Good afternoon everyone. I'm going to wait one more minute to make sure other people can join, but I do see that we have a quorum. So then I'll I'll I'm just going to wait to call the meeting to order. I didn't hear from anyone that
they're not coming. So Allison is here. Okay, listen is here. Simone. Okay, I'll I'll send Alicia just I'm going to open the meeting. Call the meeting to order her.
Good afternoon everyone. It is the March 13th meeting of the elementary school building committee. And seeing that we have a quorum, I am going to call the meeting to order. And uh as you all know, since we're doing this uh
visual electronically, I need to make sure everyone on the committee can hear and be heard. And I'll just call out names as I see them on my screen. Michael Gallow, >> present. Tammy >> present.
>> Jonathan >> present. >> Paul >> present. >> Sean >> here. >> Angelica >> here. >> Uh, great. Alicia just emailed me that she would be missing the meeting. Um,
and I haven't heard from uh Did I think I did I miss anyone when I went around the room? Did I get Allison? >> I'm here. Can you hear me? >> Yeah. And and Simone >> here. >> Great. So, I'm calling the meeting to
order and I will ask Cassa to put up the agenda. Um, and Bruce, Bruce, I'm just Bruce, could you let us know that you can hear us and we can hear you? >> I am here. Whoops. Yes, I'm here. >> Okay.
And Deb, can you make sure we can hear you and you can hear us? Deb. Deb Leonard, can you hear us? >> Headphones set up. Give me a second. >> Okay, you can hear us, but we didn't hear you.
>> You can hear me. >> Uh, yeah, you may have to speak a little louder when you want to speak. So that Oh, we did hear you speak just then. So, Cassenya, I think I gave you permission to share the screen. There you go.
>> Can you still hear me? >> So, as you can see, we've got, and I think I emailed everyone this, we have the regular construction update as well as invoices, but then we have a variety of items, some of which were requested
at the last meeting, that we have a discussion about them. And uh one number seven is if we have time during today's meeting to begin to have a discussion of the dedication plaque design. I'm not sure we'll have time. So I am going to
turn the meeting over to the construction update team as the first item on the agenda. All right. Hopefully you guys can see that. Whoa. Yes. >> Yep. Yeah, that's a
Yep. I had to put that one on there. Um, so yeah, little bit shorter with all the agenda item agenda items this month. So, I put a little little bit shorter presentation. Uh, mostly showing some new things I've shown up since the last
sitewalk in last month, highlighting those. Tim, if you want to jump on it, talk about it. I can talk about them, too. It doesn't matter. But >> Sure. Uh, what this photo shows is, uh, the aluminum composite panel is beginning to go up and, uh, that is the
last exterior finish material, uh, that completes the full facade. So, you can see the orange at the administration suite and its various colors throughout the building, but that is, uh, the last piece before the exterior is truly finished and you see the full color palette.
Uh here's the lobby beginning to take shape. Uh you can see principal's office to the right, the cafeteria beyond to the left. The walls are going up. And by the time the next site tour happens, uh this will be a fully developed space. Uh tile going up in the stairs, stair C.
Uh you can see that the colors uh reflect the floors and uh continue on. Uh but uh things are progressing like basically the only thing left in the stairs at this point is the handrails. >> Uh the protection is down on the floor and the mockup classroom because the uh
sheet lenolium is down. Um that and the marker boards um are some of the few remaining steps. You can see that the ceiling is installed um and the mill work is in including the sinks. Uh so uh things are moving along.
>> Jim, does is that does every room have two sinks? >> Every classroom has two sinks. Yes, that is an MSBA requirement. Now, um mill work installed in the openings to the multifixure toilet rooms around
the lockers and the project areas. Uh they're almost complete on the third floor and moving down through the building. So, making good progress. Here you can see the entrance to the library uh with the storefront glazing
system. Um as you're standing in that space, you can see all the way through to the stair A and out through the gym um with light getting all the way through the building. >> I I see Sean's hand is up. Shauna, go ahead. >> Yeah, Tim, just a quick question because this came up in the prior school
district I worked for. Um will the will the sinks have um something that says like this is not a um sink for drinking? Would is there anything that's part of this project where that will be mounted on the sinks or would that be something the district would have to do
separately? It comes up with like water testing and if you if you clearly delineate that it's not a drinkable water fountain then it's not part of the testing. Um but if it's not there then it it could be counted in a water test. lab labeling like that is required at fixtures that have been tested uh for
water quality as you're saying. Um okay, >> to my knowledge, the water in Amherst uh doesn't necessarily put you in that position right away and all of the plumbing within the building is new. So there's no reason to expect that the water quality would be below anything coming
in. Um so there there isn't a plan for that. But >> okay, >> but maybe the building Yeah, the buildings were older that I'm talking about, but I didn't know if that's still something we would want to have just as a, you know, consistency across the district.
>> Yeah. >> Yeah. Sean, having a little bit of background in that, I expect that the town of Amherst lead and copper control program going forward. Now, this as a new building will include testing at this school and um as as Tim indicated,
you know, if there was an issue, there would be plaque carding. Um but we certainly wouldn't expect there to be an issue. Uh it's much more common in old facilities, but this will be part of it's required under the lead and copper rules to be part of the town's testing
program. Okay, thank you. >> Uh, moving on. Um, I see Deb's hand is up, but I just don't want to move on with that if there is in fact a question. >> Um, I just wondered if Michael's in on the call if he would speak to the >> the status of the most recent water
testing or the cycle for which it's testing. Michael G. Michael Oonnell. Yeah, Michael's Michael's here. Okay. >> Um testing for this building or >> water just general testing for water
quality at the schools. >> The I the town does that. De >> I thought we did that. Thought the district did. Okay, never mind them. Thank you. >> Well, I mean it's Well,
okay, Tim. >> Okay. Uh, still outside the library if we want to move to that. That is the end of the photo. >> Sorry. Yeah, like I said, a little shorter. Just some updates since the last tour. Um, new things you guys didn't get to see. So, yeah, the next tour is going to be April 28th, uh,
3:30. So, as always, please email me if you >> and I'll throw in one more update. Hot off the presses. We now have permanent power in the building um, as of this week. So that alone could be our entire
update and I would be thrilled. >> So I are there any other questions about the construction update? Deb, >> I'm always going to ask the same thing. Are we on time to open in the fall >> or Yes, ma'am. >> Yeah. Thank you.
And so the the next item is you Tim also on the entryway sign for the school. >> Uh sure. Uh do I have the ability? I do have the ability. >> I think I think I opened it to everyone. >> All right. So I'm just going to do a one
minute recap of where we are. Uh so this is the site plan obviously with the north and south entrance. Um uh south entrance primarily used for buses, vans, and staff and all parent and staff parking going through the
north entrance um and to the parking lot to the school. Um zooming in on the north entrance. The project includes lighting for a sign at the north entrance. uh location to be determined
most likely will be between the walking path and the access lanes shown here. Um the site does not at the moment include lighting for a um sign at the south entrance as you know the thought is everyone using that entrance is familiar
with the school and we don't want to confuse people or at least that was the discussion when it was taken up by the building subcommittee and 24 and the discussion last week which was much briefer. Um so at in 2024 as we were
getting ready to issue documents we went through a lot of options. um some more ornate, some more complete, some echoing the building, some being um but the discussion at the time and then confirmed uh last month was that the sign should
be basically simple, to the point, cost-effective and you know simple communication of the entrance of the school. Uh this was distributed to Kathy and the committee I believe and after some discussion the only you know definitive feedback was
could it be amethyst as the brook but so this is a simple sign with a panel between two granite posts that could be added to the project or procured separately. We can talk about that. Uh but what we would need to do to complete a design is
what the information is supposed to show whether or not it reflects uh Ammerst Regional School District anything else that would have to be on the sign the type face the size of the lettering and whatnot. So uh look for comments and then we could do a few iterations of the
sign and get a final selection and approval. So any and just just um to annotate what Tim just said about earlier discussions, we had a design subcommittee and we looked at possible designs and that was
the keep it simple. We didn't know the name of the school at that point and the purple came completely from Kathy just saying it's amethyst so could it be purple? So, um I'm not sure if anyone else has weighed in on purple or not,
but when I saw a mockup that a local newspaper had done, I thought purple was a beautiful color. So, hands on this. And and one other question, Tim, does this also have to go through the planning board that they that they do
some they put put a looks okay in terms of the height? They don't do anything on our design or do they? It >> it does have to go in front of the planning board. It's part of um it was a condition of the original finding so it wouldn't be a new hearing but they they
do have to see it and approve it. >> Okay. So Bruce's hand is up and any other um so we're basically looking for input on the design um and or one way or the other. Bruce and then
I see Paul. >> I like it. I agree with the uh simple essential uh design guideline. I think that's solid, important, and intelligent and I'm solid fully supportive of that. Um I I don't have any input on any of
the graphic design and so forth. I'll leave that to others. I'm also good enough with purple, but I um I I I'm reminded of uh recent uh um discussions by the planning board that uh uh Amos
College has pretty much uh appropriated purple. So, we should at least be aware that uh our one of our host institutions, hosted institutions has a strong affiliation with this color. Is that a concern of
ours? I don't know. I don't uh have a strong opinion, but I thought it might be something that we would want to at least uh consider. >> Oh, I see Paul, Allison, Deb. Um, and I'll just call on the in that order.
Paul, you were next up. >> Yep. Thank you. So, I had the same comment that Bruce had about uh purple being associated with Ammeris College. They have really done a lot more branding on that purple. Um, I think that for the school district, they tended to be more of a maroon for most
of their materials, which of course is UMass's color. Um, and we don't have to be tied to any of those, but um, I think and so it might speak to whatever the district identifies as the as their best
color. Um, and al but also um, we can choose a totally different color. The other question comment I have, I love the simplicity of it. I worry a little bit. I was curious about the type face and um you know what professional sign makers would say about what's the proper
type face for a a building like this. What I think you know there's certain standards that they use for buildings if that if that's if we just picked out a font to use or if there was something that know this is what um professional sign people will say yes this is a good
font to use. So color and the font for me. >> Allison >> um this came up uh and then the maroon being something that shows kind of an homage to UMass. I think the purple being that this is amethyst. It it's not
a bad thing I think for us to kind of have a little nod to Ammeris College. We do a lot of partnership work with them. I think it shows a lot of respect and uh there's some cohesion in the community. Deb. >> Yeah, I don't have anything to add. I I
I I think my inclination would be to go color neutral, unfortunately, because of those two issues, but that's I don't have strong feelings. Mike, >> um my only concern would be um like
based on the dimensions like is it that the sign's going to be one foot off the ground? Is that um how much leeway there is now? I just want to make sure that it's not going to get buried in the winter. um and if it's going to be lit, um
how how that's going to be done so that the lighting in the winter isn't u going to be under the snow as well. Um >> um there is leeway certainly um and this granted is maybe a little low for the size. So we can adjust that and make it
a bit more visible. Uh there is also some flexibility in the size. So this is basically six feet wide but it could be a little bit larger. um they can look at that. Um but the general comments, yes. So what we're looking for is high contrast, so it's
visible. Um it could be dark lettering on a light background. Um and that could be the maroon or something like that. And in terms of type faces, um, this does have maybe a bit too much in terms of seraps, uh, for simple legibility and
something closer to a something like that is what you might want for leg. So I we can go through a few options on that. >> Okay. And then as far as placement of the sign, um I'm not sure where that's planned to be, but making sure that it's far enough back from the road so it's
not um obstructing uh view or traffic. >> Yes. Um if safety is a concern, you wouldn't want anyone making a right hand turn out of the school to have their vision blocked by the sign. So it would be in this general area uh with a little
more um thought about exactly where to put it. So, it's both visible uh traveling in both directions and not obstructing any views and interfering with safety. >> So, Paul, I'm going to call on Tammy first and then you again. Tammy, >> I'm just confirming that based on the
image, there's no shrubbery or anything around the um the signage. And I, you know, I support Allison in in purple. I I can confirm that Ammerst College does a lot of work with us. And so I I I agree that it's a it's a it's a lovely
nod and maybe the the font can be purple and a more neutral background. >> So I I'll just say one thing, Tim, when you said dark font and light backgrounds. When I drive around town, it works better for the bright white on
a dark background at night. At least that's what I've seen. You know that some of the dark just disappears. I'm just driving around looking at some of the signs the town has put up. I can't see the writing on them at all. Um, you
know, because of the So, I I guess visibility the current anyone who looks for the current Fort River School signs will have to sometimes search for them. So, Paul and then Mike. And just to
build on something. So when you look at the word amethyst, it's a complicated word. Most people aren't going to know how to they're not say what is that word? Because it's a complicated word. A lot of people don't probably won't even know how to spell amethyst until we get used to it. So I think that the
simplicity of the font I think like the a more sanserif font. But also the other point is like there are people who do this for a living. We just tap into them. I mean Tim does it for a living and so but there are people who just work on signs. might be worth and I've learned a lot from people uh from
working on signs. So, that might be something just to get have people weigh in on. >> I I I will note that the subcontractor that is part of the project for the rest of the signage is Bluebird Signage and they're actually well renowned, do a lot of things and uh we can certainly lean
on them uh for some feedback. >> Good. >> And Mike, I saw your sign hand up. Yes, >> actually I didn't put it down so I'm also >> Oh, okay. So, what would be the next step? Sim, I think you've gotten the feedback on how tall is it to make sure
we can see it font-wise. >> I I have feedback from you. I can talk to Bluebird. Um, they are not, this is not part of their scope, but I'm sure they would uh happily talk to us. Um, and then I can do a few iterations that um, change the colors, the type, face,
and um, what the ideal height and size would be and get those back to the committee for you to review and possibly vote on >> and and just the shade of purple maybe if it's darker and the white is brighter, you know. So,
>> so then would you come back to us at the next meeting with a here's here's hearing the feedback, here's the design. So, I'm just looking at which steps do we have to go through to get this to final. >> Yeah, I think I could send them to you within a couple weeks and then possibly you would have time to evaluate and
think about them and maybe, you know, finalize the decision for the next meeting if that sounds like a reasonable schedule. >> Does that make sense to everybody? I'm seeing no nos. So, I think that's it for
Amethyst Brook sign, which is pretty exciting that we have a school with a name and now it'll have a sign so we can find it. Um, you know, the only other question I have, this is not relevant to you, but at one point,
uh, DPW staff said there was the potential there's a large public way of the house that sits on that corner that one might be able to widen the access. Is this if the sign needed to be moved is because
we had a a broader exit on the north, would that be relatively easy? You know, you said they're going to be granite posts >> um without opining on anything with a neighbor. There is a there is a lot of
room there uh to put a sign in a safe and visible location. So, I don't think uh an easement or anything with a neighbor would necessarily be required. Okay. And I'm just saying if our exit entrance and exit was wider, will you have it'll
be >> that there is still plenty of room. >> Okay. So next, what is next of the order? >> Review of school fencing decisions. >> So um I believe it was Angelica who
raised fencing at the last meeting. So, I thought I would just um give you a brief what was talked about when we talked about fencing. Um way back when there was a strong opinion that we shouldn't fence this in particularly the
playground and uh when we were doing budget review. We cut out um 65 $80,000 worth of fencing. Daniscoco had originally put some in just around the playground. you know, it was just around the playground. And when we reviewed the
playground design with the special needs staff and others, there was a decision to stay with that decision of no fencing, but just to try to think of bike racks, some other things that would indicate up near the parking lot that
the edge of the property because there's this property is enormous, you know, with the big playing fields out in one direction. So that was the fencing design way back when. So it it's a it's not in the plan at all right now. And Tim, one of the questions was, is there
a fence over by the river? And I don't know the answer to that question. Is there an existing fence? Um, >> there is an existing fence basically at the tree line that keeps the site contained that will remain. So I just wanted to
give the history of that and and when we combined at one point the two playgrounds were going to be a younger child's pro children's playground and an older children's playground and the play one the younger one was going to be completely confined and the teachers who
were worried about the children who are are at flight risk said that they would h likely have to continue to do what they do now which is monitor the children. So, I just I'm doing this as an update of where how we got to the decision of no additional fences. And I
see that Tammy's hand is up. Tammy, >> I just want to add that there is a lot of prickers over in that area. And I just want to confirm that they're not going to be removed because I think that's just a natural barrier um
that's back there that has worked well. Yeah, there's nothing in the construction project to cut uh vegetation back to that fence. >> Angelica, >> so Kathy, when you are reviewing uh these decisions, what year were was it
that this review these conversations were taking place? The initial one was January when we got the first Tim was probably going to remember this better when we were uh we trimmed about $5 million out of the the budget and we
took the fences down to a in reaction to uh uh things then when the playground design when we were looking at the playground design the specific playground design once we combined the two of them and we met physically with
the teachers there was an agreement fences were raised and there was agreement not to have fences. So Tim, I'm not going to remember the second date on the playground side, but that's when we knew where the school was going to be and we knew the size of the playground. Um, >> of what year, Kathy?
>> It would be 24. >> 24. And the first one was the earliest when we took it out of the budget, but that but it came up again when we were looking at playground design. And we were looking specifically at the size of the playground and the location
of it with with uh the equipment that was going to be put on the playground. Bruce. >> Um Kathy and again when we were reviewing the playground surfacing and uh reestablishing our commitment or discussing our commitment to Cine
um it was pointed out that fencing uh around the playground would involve gates and gates are points of uh traffic intensity. And I recall that the wisdom uh was that we should if we want to go with Cine or perhaps any but particular
Cine that we should not uh create these traffic intensive locations that would stress the Cine. >> Thank you Bruce Angelica. >> So my understanding is that the fence by Fort River that currently exists is in
in disrepair in great disrepair. So what are plans to uh update it? so that it's uh sturdy and we don't have any concerns of children uh being imperiled by being so close to the river. Uh uh the the short answer is it's not
in the budget and there wasn't a plan because we felt that that that edge was um adequate. It's it's not any different than it is now is the other thing I would point out and is as it has been. Port River has never had fences other
than that that border. So, because it's a wide open property, uh, Wildwood doesn't have any fences either. I mean, it has a different access point. So, the person who was the strongest voice on that is Alicia Walker and she's not here right now, but there was a strong
opinion of not doing it. So, right now it's not in the budget. Angelica. >> So, I would welcome uh when Alicia is able to come to keep this open because I know last meeting she was open to further discussion of that. I think it's a matter of the design of the fence and
also of talking and updating with staff because um I'd also love Allison's perspective. Wildwood has a um natural barrier because of the hill and um how much space there is between playgrounds and the road. And Fort River has had a
history of dealing with issues of of kids and aloping and it having a closer proximity to the road. And now with more students and more traffic because of more students and more parent drop off, it increases concerns about
possibilities of safety. >> I I see Mike's hand is up. Um, Angelica, are you talking about the the perimeter fence on the far side of the pl of the playing fields? Um, or you
you're talking about having the um playground area fenced in. >> It's not about fenced in. Again, it's just an open question. I'm not a design person. and I'm just a parent and I'm just representing the voice of folks that have dealt with uh kids concerns
about alopement and and teachers and staff that are concerned about that. I think the design thing would be just to open it up to discussions about what may be solutions to uh a river being so closed much closer design being much closer um and the school being close to
the road. So, what would be some ideas about what we can do? >> Um, and what what teachers and staff and and Allison may suggest would be some things to keep in mind. I heard Tammy suggest something about natural barriers, bike racks. Would bike racks be effective or is a bike rack something
that's not going to be as effective close to a river? I'm not sure exactly what we have in mind, but I just want to emphasize and center child safety. and and you're specifically talking about the fence that's along the river edge.
>> That's my most concern and I would like to reevaluate maybe um at this next sooner than the next site visit look at it more closely. It's been a rough winter as well. We know it's taken a beating and we have greater um you know runoff, greater flooding. It's a lot of
issues that we need to take into consideration. Mike Um, yeah, that's actually a good point. So, I can have the facilities team go out and take a look at as well for the next meeting and we can >> Thank you so much. >> be done. Yeah.
>> So, I will leave that that we'll come back to it. But this is is likely a major cost item. It's something that uh the con our community preservation act there's also been talk about having
a trail come over from the community gardens from to get access to the playgrounds not you know for the community at large. Um so some of this takes uh larger thought on the
playground area. It's um and that's it. So, you know, this is not this is not a nocost item. It's a big cost item. Um, depending on what we're talking about. So, I think we should be taking a look at the existing fence.
So, I think that's that item. And then next on Sandy, did we talk reflection rooms next on the agenda? >> That's correct. Update on reflection room discussion. >> So, I know Deb Leonard that you had a meeting recently. So, I'm going to turn
this over to you both to describe what the issue is and then to to the extent there's been a resolution, it would be great to hear. So starting in
mid 2025, there were changes to the uh regulations, the mass general law regulations around um seclusions and restraints. As part of examining that, the um
Ammerst School Committee and the joint committee on policy between the Ammerst and the region have taken up reddrafting the uh well have taken up reddrafting the policy the school policies around
the use of those uh rooms and that's still in process. Um so we're working on that. Um, but there was uh an opportunity to look at the rooms
and see how well they would suit the purposes that they were originally designed for based on the new regulations. And so the conversation that ensued involved at the end a bunch of us getting
together, a parent representative, a CPAC representative, Tim was in on the meeting on Wednesday, Donna, um Allison was in on it, Bob was in on it, and we were discussing what changes to these rooms would be
appropriate. I don't think we reached consensus. I think we had a range of discussion. I think I have a direction in which I'd like to go on that in terms of um refining my understanding of that.
But um that's I see myself as a mostly as a facilitator and the representative of the school committee um because of the relevance of the policy that we're writing. Um, but uh I
would welcome Tim's input. Is Donna here? Um, Tim's input about what he got out of that meeting. Um, and Cassa gave me some next steps, so I have those written down. Um I I will just say um there was a range
of uh modifications or changes that were on the table and it's a discussion among uh the educators school committee everybody to decide which is most appropriate. Uh just from the point of view of the building uh we Donna emailed you Deb basically saying we would need
clear direction by April 1st uh to make sure that those changes could be made. um and incorporated, you know, in time for school to open on schedule. Um and the range of things that we talked
about um you know are are doable. Nothing outlandish was mentioned. So that you know I'm I'm always thinking about it from the nuts and bolts perspective uh rather than the policy and that. So that that that is what I that was my takeaway.
I think particularly um sensitive issues I would say at this point involve probably the most expensive change to these rooms which is um making sure swings are accessible to
students in both who would need to access these rooms from within the building blocks Ames community and students who would of those groups but also perhaps the general education population who could
access these rooms as a calming down space for self-regulation, co-regulation. Um, so yeah, I think the swings are really important to some members of the community and I think Bob somebody
guesstimated uh a cost associated with that. I think my understanding that there are five swings in the building, but none of them are within these programs are um is an important part of this
conversation. So, you know, this this you know the the I'll let Angelica call on you in just a second, but just so the rest of the building committee, I think we need a clear direction and decision about it as Tim just said and the goal is not to
open a non-compliant building. You know, that the the reflection rooms were designed originally by the special needs teachers and others. there was a lot of consulting on what what the purpose of these were and uh we did several site
visits to other schools to see how they had designed it. So Deb it's over in someone has to make a decision. Um and given given the other accommodations, it should be uh to achieve compliance but I
guess from my view at minimum cost you know so to try to think of the two together um the goals. Angelica >> I just wanted to first thank Tim and De and um all the folks and and Donna and all the folks that were present at that
meeting. We really appreciate, you know, this building is such a source of pride. It's going to be a real jewel for our town. And it is amazing to be able to think about uh making it not only compliant, but what it means to make it really uh reflective of the best
practices and forward thinking about um about our children. And with that said, I just uh I know that I'm glad to hear that that a lot of the things that were talked through, which is a range of things that are doable, that's fantastic. I think they are. Um, and to
also emphasize with Deb about the swings. I know that that is probably the most sensitive and the most costly. I would say that from a parent perspective, um, it is current practice to have swings that are easily accessible. So, not just where a child
has to walk to a movement room, but they're very within the room. So in in the ILC and other areas like where you just um have immediate access uh to them, it is absolutely essential for students ability to regulate and it is
part of many students current IEPs. So it's also legally mandated accommodations for many students, my own child included. So again, just in keeping with making sure that we've dotted all our eyes and crossed all our tees in terms of making the building the
best it could be, that is something I want to make a plug for that is absolutely essential is to have that accessibility to swings. Deb, >> so compliance is is is doable
um and one end. On the other end, um best practices are the other end of what we're looking at. Um and then of course cost scales with best practices. Um what we're looking at at a district
is a a sensitive situation involving um uh concerns around past safety issues in these buildings or with the use of these rooms, concerns about staff
support, um an emerging situation with policy. So I think beyond compliance, what we're hoping to achieve is a space where our educators can do their best work
in um how do I say this in a way that everybody feels protected that families feel protected and educators as well. Um, so I it it's emerging and I would
say I need a bit more guidance than compliance because we can do compliance. >> No. Yeah. >> Ignore my words. Ignore. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Um because I think what we're looking at at a district is prioritizing this from a
from identifying working developing a working group where we look at the current state of uh oh jeez I'm still foggy brain I'm coming back from some personal issues so
I apologize but from looking at it from a what can we do best in these rooms and that involves staff support and providing perhaps a structure that reinforces
that. So, I don't have the clearest idea on what I I need in these rooms, but I do know that there's the policy, there's the staffing issue, there's the operating budget issue, there's the training issue, and there's a lot of pieces that come into it. So, the most
that we can get out of the room, the rooms in terms of the flexibility for making it a safe, warming, welcoming space. Maybe Allison can talk about Oasis because that really informed my
understanding of of of where we might be leading going to in these rooms at um at Wildwood. Alison, do you want to weigh in? She may be here but not here. So, you
know, Deb, I I think the intention is that the decision gets made over in the school world. You know, as you just said, it's the school teach the teachers who are teaching there, the principal, but what Tim just said, it has to be made by before April 1st. I mean, this
is a con this is a construction and design set of issues that the you don't you asked what if the school is going to open in September. We don't want to delay the opening of the school. Um so there has to be it's not been clear who
the final decision maker is but identifying a final decision maker and um and then this the building committee will hear what that decision was is I think the the way we're hoping the floor >> Hello. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Oh, there she is. Yay. Alison,
>> good. I talked long enough that I got you. Hi, Alison. >> I'm uh in Texas. This is a vacation day for me and I didn't want to miss this but um technology sorry about that. Uh would you like me to comment uh Kathy or would you like me just to put it off?
>> Um Allison Deb asked whether I guess she did you speak I've been participating. I just couldn't get my microphone to work. So >> Okay. So Deb was talking about Oasis or some of your thoughts in terms of this the issue of the ex if you're
comfortable of talking about it now or if you just want >> I I don't I don't want to take a whole lot of the committee's time because we do need to make sure that the things that CPAC is uh suggesting that they are reviewed more thoroughly by the teams of
educators that have to do the actual work. So, um I know that we did a lot of work with educators when all of these spaces were designed. Um and I wanted to make sure that the people who were part of that design effort were consulted and
making sure that we weren't uh doing things that would undermine them. Uh ILC, we have five swings in the building. One on every floor uh uh at least every floor. Two on the second floor, two on this first floor, one on the top floor. Every ILC room has a
swing because that's what the teacher said they needed. The building block Ames teachers did not say that they that's what they needed. There are some concerns about how swings can be used if somebody is disregulated. So I would want to make sure that our educators are giving their input on that exactly because they did not ask for that in the
beginning. And because we have more swings than what um because right now we have two in in in Wildwood. Uh I having five is I think going to make sure everybody definitely has access to these in the way that they need them. No
matter what their need is. It doesn't matter if you're a part of a program or not or not. Um we also know that uh the new regulations and the new laws that are being passed, we have to make sure that we're meeting those and we want to make sure that CPAC and and the educators are feeling like everything
we're doing is in in collaboration. So, uh, I I think we already have a meeting planned for next week with, uh, educators to review the CPAC's, uh, recommendations, and that will get us to the time frame that Tim needs at April 1st. >> That's great.
>> I guess the other Oh, sorry. >> You know, so we we'll just as the building committee, we'll just we'll hear about those decisions at our next meeting is the way we take it that it we it's it's the schools school policy. Deb, it just it questions. The decision
has to be made. Um, it's not a maybe in a few months. It's it's in a little over two weeks. Yeah, >> I've been moving that forward as quickly as I can. Um, and I will there will be a decision made prior to April 1st. I will
do my best to >> That's great. >> to integrate all perspectives. >> So, thank you all and Allison, thank you. Um, thank you. It is. I think Allison was on some of these tours. I mean, we I just listened to people when we went to the schools and because we we
saw some very different places in different schools on trying to achieve the same aims and only the teachers know what we currently have. So, ne next up
is um a separate issue. Um, so I will do my best to introduce it and then I know Bob parent you can I think you can speak to it and Cassenya can a bit from one school she knows but and then Mike we're
bringing in a very sophisticated um HVAC system to the new school and the question is do we need at least for some period of time after the school opens um consultant technical people to work with
the mic, the maintenance, the people who are going to be running the HVAC system to make sure we achieve the kind of energy efficiency we thought we were going to achieve. So basically get to net zero and for in terms of uh the
impact uh there's a couple hundred,000 I'm going to be rounding maybe in the wrong direction of Eversource gives us money after the first year of operation if we achieve it. So there's actually money aside from we would all like it to be energy efficient and we think we've
designed it well. So maybe I just turn it over on the the need for the extra help in this first year. Bob, you've done some exploration and I guess Cassenya and Margaret were talking about several schools that when they opened with the new systems needed this to to
get it to achieve their goals. So, I don't know who Bob maybe >> I'll start off and Cassenni can jump in as as as she sees fit. Um, certainly this has been a topic that the team has been talking about for some time and I know Margaret um made a point of looking
at what other net zero communities that have built net zero uh schools have done in the past and where they've had issues and how they've gotten through those issues. And what we've learned is that it really requires a special
really special capabilities and a special focus to not only actually let me back up a little bit. Um responsibilities in the job designers for the most part they design and they specify the function of the systems. The contractor builds what the designer has
has told them to build and complies with that functional description that is part of the specifications. There's a commissioning agent that is hired by Mass MSBA. The role of the commissioning a agent is to make certain that everything operates
and operates in accordance to the plan. But there's no party that looks at optimizing it on a dayby-day basis. looking at how do we best drive the EU eu EUI down as far as possible in
order to qualify for the mass save incentives as well as to reduce the energy consumption of the school as much as possible. Um, what had been found out was that there was one firm in particular, the name of the firm is is Interval Data Systems
that's currently working with 15 MSBA school projects right now that's worked on several netzero uh school projects and we we actually had a long conversation with them earlier today, myself and Cassenia and Margaret was listening in as well. Um, one of the very interesting graphics they they
showed us from past projects was schools typically open with an EUI much higher than the target EUI because that's not the focus of opening the school. The focus of opening the school is getting the systems operating, getting them functional, and that
typically over perhaps as long as a year, if not more than a year, uh that EUI is reduced um through back and forth activities between in this case if if we did retain um interval data systems back
and forth with them, with the contractor, with the commissioning firm, and and with the facility operators to get those systems operating as best as they possibly can so we can then meet the mass save incentive. Um, so it's it's really a capability that's not part
of the project team. Now that hands-on optimization people that can drill into the operating system, look at it, look at the data, see what's happening, and then look at it under different operating scenarios. For instance, you know, they mentioned that that, you know, every year is a little bit
different. We had very cold temperatures this year and things were seen at schools that weren't seen in previous years because they never saw those operating conditions. So it it is really looking at you know looking at all the data analyzing the data and then making
recommendations regarding how the systems can best be optimized and working with Mike and working with Adam and others to be able to do that with a brand new system that on day one they're going to know very little about. uh but this team would you know bring in a lot of expertise in terms of how to operate
and manage these these systems. Um so do expect to be making a recommendation to Paul probably between now and the next uh building committee meeting to bring a firm on board to assist. um now's the time to really get them involved. So
before we finish construction of the project and finish the programming of the project, they can have some input on that and then they would pick it up going forward during the first year of operation to optimize what's been built. Uh so again, we meet the the EUI goals and we operate the school as it's
intended and meet the you know, the town's net zero uh bylaw. Um I'm going to open with a a question that I um Bob Bob and Paul could can this be done under the OPM contract as a
subcontract we did we did one with a net zero architect um that we had a subcontract so it was just merge in and then the OPM contract what I don't remember is you have some contingency design contingency so I'm just asking
like if we decide to do with this where would this contract sit. Um >> I'll say I have not had the discussion with the town's procurement people to date, but we believe that that's the pathway we'd like to follow.
>> Okay. So, opening up to my understanding then is that we will get after this has been vetted, we'll get a recommendation at the next meeting. Um so, are there any questions about the purpose of this? This is different than what Bruce has
talked about for a while as uh the other users of the building, the teachers, you know, not plug plugging in coffee pots or microwaves, you know, not opening windows, you know, there's there's the user side of the building. This is the technical side of of systems operation.
>> But actually, it's it's part of that as well. >> It's part So, >> it's helping. Sorry. So, so in any case, so Jonathan and Bruce, because Kathy only knows what people are telling her, but anyway, Jonathan and Bruce, >> I was going to say exactly what Bob just
said. Really, they go hand in hand. Um, you know, these are very, um, you know, new, highly technical building systems. um you know having a third party that would continue on after uh you know
construction is finished after the contractors of you know demobilized that are no longer there on a daily basis. Um you know monitoring and um adjusting systems and doing that sort of feedback that that Bob talked about is is an
excellent idea. I I can't imagine how else not only would we meet the the requirements of what we need to get some of the the rebate money but honestly to meet the bylaw um and to be able to say that we are we are managing this
building uh to a net zero place >> Bruce and then Mike I see that your hand is up also. Um I think this is a very reassuring idea and uh from my point of view having I think raised these general
concerns well before I was even a member of the committee uh through the 3minut public comment opportunity at the end. A lot of my threeminut public comments in the first year or two of this project were directed uh at this sort of uh uh
concern. um uh uh 20 that's 25 years ago I think now when I first started uh uh uh serving clients for houses who wanted net zero houses. We were talking about
small buildings with private clients um immensely more controllable and less complicated than this building. And 25 years ago, uh, when I was talking at conferences about netzero houses, I would fill the room, people who wanted
to hear what I had to say. 10 or 15 years later, um, nobody was temporarily interested because the problems had been solved. But it only was solved because a great deal of care and attention was levied at that stage. And now we're in, I think, a similar situation or period
with these larger, more complicated, complex, and particularly municipal clients, uh, public, uh, clients. It's a whole new world from houses, and the concerns and challenges that were visited upon small buildings 25 years
ago now are um, being seriously engaged as challenges for buildings of this scale. And I think uh th this additional uh service that we're contemplating and I like the way you phrased it B when you went through the the role of the
designer, the role of the constructor, the role of the commissioner and then you felt that there was something else and it was the optimization. And I think that's a good word because it helps understand in a word what essentially we're asking for as the fourth uh block
on this tier of of responsibilities in order to uh generate and deliver and uh establish u this high performance building that we want. So I am delighted that this is being discussed. I am fully
supportive of the prospect. I have a nodding acquaintance with this organization and I think uh as Bob said they um are have a good track record. So I think it's a something that is very reassuring
and and and and I see Michael speaking and I'm thinking that if I were in Michael's position in my first year with a super challenging building, I would feel super nervous. Um, I'm not saying Michael you should be or that you are,
but if you were me, I were you, I would uh, so I feel that this also is is is a good idea to be supportive not just of the users of the building in terms of the teachers and the behavior patterns that you want to optimize, but also the
building systems operations and the maintenance and all the things that Michael has his hands in. Um, I'm very pleased that he would get some support here as well. Thank you, Bruce and Michael. That leads nicely into you. >> Yeah, that does. Um I agree what Bruce
said. I think this would um dramatically reduce our learning curve with a new building and help us achieve the energy goals um and help us maximize it so that we're not just, you know, um slowly learning a new building and eventually
getting to, you know, an acceptable performance level. I think we would like to you know work with them and maximize I think would also help us create the new culture in the building um of you know conserving energy and
you know we're going to have to change some things you know there'll be no more um you know um hot pots or microwaves or any you know appliances plugged into the room and um and whatever support we can get in like
trying to create that new that shift I think is going to be very helpful. So definitely um will be in favor of this >> I think everything that's been said has been fantastically eloquent and hit the points perfectly. I just want to add one
small detail and that is that in engaging this company at this point. Um we would be seriously benefiting benefiting from the learning curves that other school projects have gone through
in recent years um in their attempt to commission and recommission and recommission again the buildings to try to get to the EUI. um until they finally found this this optimization path to
ultimate success. Um even with that um we're expecting that it's going to take some time to get everything in the building to gel. But um the lovely thing is that the project is you know once a school opens there's
still a good chunk of project going you know taking down the old school building the um fields at so the team is staying engaged at the same time um if all of this gets worked out in the first year of school operation all the warranties labor warranties with the contractors
who installed the systems are still in place. So doing this in the first year as we would be doing of operation rather than in the second and third year also gives us the benefit of being able to address a lot of issues under warranty terms instead of under a maintenance
budget. >> Great. Thank you, Deb. >> So it sounds like there's a lot of reasons to do it and I'm guessing the reason not to would be cost. Yeah. Okay. And what is the cost?
That's TBD. You know, in other words, the recommendation's going to come back to us as as everyone knows and we're going to see invoices today. We have a pretty big cushion in the amount of money we have. So, the
question is, does it fit under the OPM contract already? Um, so I think we'll have something more concrete. And I see Bob's hand is up because I don't think we know the specific answer yet. Bob, >> I'd suggest that over the life of this
project, this cost will pay for itself multiple times um both in terms of meeting the mass save incentives and ultimately saving the project um operating cost. So it it cost is obviously a factor, but uh not doing
this would likely cost the project more in the long term. Bruce, >> I was going to say exactly the same thing. Um, but I'll I'll add that uh um often uh clients, building owners feel
they can't make uh investments that have long-term or even mid-term benefits because they have a cap on their budget and they can't get that extra dollar. Um I point out that we are in a a rather extraordinarily and wonderful position
here because we do have uh uh a space you know like an air gap between the water if you like and the ceiling. So we can surface in the room and still breathe uh because there's uh a healthy contingency. So we do have the capacity
to commit additional funds if we think they're wise. And I definitely think as Bob says that this is going to pay for itself over and again. But the beautiful thing is that we have the capacity to commit this additional resource.
Um whereas in many cases it would require a vote of town meeting or of a council or something. Blessedly we don't have to do that. We can take advantage of buying something with a terrific return on it. Uh, Deb.
>> So, is there a motion in order or do we just do nods? Because I >> I think I think I think right now um we're expecting that at the next meeting we'll have a specific recommendation that we can be voting on. Right now it's to let us know that something's going to
be coming to us that will answer your question on, you know, how is it going to be done and what's the dollar amount. Correct? I mean, I don't think we need a a motion on this. these were uh it's not concrete enough yet. Um so what I've heard is there was no nobody's saying
don't do this. Um so in which case we would have stopped the momentum. So I'm I'm conscious of time. um we need to do invoices and the other if there's time was to talk about the plaque that
would go on the school and uh and uh one thought early on um was to look at what we did to keep it simple um that this the name of the school designed by built by and
then Paul we had something on one of the original construction signs supported by the people of Ammerst for the children of Ammerst or something with that very simple message on it. So, keeping it super simple, but Mitt, what I would suggest is rather than having a
full discussion now, we put it on the next agenda where we come back with some examples because I'm not sure Angela said she'd take a picture what's at Crocker now. I didn't I haven't gone around the schools, what's at Wildwood, what, you know, are there some examples?
Um Margaret told me that in one building committee she was working with it took them months to come up with how many names would go on assign. So the idea here is like if we start with are we agreeing simple um so we don't we don't
have anything specific to other than we there's a space in the building for it um with a support for it but the town will be providing this um so this isn't a a right away that's I think that was what I heard Tim that the the
construction project has has a support space for where it would go but the specific plaque since we didn't know how big it would be. Is that right? That >> that is correct. Yes, >> the space has been selected. There's support in the wall for it to be attached, but uh the plaque itself is
not included. >> Jonathan, >> I I just want to express support for your approach that that um a smaller group work on a proposal for what this should be. And like the the the building
site signage uh presented to us uh um made with some limited options but but with you know the the the most of the work of the of the design of it sorted through. >> Okay. So so I'm just saying we need to
make some kind of decision on it but we don't have to do it today. So, I'm introducing it and it'll come back on April. And before we get to invoices in April, I spoke to Paul and he said he thought he'd be ready to report. There is something called percent for art for
this building and we don't know what the status of has a committee been formed. It's supposed to include some teachers users of the building. So, there's nothing more to report on that right now, but Paul Paul, we said we put that on the April agenda. And the other
potential for the April agenda is the day the school opens, there's still going to be construction going on. Um, and that affects the use of the parking lot. So, the town has been working on what's the plan in that first six
months. So, Paul, that was the other thing you thought we could report. So, just those are in addition to construction update and uh reflection room, you know. So there's the the list of what to expect at the the next at the April meeting.
If that's if I don't see any other questions, these are just to come. Um I think we can move on to invoices. Anyone any other comments? Okay, invoices.
I think here's Connor. He jumped on it. >> Just confirm you guys can see it. >> I can. Is everyone else good? All right, perfect. Uh, so starting at the top with our executive summary, green is our invoice previous, black is
our current invoice package, yellow is our unbuilt portion of contracts, and white is our uncommitted, which is holds our contingency. And the white section might look a little smaller this month because now FFNE and the playground surfacing has moved from the uncommitted
category into uh the unbuilt portion of contract. So this is mostly contingency at this point and we'll get back down to our contingency bar on the right as well. It looks like a small little chunk, but if you see the the numbers at the bottom, it's
>> it also includes uh some technology um and AV procurements that are still out there. >> So, moving down, uh invoice previously is 60.7% of the total project budget. Current invoice package is 3.8%.
Current invoice package is $3,753,469. Bring us up to 64% invoice overall. 36% remaining. Moving down to the cash flow. Here we are. Current month contingency sitting over here on the right.
Our road map ahead in blue of course. Moving on to where is my zoom out popping? There it is. To the invoice package summary. This month we have five invoices. One from Entra Answer, one from the Niscoco, one
from CTA, one from Ally, the third party testing agency, and one from Salis O'Brien who's doing a lot of the envelope uh testing. And they'll be doing the whole building air tightness testing at the end. We saw in last month's construction update some of the testing uh that they have done for us so
far. So for answer the one invoice this month is for $58,747.50 2% of our contract overall bringing us up to 62% complete 38% remaining. Disco's invoice is at 65,000 once again bringing them up to 85% complete 15%
remaining. CTA's requisition this month 3,622,27685% of their contract overall bring them up to 70% complete 30% remaining. Alli Testing's invoice $4,000.25
34% complete in their contract and BBH $3,420 5% their contract 11% complete 89% remaining. So moving on to the invoices first out the answer invoice $58,747.50
50 cents in the backup. Oh, this goes invoice for the 65,000. CTA's requisition for the 3,622,27685 cover page and the summary work in place column E store materials column F
minus retainage gets you that value at the the All light testings invoice the $4,025 and Salis O'Brien's invoice for that testing. that we presented on last month.
And with that, that concludes the invoice package presentation. As always, we pre-review these invoices and recommend them for your approval. >> Sorry. I make a motion that we approve the invoices as presented. Um, any comments before we put it to a
vote? >> As I think everyone knows, before we see this, it's been vetted by the town. So, uh, multiple sets of eyes. So, I will put that to a vote. Kathy is a yes. Michael, >> yes.
>> Bruce, >> yes. >> Paul, >> yes. >> Deb, >> yes. Tammy, >> yes. >> Jonathan, >> yes. >> Angelica, >> yes. >> Sean, >> yes. >> Simone, >> yes.
>> And Allison, >> yes. >> It's uh it's unanimous. If there are any other comments or questions, the last item is to open it up for public comments. um anything that
remains or and as you know the the pictures we've just seen are all going to be put into the packet and the invoices are we've been doing that and for those of you who remember way back when um answer has been doing minutes and they're excellent of the things and
I read them quickly but if anyone wants to see what happened at any meeting the minutes are being posted and they get them done pretty fast sometimes I'm fast not always Um but uh I don't see any hands up. So we are currently open for
public comments. Um if if anyone would like to make a public comment, please raise your hand. I think I Maria I I believe I brought you into the room and you can talk.
>> Yeah, I was just waiting for your verbal invitation. Thank you, Maria Kapiki, South Amoris. Um uh thank you for uh putting those uh into the packet. That is helpful. I I do have a couple of um specific requests. One was there had
been uh discussion of the uh additional foundation or groundwork for the solar canopy. And I was wondering if you had answers to those questions that I had sent. Um I'd appreciate that. The other thing is um it's uh nice to have the
invoice from CTA. Um but if you could possibly also include in the packet some specifics about the change orders um it really ju it just lists them by number. So if you could please add some detail about what each of those items are for
that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. >> Thank you Maria. So I think um with that our meeting of the today has reached a conclusion at 1:44. So I'm going to make a motion to
adjourn. Um we got done before two which is great. And Kathy is a yes. Well I guess I need a second but I'll go around the room. Uh this is Are we ready to adjourn? U Michael >> yes. >> Bruce. >> Yep. >> Deb.
>> Yes. Tammy, >> yes. >> Jonathan, >> yes. >> Paul, >> yes. >> Angelica, >> yes. >> Sean, >> yes. >> Simone, >> yes. >> And Allison, we are injured and I will
see everyone in a month and some of the people on the screen clearly are being doing work for us in between aside from the people who are building the building. So, thank you all very much for all the effort that's gone into the building. Have a good weekend.