HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-03-22-PBC-min.pdf TOWN OF LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS
PERMANENT BUILDING COMMITTEE
Minutes of March 22 1993 Meeting in Room 111, Town Office Building, as
approved September 22 , 1993
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Kennedy at 7 00 p m with
other committee members Edson, Johnson, McCabe, Scanlon and Touart
present Also attending were school staff John Moynihan, and assistant
principal Anthony Capezza of the High School and elementary school
principal David Horton
Three architectural and facility planning firms had been scheduled to
present their responses to the town' s request for proposals for a study
of town school facilities needs
1 Wallace Floyd Associates was represented by Principal Peter Floyd,
Project Executive Debra Poudry (who was principal presenter) , Project
Field Manager Jim May and MEP consultant Chris Cumming
The firm, which employs nearly 90 people and has been in business 20
years, reported that they had just completed a study of Boston public
schools They displayed boards diagramming phases of their study I
proposal and explained that their software, based on "FoxPro" , is
customized for each client and developed within their organization
They pointed out that the software makes data easily and continuously
available
Questions asked by committee and staff included ones on how they
addressed our RFP and number of man-hours They had proposed a three-
month time line, with which they said they were "comfortable" In
response to queries on software, they stated that the report would be
both hard copy and on disk They promised the information wanted in a
user friendly form, with pertinent training by Jim May so our schools
staff could carry on John Moynihan asked them how married they are to
consultants , and some flexibility was offered
2 Design Partnership of Cambridae representatives Doug Flockhardt , F
David Phinney and Bill Brand stressed balance (growth, needs and cost)
and choice ("real choices for you ") They told how they would extend
the existing Lexington 5-year enrollment projections using linear
regression, cohort survival and actual births) and do an educational
analysis of each system, using state education specifications or
requirements They would evaluate all components of the facilities and
systems and recommend alternative ways to meet ADA requirements They
would also explore with the town what state reimbursement options are
available, noting that "growth projects" are favored They offered
planning assistance in financial phasing and in scheduling capital
planning, taking into account debt service and delays in funding They
pointed out that they would schedule the project to begin in June while
schools are in session to begin planning and drawing education
specifications In July they would do technical evaluation They
advised public participation in the project and promised a final report
by the end of October
Design Partnership is a 22-person office Almost all work is in F
schools , with some libraries Lexingtonian Gary Larson is their
PBC Minutes 3/22/93 - Page 2
landscape architect, working on site planning and transportation
A discussion ensued in which the architect was told that Lexington' s
level of funding reimbursement has been set at 59 percent Design
Partnership representative noted that a three to five year time lag
between application and receipt of money now must be faced by all
municipalities
In response to other questions , the team told of their recent completion
of a studyin Chatham for $45 , 000 and that their computer p programs are
largely based upon Excel and Wordperfect
3 Office of Michael Rosenfeld of West Acton (also Thought Forms
Corporation, a construction firm) Representative of this outfit were
Michael Rosenfeld, Richard Marks , Bill Scheer, estimator Eghbal Alavi
and Chuck Koehler
Principal spokesperson Rosenfeld outlined the process of a project using
examples from the firm' s work (1) Establish goals and priorities with
pertinent groups (example Northborough) , (2) Analyze town-wide
demographics; ( 3) present alternatives with cost (Pollard Middle School
presentation brochure shown as well as display on Penguin Park
Elementary School of Andover) In South Hadley the firm did a total
system study that included reorganization of school
grades Staff
specialties were noted Rosenfeld and Koehler systems and engineering,
Scheer software (Autocad and word processing) Delivery of report on
disk was promised Presentation was concluded at 9 50 p m
In discussion concern was expressed that communication problems such as
those that surfaced during building of the 1986-91 project should not be
repeated In attempting to avoid these problems , input gathering is
being sought by the School Department now (such as presence of Capezza
and Horton or Daviau at PBC meetings and current meetings with
department heads and staff seeking their involvement in the planning
process) Moynihan pointed out that the planning and projection skills
of a consultant are really needed as the SFSB now requires 10-year
planning for reimbursement (Lexington Schools do 5-year planning)
Commenting on the proposers and evaluation of them, committee discussed
ways to learn how each of them works with clients and how well they
really perform Of those who gave presentations this evening Wallace
Floyd and Design Partnership were favored On Thursday Archetype and
Tappe are scheduled, to be followed by discussion and possibly decision
of which of the five to continue negotiating with
Meeting adjourned at 10 15 p m until March 25 , 1993 at 7 00 p m
Respectfully submitted,p
Erna S Greene, Secretary
to the Committee