Building Committee Notes 11/20/19

For full transparency, these are my personal notes from the meeting today. A recording will be available for the community to listen to and as always when minutes are approved they will be made public.

Kate Mancianti was nominated and approved by the School Committee to fill a vacant seat on the Building Committee last Tuesday. Mr Zarnetsky asked that Ms. Mancianti be formally approved by the TC at the next scheduled meeting since the Building Committee a town committee.

Three correspondences accepted. One email was read to the Building Committee sent from Brian Nelson, NEASK President expressing the Executive Board’s support of the CCMS/High School use.

Security Update-All updates are moving smoothly. Approximately 75% completion at all schools and should meet targeted deadline of Dec 31, 2019 per RIDE requirement for funding. A parent concern of possible mold at PDES was relayed to the Building Committee. OPM addressed mold possibility and visually inspected area before this meeting. Discoloration appears to be from insulation manufacturing coloration and not mold. Area previously had been inspected by School Building Facility Manager and confirmed the area is from insulation coloration.

Parking Lot-PDES parking lot is anticipated to be started when school ends this summer. Bidding will move forward for this project. RIDE has not responded or formally approved emergency funding for PDES as of yet though verbal cues of approval have been made by RIDE for approval. DEM permits have not been approved as of this meeting. WES parking lot will be part of the Stage 2 application and is no longer part of the RIDE Emergency request.

Stage 2 Application Update-The cost estimates for the elementary schools and BRMS should be completed by 2nd week in December. The CCMS/HS should have a formal update 2nd or 3rd week in January. RGB will author the feasibility study with a collaborative effort with Peregrine and school district. Mr. Zarnetsky recommended that the 2 previous investigations into the CCMS/HS be reviewed as part of this current investigation. A traffic study will be complete. A Geotech investigation will not be part of the investigation. Concern was raised in regards to significant ledge in area and significant possibility of a new roadway off of South Rd. A formal written response from the SC to the BC is needed in regards to the new HS investigation.

School visits- Superintendent Savastano is working on scheduling visits to other districts to view other current facility projects and construction. Possibly visiting Barrington, and Cranston. A recommendation was made to visit Lincoln HS since their current HS facility project is similar to our current investigation. Both the Building Committee and the School Committee would be included in these visits.

Communication-A working group is to be established for the purpose of increased communication to the community. Discussions included a Content media manager, formal statements to the local newspapers, press releases and improved notification system. Meetings will continue to be audio recorded with the possibility of video recording in January.

Future meetings-Meeting will now be held once a month with the ability to meet more frequently as needed. Meetings will be the first Wednesday of the month with alternating times of 9am and 7pm to improve community ability to attend more meetings. These meetings will be held at the Town Hall unless chambers are not available, meetings will then be moved to the HS café. The next meeting will Wednesday Dec. 4th at 9am.