MSBC Permanent Minutes December 1, 2008
Middleton School Building Committee
Regular Meeting
Fuller Meadow Nathan Media Center
December 1, 2008
The regular meeting of the Middleton School Building Committee was held on Monday, December 1, 2008 at 8:30 p.m. at the Fuller Meadow Nathan Media Center.
Members present: Co-Chairs Frank Fitzgerald and Jill Mann, Anne LeBlanc Snyder, Teresa Buono, Nancy Jones, Scott Downs, Jeff Appelstein, Rock Mastrangelo and Rick White.
Absent: Richie Harris, John Smith, Beverly Popielski, Rick Kassiotis.
Others present: David Billings, OPM, Richard Rice of DiNisco Design Partnerships, Ira Singer, Town Administrator, Dr. Bernie Creeden, Superintendent of Schools, Leah Moreschi, Recording Secretary/Planning Board, and Donna DiNisco-Crawford of DiNisco Design Partnerships.
CALL TO ORDER
Co-chair Fitzgerald called the meeting to order at7:38 p.m. There was no one from the public present, therefore there were no questions. There were also no bills for approval, and no correspondence to be read.
MINUTES
The minutes of the November 17, 2008 meeting were unavailable for review and approval, and the recording secretary noted that they would be ready in time for the next meeting.
NEW COMMITTEE MEMBER
Co-chair Fitzgerald announced that Richie Harris had stepped down from the MSBC, therefore leaving a vacancy in the school committee’s respresentation. In Mr. Harris’s place, Rock Mastrangelo will now serve on the MSBC as a school committee rep. Co-Chair Fitzgerald introduced Mr. Mastrangelo to the MSBC members and welcomed him to the committee.
SECRETARIAL SERVICE
Co-chair Fitzgerald announced that Leah Moreschi has resigned as recording secretary for the MSBC, effective December 15th, 2008. Ms. Mary Jane Morin will replace her.
MOTION: R. White moved to accept Ms. Moreschi’s resignation and Ms. Mary Jane Morin as her replacement. T. Buono seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
MEETING WITH DINISCO DESIGN PARTNERSHIP
Before Mr. Rice began his presentation, Co-Chair Fitzgerald distributed a hard copy of a community action website from the Town of Belmont, MA. He noted that the website was created and maintained entirely by a community action group in favor of Belmont’s school building project. The website educates and informs Belmont residents of the project and has a Q & A section. Co-Chair Fitzgerald commended Belmont’s efforts and explained that a website like this might be helpful for Middleton to gain the massive community support needed to approve our school building project.
Richard Rice of DiNisco Design Partnership introduced himself to the MSBC and began his presentation on the schematic design of the new school proposed for the Howe Manning Site. He explained that there was one more boring to complete next to the existing septic system. Co-chair Fitzgerald asked if the engineers found anything that they didn’t expect when they conducted the borings. Mr. Rice responded that the soil conditions turned out to yield better results than expected. To date, the following items have been completed on the site: flagging of the wetlands, wetlands mapping, deep borings, a plan for storm drainage, a progre ss survey, and a final land survey to be completed on December 5th. A leaching field design is expected to be completed by mid-December.
Mr. Rice gave the MSBC an overview of the site with proposals for roadways, building location, fields, parking, etc. He explained that the parking design provides for 121 parking spaces, which exceeds the present parking needs of 77 spaces for staff. The 121 spaces do not include the spaces at the Central Street parking lot. He described the proposed play areas and the paved area in front that will allow for 5 buses to queue. He displayed the 84,178 square foot, 3-floor building design and noted that the design needs to undergo a revision because it exceeds the square-footage approved by the MSBA. Mr. Rice indicated that this w ould be a minor revision, because it does not exceed approved square footage by very much. He showed the MSBC where the proposed cafeteria, gym, art music and administrative areas will be, and also the moderate special needs and regular classroom areas. The cost estimate will be available on December 5th with a final floor plan and site plan. Mr. Rice announced that the School Department has finalized the program and submitted it to the MSBA for approval.
Co-chair Fitzgerald asked Mr. Rice if there could be seating in the gym. Mr. Rice responded that the gym is designed for a 50’ x 84’ high school standard size basketball court. The size of this court does not provide for seating in the gym, but DiNisco Design Partnerships is currently working on ways to remedy this issue. Mr. Downs and Ms. Jones agreed that there was a definite need for seating in the gym for spectators. Mr. Downs suggested that perhaps windows can be installed at the top floor level so that spectators may look down into the gym. Mr. Rice said that this is one of the options being examined now. If the court were smaller, there would be space for seating. Co-Chair Fitzgerald suggested that at the next meeting on December 15th, the MSBC would decide if the gym should include a high-school size court or something smaller so that seating could be included. Ms. DiNisco Crawford and Mr. Rice said that they would bring some layout options for the gym to the next meeting so the MSBC could make its decision.
Mr. Appelstein asked if any alternative energy sources were included in the plan for the school such as solar or geothermal energy. Mr. Rice responded that although no geothermal or solar energy sources would be utilized by the new school, the design includes easily maintainable, energy efficient systems. Geothermal and solar energy is considerably expensive. Mr. Billings stated that since Middleton has a municipal light department, it is not eligible for energy grants from the Massachusetts Tech Collaborative. Mr. Singer stated that although Middleton Electric Light Department is municipal, the MSBC should not rule it out as a funding source. He suggested that the MSBC form a subcommittee to approach M.E.L.D. to explore funding opportunities. Co-chair Fitzgerald volunteered to approach the manager at M.E.L.D. to discuss availability of funding. The MSBC decided that they would wait until after this meeting to decide if it needs to form an Energy Subcommittee or not. Mr. Appelstein suggested that the MSBC may also want to consult the gas company for grant opportunities. Mr. White asked if the new school design includes a plan for air conditioning. Mr. Rice responded that it does. Roof top units will be installed on top of the building which controls air conditioning in zones.
Mr. Rice explained that by January 5, 2009, DiNisco Design Partnerships will have the following deliverables completed for the MSBA:
· Schematic design (this includes the site development plan, environmental assessment, geotechnical assessment, code analysis, and utility analysis);
· Schematic building floor plans;
· Building elevations;
· Narrative of the building systems;
· CHPS scorecard;
· Outline of specifications;
· Project schedule; and
· Total project budget.
Mr. Billings stated that the MSBA will review the package outlined above, and hopefully approve it by February or March, although he does not have an exact timeline from the MSBA. Mr. Billings assumes that the MSBC will be on the March 2009 agenda for the MSBA. Mr. Singer was not optimistic that the MSBA would approve the package in time for Middleton’s May Town Meeting.
APPROVAL OF INSIDERS NEWSLETTER #8
The MSBC reviewed the draft of the Insiders Newsletter #8 which was included in the meeting packets. Mr. Appelstein and Mr. Downs made some grammatical edits. Ms. Buono suggested some additional changes which included the deletion of the last sentence in paragraph 2.
MOTION: J. Appelstein moved to approve the Insiders Newsletter #8 as amended. S. Downs seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Please note: The final draft of the Insiders Newsletter #8 is on file and available in the Superintendent’s Office.
OTHER BUISNESS
Ms. Buono suggested that the agenda for the December 15th meeting include revision and update of the FAQ that was circulated in 2006. Mr. Singer suggested that the MSBC may also want to consider creating a PowerPoint presentation of the FAQ to be played on the local cable channel.
Mr. Downs asked what the status was of the “Plan B” that was discussed at the last meeting. Ms. Buono suggested that the MSBC wait to pursue a Plan B until the MSBA submits its findings on the project in January.
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION: J. Appelstein moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:20 p.m. T. Buono seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Leah M. Moreschi
Recording Secretary