WETHERSFIELD TOWN HALL / LIBRARY RENOVATIONS BUILDING COMMITTEE MINUTES - MONDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2004

Chairman Coombs called the Meeting to order at 6:05 P.M. in the Library Administrative Offices. Members present were Joseph Coombs, Carmen Pace, Stuart Temple and Tim Tuell. Staff Liaison Tony Martino, Mike Turner and Library Director Laurel Goodgion were also present. Architect Peter Wells was present. Committee Members Paul Camarco, David Edwards and Raymond Grasso were absent.

  1. Public Comments:
    1. None.
  2. Approval of Minutes:
    1. Minutes of November 8, 2004 Meeting - Motion by Stuart Temple seconded by Carmen Pace to approve minutes. All members voted in favor.
  3. Projects for Discussion:
    1. Town Wide Radio System
      1. Expenditures
        1. None
      2. Contractor Change Orders:
        1. None
      3. Old Business:
        1. None
      4. New Business:
        1. None
      5. Staff Information:
        1. Motorola Mediation - November 15, 2004 Mediation Agreement Letter from Town Attorney Morris Borea - Mike Turner went over the facts in Morris Borea's letter. Based on the Magistrate's Ruling Motorola would receive a payment of $75,000. Motorola also gave up the balance of $7,500 due them on the Interference Study and agreed to pay $5,000 for Trot Associates to come up from Texas to conduct an interference study. Motorola will also replace, at no cost to the Town, the antenna and microwave dishes on the three towers. Town Council has ratified this decision and a check has been made to Motorola and picked up by John Zaleski. Chairman Coombs advised that the day before the ruling he, Mike Turner and Morris Borea had a conference call with Trot Associates and they have a theory on what the problem is but won't know for sure until they come up and do the study.
        2. Radio Salvage Status - Mike Turner advised there is nothing to report. Fred Martin is trying to sell the balance of the equipment as a one lot bundle
    2. Town Hall & Library Renovations:
      1. Expenditures
        1. Nutmeg Companies - Req. No. 1 - $80,494.45 - No action could be taken, as there wasn't a quorum.
      2. Project Status:
        1. Project Schedule:
          1. Change Orders - None
      3. Staff Information
        1. Report of Construction Status - Mike Turner advised abatement is completed on the Town Hall lower level and Town Hall and Library Meeting Rooms. Today they were supposed to finish the stairwell in the Library. Over the Thanksgiving weekend the abatement crew will abate the north and south stairwells of Town Hall as well as the counter area in Engineering where the counters will be moved out. Accomplishing the stairwells this weekend will provide us with mobility when we have to move departments around during the renovations of Phase 2. Demolition is proceeding, most non-bearing walls have been removed and the electricians are starting to take out electric wires and cabling. Today the carpenters started framing in the temporary office for the Health District.
      4. Old Business:
        1. Small Cities Grant - Mike Turner advised he talked to Dale and is sending him copies of the certified payrolls for him to verify as required under the grant.
        2. Technology Committee - No report
      5. New Business:
        1. Discussion Tuthill & Wells Scope of Work - Town Attorney Jack Bradley's November 15, 2004 e-mail to Bonnie Therrien - Tim Tuell had a question. He had his appointment letter to the Committee for Phase 2 of the Project. As he reads the letter this is separate from the first project and as such can we extend the scope of work for Peter Wells. Mike Turner advised that Jack Bradley agrees with the Bond Attorney that Phase 2 is a separate project. Mike also advised that an RFQ is different then a Bid Request. In an RFQ you are awarding the work based on qualifications not price. Under the Town's Policy if the Committee wants to recommend to Town Council that they extend Peter Well's contract they (Town Council) have the authority to do so. Chairman Coombs advised he had Tony Martino do a cost analysis for going out for RFQ and the bottom line would be approximately $2,200. Tim advised he is not uncomfortable with expanding Peter Wells's scope of work. Chairman Coombs advised he is comfortable with Peter's work. He takes direction and criticism well. Mike Turner advised it would be tough to work with two architects at the same time.

          NOTE: Peter was invited into the meeting at 6:34 PM. Chairman Coombs advised Peter we had discussed hiring his firm to do the balance of the work on the Phase 2 part of the project. Chairman Coombs then opened the floor up to the rest of the Committee to ask Peter questions. Stuart Temple advised work under Phase 2 would be 60% more then what is under Phase 1, how does your firm get bigger or smaller to handle shifts in workloads keeping your staff busy. Peter advised he and his partner have people to take care of mundane things like, accounting, typing etc. He subcontracts out mechanical and structural engineering. He has architects on staff as well as part time people he pays hourly on an as needed basis. Currently Peter only has two projects on the drawing board, the rest are under construction. If we give him the additional work it will help maintain the workflow at the firm. They normally have six projects on the drawing board at the same time. Peter and his partner will not take on more work then they can handle and their subcontractors (mechanical and structural can handle the additional work at this time. Carmen Pace asked how long Phase 2 would take to do. Peter couldn't say at this time. Work will be scheduled by season and good weather will speed things up. We have to prioritize what work will be done when and take moving offices around on a temporary basis into consideration. His guess that the additional work will take 18 months. Peter also advised that the project is coming at the right time. There are some things from Phase 1 we might want to combine with Phase 2 to save money and get a better system. Example: Peter Luchini had recommended above the ceiling- heating units versus the wall units. We should consider this and do a change order to put the ceiling units in the Phase 1 work on the lower level. Chairman Coombs asked Peter Wells if the firm was overburdened and could they handle the additional work. Peter Wells said they could handle the work. Peter advised they would start looking at the curtain walls that need to be replaced to see what architectural disciplines need to be taken into consideration. Chairman Coombs then asked if Peter was satisfied with the coordination by Town Staff and the Committee. Peter advised he had no problems dealing with either group. Mike Turner advised we would have to look at Phase 2 work that should be taken into consideration while Phase 1 is progressing (i.e. putting in conduits for electrical and technology before buttoning up ceilings in Phase 1). NOTE: Peter Wells advised his firm received the CT Library Association Design Award for renovations they did at the Colchester Library. Peter Wells left at 6:55 P.M.
        2. Increase Enviroscience Purchase Order from $5,000 to $15,000 - Mike Turner advised we have to increase the Purchase Order to cover work the vendor needs to do. Staff authorized the abatement crew to do additional work as things were found during demolition. If we stopped the work to get Committee approval we would have had additional costs from the General Contractor due to delay or work keeping their staff idle awaiting permission to move ahead.

        Motion by Tim Tuell seconded by Carmen Pace to suspend and amend the Agenda to include taking a vote on Tuthill & Wells for extending their scope of work and continue the meeting until Wednesday at a time and place convenient for enough members to form a quorum to approve items needed to move forward. All members voted in favor.

        At 7:05 P.M. the meeting broke up and members went to the lower level of Town Hall for a tour to view the work the contractor has completed so far.

        Chairman Coombs reconvened the meeting on Wednesday November 24, 2004 at 5.17 PM in the Town Manager Conference Room. Members present were Joseph Coombs, David Edwards, Carmen Pace, Stuart Temple and Tim Tuell. Staff Liaison Tony Martino and Mike Turner were also present. Motion by Stuart Temple seconded by Carmen Pace to reconvene the meeting. All members voted in favor.

        Business to be discussed and ruled on from Monday night included:

        1. Town Hall and Renovations:
          1. Expenditures - Nutmeg Companies - Req. No. 1 - $80,494.45 - Motion by Stuart temple seconded by Carmen Pace to approve payment. All members voted in favor.
          2. Discussion on Tuthill & Wells Scope of Work - For the benefit of the members not present on November 22, 2004 Chairman Coombs summarized what was discussed in item IIE1 above. After some discussion motion by Stuart Temple seconded by Carmen Pace to recommend to Town Council that they authorized the Town Manager, Town Engineer and Chairman Coombs enter in to negotiations with Tuthill and Wells to continue their services and those of their subcontractors to work on Phase 2 of Town Hall and the Library's Renovations. All members voted in favor.
          3. Increase Enviroscience Purchase Order from $5,000 to $15,000 - Mike Turner summarized what was discussed in item IIE2 above for the benefit of members no present on November 22, 2004. Motion by Stuart Temple seconded by Carmen Pace to issue a Change Order to increase the Purchase Order for Enviroscience from $5,000 to $15,000. All members voted in favor.
  4. Next Scheduled Meeting:
    1. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be Monday December 13, 2004 at 6:00 PM in the Library Administrative Offices on the Mezzanine Floor of the Library.
  5. Adjournment: Motion by Tim Tuell seconded by Carmen Pace to adjourn. All members voted in favor. Meeting adjourned at 5:25 PM on Wednesday November 24, 2004.

I hereby certify that the above is a true copy of the minutes approved by the Town Hall Renovations Committee.

Paul Camarco, Clerk