TCP Building Design Committee, February 17, 2021

The town has published neither minutes nor an agenda for this meeting. The recording is the only record, and what follows is a guide to it.

budgetcapitalcontracts and unionsdebtfacilitiespublic commenttown departmentstown meetingwarrant article

Present: Dave Pacios (chair); Dave Blatt (member); Michael Ray Jeffries (member); Matt (member); John Wanda (member); Greg (member); Mr. Beardmore (member). Names are the caption model’s hearing and may be wrong.

Votes

No substantive votes heard. 1 procedural.

The money

1. ▶ 6:44Renovation cost estimate and soft costs

   A member noted the revised estimate brought the subtotal and soft costs down, apparently from reduced design contingency.

   as heard:14 5702 million

2. ▶ 8:47Design contingency

   Members questioned whether the contingency was cut to lower the number, comparing it with the middle high school project's contingency.

   as heard:201072 million dollar project5 million

3. ▶ 11:38HVAC and electrical share of the estimate

   Members observed that HVAC and electrical account for a large part of the budget leaving little room for savings.

   as heard:5 million15 million

4. ▶ 12:19Total renovation estimate with escalation

   A member said he was not comfortable bringing the escalated figure to Town Meeting.

   as heard:17 million 500 00018 million

5. ▶ 13:47Tear-down and rebuild ballpark

   The architect's rough per-square-foot comparison for a tear-down was shown as a reference point only, not based on design work.

   as heard:1719 million50 000 square feet

6. ▶ 21:08Savings from single phase

   Members noted the estimate showed little identified savings from removing phasing.

   as heard:125 000

7. ▶ 40:29Demolition and abatement

   Demolition of TC Passios and the old primary were discussed as similar, with abatement included.

   as heard:half a million dollarsa million two

8. ▶ 53:38Project cost versus prior expectation

   A member said the cost is higher than the number people had in mind and cited program scope and escalation.

   as heard:five million dollars

9. ▶ 59:06Material cost inflation

   Members cited lumber and pandemic-driven price increases affecting estimates.

   as heard:110

10. ▶ 1:01:32Site work

    A breakdown of site work and parking costs was requested.

    as heard:1.3 million2.5 million

11. ▶ 50:51Absorbing debt

    A member said the town manager sees no budgetary problem absorbing the project if work starts next year and debt comes on in the later years.

    as heard:23 or 24

12. ▶ 1:19:42Committee spending to date

    A resident asked how much has been spent; the article amount was recalled approximately.

    as heard:275265

Settled without a vote

• ▶ 1:00:51Consensus without a motion to send specific questions to the design team: best-and-final pricing, savings from single phase, HVAC/electrical and site work breakdowns, and reasoning for reduced contingency.
• ▶ 42:31Chair to work with the town manager on how to procure extra architect services for a sharpened tear-down and rebuild estimate.
• ▶ 1:13:12Target a Select Board presentation, asking for agenda time on March 9, after the committee's March 3 meeting; keep March 3 and March 17 meetings posted.
• ▶ 1:12:47Chair to draft a communication to the Select Board for the next meeting.
• ▶ 1:07:05Chair to follow up with the new DPW head on paving through the pavement management plan, cheaper curbing and maintenance.

Documents and exhibits

State law asks minutes to list the documents and exhibits used at a meeting (M.G.L. c.30A §22(a)). Names from the recording are the caption model’s hearing; the two sides are matched by name, by script, so a document named two different ways can be missed. A place to look, not a finding.

Public comment

1. ▶ 2:37Opening public comment: none offered.
2. ▶ 1:19:22A resident asked how much the committee has spent, urged back-of-the-napkin review of alternatives (TC Passios site, old primary school site, 635 Mass Ave), and said no one will give a blank check for another exploratory effort. — a speaker, resident
3. ▶ 1:21:47A resident urged taking the options to Town Meeting for a non-binding, directional sense of what voters would support. — a speaker, resident

Where the time went

Minutes of recording by subject, from the topic spans below. A topic with two subjects counts toward both.

• capital66 min · 80%
• facilities56 min · 67%
• budget34 min · 41%
• town meeting20 min · 23%
• debt11 min · 13%
• warrant article9 min · 10%
• public comment8 min · 10%

The whole meeting, in order

1. ▶ 0:09Open meeting law opening, roll call, public commentinformational · 2:53 long · public comment
2. ▶ 3:22Round-table on renovation cost estimate, contingency, phasing, building conditioninformational · 33:59 long · capital, facilities, budget
3. ▶ 37:21Tear-down and rebuild alternative, old primary siteno resolution · 12:39 long · capital, facilities
4. ▶ 50:00Committee charge, Select Board role, funding and debtinformational · 10:50 long · debt, capital, town meeting
5. ▶ 1:00:51Questions for design team, site work, parking, DPW inputconsensus · 8:59 long · capital, facilities
6. ▶ 1:09:53Correspondence, schedule, Select Board and warrant timingdecided schedule · 8:44 long · town meeting, warrant article
7. ▶ 1:18:37Public comment and adjournmentadjourned · 5:22 long · public comment

What the captions could not carry

• Vote count and mover on adjournment were garbled; only a roll call with 'hi' responses is rendered.
• Several speakers are unidentified; attributions are by role or first name only.
• Figures for estimates, e.g. 14 570, 17 500, 18 and 19 million, are inconsistent in the captions.

Reports this meeting suggests

Our reading of the discussion: questions where numbers were in play and a page laying them out would have helped. Every meeting’s suggestions are merged into one register.

• ▶ 13:47TCP new-build costHow does a tear-down and rebuild at TC Passios compare in cost with the renovation estimate?already answered: thread:town-offices
• ▶ 59:06Construction cost escalationHow much of the estimate increase is escalation and material price rises?
• ▶ 50:51TC Passios debt exclusionHow would financing and debt for the project fit into the town budget?already answered: thread:town-offices

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