illustrate what the what the project is going to look like so I know those were uploaded and hopefully you've had a chance to look at those if you wanted to put them on the screen we
▶ 1:14:30 could kind of walk through them tonight and I'll turn it over to Janice to just sort of briefly walk through these several sketches that we have okay so this is some of the photographs of the existing conditions with the glass block above the optical pivot or awning windows below typical classrooms in the far left there's some areas in stairwells on the backside that are all glass block that are about 20% broken with birds living in there now there's also quite a bit of image improvement that we'll see when we remove some of the what's referred to as the cages but the security screen so the goal would be be to you know remove that and replace it all with the new aluminum energy it's all consistent with the current energy code if we go to the next this is the
▶ 1:15:24 exists existing entry that for those who know the Hoover School going in those green doors right there you're right in the school so part of the proposal is to create a vestibule by adding a storefront so that you've got at least some protection from that weather a nice airlock we can flip to the next what a difference the door makes huh truly truly um one thing that was not mentioned was um because we have exceeded the 500 000 um estimated construction budget there will need to be an accessible bathroom so there's an existing restroom right down the hall from the principal's office that will be converted to an accessible um restroom as well and then the next that's more of the drawings the sketches are part of this right yeah that's probably the next one is more interesting
▶ 1:16:12 right there we go so this is an image of um there's there's a deep alcove at that front entry that will allow us to put a new storefront and and bring more of the daylight into that room as well so that the existing doors can be replaced with glazed doors and bring you know daylight yet um protected from the weather and when you're there on a cold day you open those doors that cold air just rushes down the corridor oh there and there that there's the image of the existing um windows on the far left and the proposed new glazing below so from a scheduling standpoint um we um we're hopeful that we'll receive the funding authorization from this board at your earliest convenience and so that will allow the design team to continue forward and
▶ 1:17:09 Denise Gaffey: further develop the design and complete construction documents through through this summer that will allow us to bid this project in the fall the goal is to bid it in the fall we're actually the windows for this for this building are extremely a stream long lead item I may have mentioned this last time we got together that we are we're not planning to do this construct this this summer because there's such a long lead time we actually decided that we would construct the project next summer which would give us give give us enough time to do the documents put it out to bid hopefully at a favorable time when contractors don't have too much work on their plate and then we can do submittals and get
▶ 1:17:49 Denise Gaffey: pre-order get the ordering done for the window so that we have them ready to go when school is out of session in June of 2016 so of course our goal is to get the students to absolutely have no disruption to the students and to allow them to re-enter school at the start of school year in 2016 so the schedule that we've outlined will allow us to do that i think that's pretty much it cindy unless you want to add something no i i will tell you that um when this first became available and i approached denise about it i really appreciated her willingness to step forward it wasn't not on anybody's radar but it was an opportunity for those of you who have visited the hoover and know the blocks they're dirty there's not a lot of sunlight coming in and the birds
▶ 1:18:39 get into the building so that's one piece you left off so and so it's become a little bit of a health concern as well as a safety concern so when we're eager for this project to be approved and started next summer thank you very much first in line we have alderman Boyce L please the Hoover school is in sort of a remote area and what's the security of these windows are they shatterproof or we're going to look be looking at vandalism here and some weekends or sometimes during the summer I mean how are we how we were protecting the building at this point it's gonna be quite an investment yes we did add in an alternate in the pricing to include a tempered glass you know there's always the option to add on more screen like features but the goal would be to try
▶ 1:19:35 Robert A. Boisselle: and avoid that and that is not currently in the pricing the tempered glass is okay so the tempered glass will prevent rocks or is a shatterproof type glass no it's not shatterproof but if it does break it's gonna be maybe a being small pieces like automobile is there outside monitors cameras going to be sort of canvassing the area for any sort of vandalism that will occur I have talked with with both John Chenna and with the IT department about that and I think if that would be if the budget allows if we have funding available that would be a great add-on to the project to put some cameras I mean even if they're hooked done to the police department one camera that sort of rotates around the building
▶ 1:20:25 Monica C. Medeiros: it protects the building I mean to spend all this money and have destroyed in one evening it's become very disheartening all right thank you very much Thank You mr. chairman Thank You alderman boy cell next in line we have alderman Medeiros please thank you miss Kathy I was hoping you could sort of talk a little bit about this this project and how we got to where we are i know we originally started and i think we had submitted three different letters of intent uh back when this project originally started and one of them got accepted which was this project um well actually no back in february of 2014 we only submitted one statement of interest for the accelerated repair project okay maybe i just recall us discussing that in the building committee um we have done we have done
▶ 1:21:20 Denise Gaffey: we have done similar projects like this we did the green green repair which was an accelerated repair project several years ago when we did the high school roof so that was a similar project and can you talk about how we went from just doing the the windows to remove the cages and we got to the point where we got to the the vestibule so actually um we were always talking about when we talked about windows we were always talking about um the the cages i think that's probably the most prominent unfortunately the most prominent feature of that building and and it's it just sends such a negative tone for a school building so i know um really the conversation has always been to try to remove those cages any chance we could and this this was a great
▶ 1:22:08 Denise Gaffey: opportunity to do that so removing the cages and then replacing the windows with more energy efficient operable windows was absolutely the priority we because this was um because because the opportunity is for windows and doors we decided to do an assessment and ask the architect to do an assessment of the doors as well while we were at it and so that's what they did and we you know we identified doors that needed to be replaced and we you know we we talked about the the front entry which has currently has accessibility issues which we know we needed to remedy and then we talked about the energy the inefficiency of the the current system with only that one the single door so there was some discussion about you know and it's true if you look at the project budget and we
▶ 1:22:54 Denise Gaffey: might be getting to a question related to this there are some costs related to that front entry that the SBA B has actually deemed as ineligible because they're there that is not considered within the typical scope for a door project for them they most of the cost related to the front door the front entry is eligible cost but there is about $40,000 worth related to that double entry that they will not match and we had a conversation about that at the school building committee and I think the consensus was that this was this this you know the the investment was really worth it even though that portion is not going to be matched at 50 percent the investment in the double entry the energy efficiency associated with it the safety features the comfort
▶ 1:23:38 Monica C. Medeiros: features the daylight all those other amenities associated with this entry really made it worthwhile and I had been on the school building committee for this part of it I just was I'm glad to hear you you know just tell everybody at home what what process we went through and I know we talked a lot about the door and you know what's there especially for people who don't go to the Hoover School and maybe aren't familiar with it is just a I think we had a before picture it's just a slab of metal basically that you can't see through in or out and so we had also talked that this is putting the you know clear front yeah or front double doors it's and allow the kids and parents who are picking up their kids the kids can stay within the vestibule instead of
▶ 1:24:25 Monica C. Medeiros: kind of in and out and a little bit more safety more energy efficient because every time that doors opened all the wind was just funneling right down the hallway whether it be hot wind or cold wind and this at least traps it in that that area and that I think the panels that we made on the door are a little bit smaller in case of breakage than not just one big piece of glass at least from the drawing here right so i remember that coming up in the discussion too but they're still big pieces of glass but not quite as big so thank you alderman Medeiros and next in line we have president khan please yeah a couple of questions relative to the financial impact and for for people who are watching watching us at home tonight hopefully
▶ 1:25:26 Hopefully there are some. One of the reasons that these projects are attractive to the board is because we are getting a significant reimbursement from the state. $54, $0.54 of every eligible dollar. So, this is one of the rare instances where another level of government is actually assisting us. What I would like you folks to explain, if you could, is, I'll fire up my questions and then you can take whatever one you like first. Please explain when we're going to do the bonding, what the terms of the bond will be, how much we're going to borrow, and then how the reimbursement from the school building authority will work, and on what schedule we will be repaid. I can answer one of those questions.
▶ 1:26:18 Good. Another one. Hopefully someone else can answer some of the others. The one Denise can tell, for the reimbursement, they submit invoices to the MSBA. We submit them monthly, they reimburse us as we go. We'll borrow $700,000 at some point, depending on the schedule. I have to get, well we'll temporarily borrow for a year anyways. And we'll borrow probably the $700,000 a year from this November. And then depending on the market and what things look like and how much of it is done, there's a number of factors that go into when you actually bond it, generally like to bond. I know you like, you need to time it out so that you get the most favorable rate you can. It's, and we also have to bucket it with the other items.
▶ 1:27:04 It's expensive to go out to bond, there's costs associated with it, so you don't want to be bonding every month, so generally our season is November. So we'd probably front the money from our treasury a year from this summer to do the $700,000 worth of work. Have the 1.4 coming back and forth, then get the $700,000 in November. Sit on that in temporary debt for a year, and then issue the bond. And when will the reimbursement schedule start? Does it start when we sign the contract? Does it start when we break ground on the project? When do we start getting- It's already started. mean we because we're we're invoicing them now on the feasibility phase so you know we're not doing a lot right now so there hasn't been an invoice in a while
▶ 1:27:49 Denise Gaffey: to submit but once the project ramps up again we will submit invoices regularly and they reimburse us regularly and they and this is a process we've been doing now since the middle school so we're very familiar with it and you know they'll hold on to a chunk of funding at the end and until they audit the project and then they release the final payment is there any doubt in anybody's mind that this is a project that can be done during the summer recess so that it doesn't interfere with the use of the school we believe this is the right decision I'm working with a number of districts that are doing it at the same time I started with Melrose doing it for summer 2015 and it is insane because the
▶ 1:28:28 lead time to get windows fabricated if you're lucky is eight weeks it's more 12 14 16 weeks so by getting it bid you know in the late quarter of this year will be you know got that contractor aligned and submittals done in approval so production can happen well you know in the last part of next year school year so the physical job can be done during summer of 216 and it's not going going to spill into the next school year, as far as you can see. Correct. Well, Mr. Chairman, as other aldermen have indicated, this is not something that's a surprise to us. We've supported this project along the way. It, again, seems like something that needs to be done. I always enjoy it when we get back money from the school building authority, so I'm going to support these orders tonight.
▶ 1:29:23 Scott M. Forbes: Thank you, President Kahn. Next in line, we have Alderman Forbes, please. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, going later in the pecking order, all your questions seem to get taken. As far as the timeline for the work, it seems like this is almost going to be a seasonal project, so one of my questions was going to be the reimbursement schedule, but it seems like instead of going or applying for reimbursement from a month-to-month type of type of schedule may just be right at the end ongoing is there is there any type of hold back once a project is completed to somebody come in and maybe 60 days 90 days and then there's a you know a final allocation of funds back to us okay okay and then about the contract I assume MSA reviews the construction
▶ 1:30:27 Scott M. Forbes: contract for safety and sound as they do an audit of the contract make sure everything is approved before before work takes for work breaks ground but with what the contract is going to be doing the work correct okay and then finally just about the storefront I think I for me I guess one of the benefits is one of the I laugh when I call it storefront too because it's a school and I think I'm walking in to buy something but for me one of the benefits is having the dual entry for me it's always been a public safety thing and with the Hoover School you you walk in you open a door and you're in the hallways and for me it's having that dual access because if there is somebody that doesn't belong in that school if this is going to be our main entryway
▶ 1:31:10 Scott M. Forbes: you have one set of doors you have a gap and then you have the school so if we have adequate security in that school I know that's something that not only the parents have been fighting for but the administrator has been fighting for for quite some time if that is going to be the main focal point of getting into the school and making sure that the teachers are safe and that the and that the the kids are safe I'm definitely happy that that is a welcome addition to that building it's a 50 60 year old building with original windows and an original door frame so I am very happy that this project is moving forward and I give you a hundred percent support so thank you very much mr. chairman Thank You
▶ 1:31:48 Gail Infurna: alderman Forbes alderman Inferno please thank you very much mr. chairman you may have said this before and I I apologize but I was really blown away by the looks of the door and I really meant it when I said what a difference a door makes because I'm not real familiar with the Hoover School I'm pretty parochial to the school in my ward but it it just makes such a great difference so I was I think I was really concentrating on that and and if anybody was in Melrose and seeing school building in the 70s you'll realize my question the windows do they open that's a really astute question actually we spent a lot of time Cindy's gonna come over for this one because there's a safety concern obviously about
▶ 1:32:36 kids you know not you know getting out of windows or people getting in but also the ability to kids for kids to be able to get out if they're especially from the first floor if there was some kind of incident do the windows they look like they were big pain and then a lower pain on the bottom just a single home so yeah so what we what we agreed upon just because of what Denise told you it's first of all kids are kids and I don't want kids fooling around opening a window and doing something dumb but we also need to have a way to escape the windows if we had to so I believe one window per classroom but it will have a safety lock that can be undone that in the case of an emergency we can get that
▶ 1:33:19 Gail Infurna: window up and get kids out the window if we have to otherwise they can only go up what is it there's a limit stop the others are a limit stop so that so every window will open right to a certain degree well not every window but it's comparable to the operable portions that are in the existing right I understand the safety issues too but I'm also concerned with air fresh air coming into the building and having the ability to open the windows to get that real fresh air and not all this techie mechanical air that goes through so that was just a question because we do know we have schools that were built you know with windows that don't open and will the windows have a screen on them yes yes great thank you well it's an exciting project for the Hoover community so wish
▶ 1:34:08 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: them well and I've certainly will support it thank you very much Alderman Inferno next we have Alderman McAteer-Margolis please thank you Mr. Chairman yes I'm going to support this also it's really beautifully designed I think it makes a huge difference in the look of the building and and having gone up there many times community reading day and whatnot I think you know I like the vestibule the second entrance does that gain us anything Denise in terms of extra reimbursement for making it green or more more energy efficient or anything like that I don't think there's anything we can apply for specifically for like a utility you know rebate but it definitely is a more energy efficient sewer right it will save energy cost because you have that double and built
▶ 1:35:01 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: into the criteria of the program is every bit of new construction has to be fully matching the energy code or stretch code you know whether whether a community has adopted or not MSBA has and I'm so the windows themselves or the glass is such that it is you know whatever it is triple paned or it's it's it's not triple it's it's whatever it's supposed to be low-e yeah low-e right right are there any additional costs for things like soft furnishings for those windows do we need any shades there will be shades okay it's built into the program and it's already built in there yes okay and is that one of the items that it's not is that is reimbursable right okay and what about in terms of your actual construction project the process when you're taking out the new
▶ 1:35:51 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: windows you've anticipated some asbestos abatement and do you have some additional costs and time figured out then so there's already been a hazardous materials assessment done that was part of the feasibility study obviously so we could factor in the cost into the total budget so we have a pretty good handle on those kind of materials that are in in the building so that'll be part of the GC's contract is doing the abatement as they go and I'm sorry when we were talking about the entry I meant to ask and I do think I saw it in there a new security system for the doors yes yes okay and my last question relates to the to the bathroom because we're over a certain amount we have to add another there are already accessible bathrooms in the building are there not or no no
▶ 1:36:47 no not really so when you walk into Hoover and you take a left behind the Secretary's area at the end of that corridor yeah there is really what is the teachers bathroom so it can be updated to be a unisex handicapped bathroom with an extra wide door and the features we need so you're not impacting any student space or any and any staff space except for our current existing bathroom right okay great that was those were my questions thank you very much it's I'm happy to support it it looks like I'm gonna be a nice addition up there in the woods thank you Alderman McAteer-Margolis next we have have an ultimate bird please thank you mr. chairman I'm excited about this project it's certainly a place where I spend an incredible amount of time to
▶ 1:37:39 Jaclyn L. Bird: the tune of five days a week 180 days so and one of my sons will be thrilled and the other will be disappointed that we won't get to it until he's in the middle school but that's okay so when it comes to the emergency management piece did we have emergency management officials weigh in at the school building committee discussions my concern is twofold one you know that obviously the concern for years has been that we have bars on the window and we're concerned about that safety hazard you know and then the new one would be are we adhering to any kind of best practices as far as updated school safety guidelines that we're looking at so look at this project last summer the governor governor had a commission release new guidelines for school safety all the
▶ 1:38:27 architects are familiar with them they are not mandated because then again the state may have to pay for them if they mandated them but they are recommended and the architects are familiar with them the contractors are familiar with them and when we were entering this project we discussed those guidelines with everyone that's why you're hearing me talk about the window that can be opened it's also part of the reason for removing the cages the cages were contrary to the current guidelines you know the current protocol for school emergencies one of the options is to escape the building and you need have to have multiple means for kids to escape a building and so that's one of the things we're addressing here and it's certainly not something that most of us want to
▶ 1:39:13 Jaclyn L. Bird: think about all the time but that is so important and just in case you know because parents have asked this in the past and I believe we've discussed it here was the reason we can't take the cages off right now and have to replace window is that it would damage the casings around it is that correct we were concerned that if we you know if they say well the concern now would be can we take the cages off and then replace the windows the problem was that we were concerned I believe in the past that it was by removing the cages it was damaging the sill enough that we couldn't really yeah do that somewhat rusted together okay yeah and the beauty of this project of course is that we're getting 50% of it paid for.
▶ 1:39:51 Jaclyn L. Bird: Absolutely, no, no, not to take away that, just to be clear with people that ask. And then the last thing, and not at all to appear greedy, but I'm just curious, when we hear about the lead time for this project and we know that the physical plant at the Hoover is very similar, if not the exact same, to the Franklin, I think with the exception of the basement, do they still have over there the same types of things with the cages on the windows, or is the Hoover now the last one that has those? No, Franklin doesn't have the cages. don't have the cages anymore yeah okay all right excellent thank you thank you very much mr. chairman Thank You Alderman Byrd Alderman Forbes please I just do have one quick question for a project that's not scheduled until next
▶ 1:40:32 Scott M. Forbes: year it's just more or less a money allocation question when would when would the money be needed and when would the money actually be dispersed or bonded just more or less a curiosity question for for me we're something a project that's scheduled so far like what's the timeline for something like that not until they spend not until they spend not until we have an expense that we have to cover so like like i said before it'd probably be a year from this november before we'd incur any debt we never want to we wouldn't borrow it now correct for interest so probably a year from november we'll get our share and you would be looking for these funds when well we'll we'll start we'll we'll be amending
▶ 1:41:15 Denise Gaffey: contracts as soon as we get this authorization and in according to our schedule to meet our schedule even though it sounds like we have a lot of time it's actually still pretty aggressive because we want to bid it this year so we'll these folks next to me are gonna start rolling up their sleeves and yeah in doing some serious work in order to put the construction documents together and then put it out to bid so we will be spending money this summer and the fall okay and hearing that i mean it's an annual review that we do on these types of things if they spend three hundred thousand dollars between now and the fall we'll borrow some money in november of this year to cover this year's cost right because we're fronting
▶ 1:41:57 Peter D. Mortimer: the money out of the treasury when we close the year end and put in another bucket it would hit free cash so there's a whole situation we look at that and then occasionally we also borrow in may timing again it depends okay understand thank you very much thanks thank you alderman forbes seeing no other alderman wishing to be heard motion to recommend we have a motion to recommend this order for passage by alderman forbes the ward alderman for the area duly seconded by alderman bird at large but who spends uh copious amounts of time at the hoover school and all in favor of the motion to recommend this order for passage please say aye any opposed hearing none these two orders the two conjoined orders have
▶ 1:42:45 Peter D. Mortimer: been recommended for passage at our next full board meeting thank you very much for speaking before us we have a motion to adjourn by alderman Boyce L duly seconded by alderman Byrd all in favor of a German please say aye any opposed Those hearing none, the Committee on Appropriations is now adjourned. Thank you, one and all.