WETHERSFIELD TOWN HALL / LIBRARY RENOVATIONS BUILDING COMMITTEE MINUTES - MONDAY March 26, 2007

Chairman Coombs called the Meeting to order at 6:00 P.M. in Community Center Room F3.

Present

Today is day 900 of the project.

1. Public Comments:
   1. None
2. Approval of Minutes:
   1. Minutes of March 12, 2007 Meeting - Motion by Carmen Pace seconded by Stuart temple to approve the minutes as amended. All members voted in favor.
3. Projects for Discussion:
   1. Town Hall & Library Renovations - Phase 1:
      1. Expenditures
         1. Nutmeg Companies - App. 30 - $20,000.00(Certified) - Nutmeg has requested $36,117.67 but Peter Wells signed off to award $20,000.00 at this time. Peter advised there are items missing and some work needs to be completed. Peter didn't feel more than $20,000.00 was justified at this time. NOTE: Paul Montinieri arrived at 6:04 P.M. Raymond Grasso requested copies of the backup sheets for members review. This information will be included in the next agenda packets. Motion by Raymond Grasso seconded by Stuart Temple to approve the $20,000.00 payment certified by the Architect. All members voted in favor. NOTE: Polly Moon arrived at 6:05 P.M.
      2. Change Orders
         1. PCO 207 - Floor Patching Main Level Library - $3,071.25 - This item was previously tabled. Chairman Coombs referred members to Commercial Floorings Concept's March 6, 2007 Letter included in the agenda packets. Peter Wells advised he is in favor of awarding this PCO. After discussions with other contractors he found they all price this work based on layers and not square footage. The vendor had to apply three layers to patch the floor instead of one. Motion by Luke McEntire seconded by Stuart Temple to approve this change order 207 for $3,071.25. All members voted in favor.
   2. Town Hall / Library Renovations - Phase 2
      1. Expenditures
         1. EnviroScience Consultants - Invoice 000001 - $1,265.00 - Motion made by Raymond Grasso seconded by Stuart Temple to approve this payment. All members voted in favor.
         2. Transfer Enterprises - Invoice J 0343 - $16,139.93 - Motion by Raymond Grasso seconded by Stuart Temple to approve this payment. All members voted in favor.
         3. Transfer Enterprises - Invoice J 0693 - $8,052.17 - Motion by Raymond Grasso seconded by Stuart Temple to approve this payment. All members voted in favor.
      2. New Business
         1. Discussion of Cost Estimate - Mike Turner advised that Newfield picked up six sets of drawings and specs for their estimators to work with. NOTE: Tim Tuell arrived at 6:20 P.M. Newfield was instructed not to use estimators who are listed as sub-contractors for the contractors bidding this project. Chairman Coombs advised this estimate is strictly a unit of measure for comparison. Peter Wells was happy to see the credit for Alternate 8 came in at $80,000 as that was his cost estimate. Carmen pace questioned if the low bidder could do the job for the price shown when the estimate came in higher? Peter Wells advised members that estimators use conservative numbers while contractors develop more aggressive numbers to be competitive. Mike Turner advised he would be concerned if Newfield's numbers came in lower then the bidders. Carmen Pace then asked if there would be more change orders under Phase II then under Phase l. Mike Turner advised we should have less. Under Phase 1 we addressed many problems. There is less wiring in the ceiling on the first and second floor versus what was in the old Police Department area. There were a lot of change orders under Phase I to address Phase II work that was more practical and cost effective to do under Phase I while the ceiling and/ or walls were open. Peter Wells also agreed there should be less change orders under Phase II. Chairman Coombs advised there will be some mechanical change orders but there should be few architectural change orders. Paul Montinieri advised the Town Council authorized the estimators' services to compare costs against the contractor's bids. He hopes someone will be comparing Newfield's details against the bidders to see the reasons for the differences and see which is more reasonable. Peter Wells advised we will not get a schedule of values from the contractors until they are awarded the bid. Paul has some concerns with the differences between Newfield's and the contractor's numbers.
         2. Interview Contractors - Prior to each contractor starting his presentation Chairman Coombs went around the room and introduced Committee Members, Peter Wells and Staff sitting at the table. Contractors then introduced themselves.
            1. Lupachino & Salvatore - Bryan Addy and Steven Salvatore represented the contractor. They started their presentation at 6:30 P.M. Steve Salvatore went over various projects they have worked on their comparability with our project and the status of their current open projects. They have worked with numerous projects in the past working around occupants in the area while work is progressing. They estimate they will perform 15% of the work themselves with the balance being performed by their subcontractors. They have five Superintendents used to working on projects with the building occupied. The long lead item on this project will be the stone as they envision a five month time from date of order to date of delivery. They advised they could accomplish the project under 15 months if the building is unoccupied as they will not have to be sensitive to heating and noise issues in an occupied building. They finished their presentation, questions and answers and left at 6:50 P.M.
            2. ACMAT - Henry Nozko Jr.; Henry Nozko III; Raymond Suite and Lawrence Chevian represented the contractor. They started their presentation at 7:15 P.M. Most of the discussion was made by Henry Nozko Jr. with some input by the other attendees. Henry Nozko Jr. went over various projects they have worked on their comparability with our project and the status of their current open projects. They have worked with numerous projects in the past working around occupants in the area while work is progressing. They estimate they will perform 20% of the work themselves with the balance being performed by their subcontractors. Lawrence Chevian will be the on - site project manager for this job with administrative oversight by Henry Nozko III. Both are use to working on projects with the building occupied. The long lead item on this project will be the stone as they envision a ten weeks time from date of order to date of delivery. When they priced the bid they did not take into consideration the building being emptied. Henry Nozko Jr. advised the $10,000 credit for Alternate 8 could increase the credit to between $75,000 and $100,000. They advised they could accomplish the project ahead of schedule if the building is unoccupied. They are use to working with buildings occupied. Their most famous renovation was a $30,000,000 Renovation to Penn Central eighteen years ago. The renovation was accomplished without closing the facility or its operation. They are use to working a flexible time schedule. In summary Henry Nozko Jr. advised our timing of the project is perfect. Industry wide the number of projects in the pipeline both commercial and residential are down which has increase the delivery time for product delivery. They finished their presentation, questions and answers and left at 7:55 P.M.
            3. Kronenberger & Sons Restoration - Thomas Kronenberger and Glenn Winn represented the contractor. They started their presentation at 8:00 P.M. Thomas Kronenberger did all of the talking. He went over various projects they have worked on their comparability with our project and the status of their current open projects. They have worked with numerous projects in the past working around occupants in the area while work is progressing. They estimate they will perform 35% of the work themselves with the balance being performed by their subcontractors. Glenn Winn will be the Superintendent on this project and he has experience working with the building occupied. There were a lot of specific questions that Thomas Kronenberger couldn't answer as Brian Kronenberger had put together the package and was away and unavailable tonight. These were specific questions that were asked of the other contractors. They finished their presentation, questions and answers and left at 6:50 P.M.

            After the contractors left the Committee discussed briefly the presentations. In fairness Committee members felt Brian Kronenberger should be invited to an additional meeting to answer the questions Tom couldn't answer. In this way the Committee would be able to make a fair judgment on the most responsible bidder. Motion by Raymond Grasso seconded by Stuart Temple to request Brian Kronenberger be invited back to another meeting to answer the specific questions Thomas could not answer. All members voted in favor. Motion made by Raymond Grasso seconded by Stuart Temple to eliminate Lupachino & Salvatore from future consideration for the project. All members voted in favor.

            Chairman Coombs requested a motion to add an expense item to the agenda. Motion made by Raymond Grasso seconded by Stuart Temple to add an expense item to the agenda. All members voted in favor. Tony Martino then submitted invoices totaling $109.88 requesting reimbursement for tonight's meal. Motion made by Raymond Grasso seconded by Stuart Temple to approve payment. All members voted in favor.

4. Next Scheduled Meeting: The next regular scheduled meeting will be Monday April 9, 2007 at 6:00PM in Conference Room One.
5. Adjournment: Motion by Raymond Grasso seconded by Stuart Temple to adjourn. All members voted in favor. Meeting adjourned at 9:25 PM.

Paul T. Camarco, Clerk