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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJPBMinutes_2010_12_09BROOKINGS CITY/COUNTY JOINT POWERS BOARD MEETING Thursday, December 9, 2010 The Joint Powers Board met on Tuesday, December 9, 2010 with the following members present: Tim Reed, Dennis Falken, Alan Gregg and John Kubal. Also in attendance were Jeff Weldon, Stephanie Ellwein, Steve Britzman and Mark Kratochvil. REGULAR BUSINESS Chairperson Kubal called the meeting to order and a quorum was established. Motion by Gregg, seconded by Falken to approve the minutes from the November 29, 2010 Joint Powers Board Meeting. All members voted “aye”. Motion carried. The board reviewed the financial spreadsheet for the project. Falken questioned how they knew if they are staying within the estimated amount when they pay these bills. Weldon said that he would like to add an additional column to the spreadsheet that would show the contracted amount. Reed asked if all the costs to date fell under the contracted amount and Weldon informed him that they did. Mark Bosch and Tom Ginter with Bossardt Corporation and Brent Koch with Cannon, Moss, Brygger Architects joined the meeting via telephone. Koch reviewed the design development and construction document progress. He said that they are a long way through design development and hope to be done by the end of the year. Koch said they continue to work on bid package one, site and structural design, with it scheduled to go out for bids in January. Falken asked if they were getting close to having estimates on some of the value-engineering items. Bosch noted that with the design of the building, there will be savings incorporated that they haven’t seen yet. He said those savings would be reflected in their next estimate. Bosch believed that they would have a design-development estimate by mid-January. Weldon said that if they know they want to do alternates, they need to let the architect and construction manager know as soon as possible and suggested the board go through the list of pending items and see if they can come to an agreement. Bosch said the first item is asphalting the south parking lot versus using concrete. Weldon recommended that they accept that change, but still concrete the main west lot. Motion by Falken, seconded by Gregg to use asphalt on the south parking lot and concrete on the main lot for a savings of approximately $40,000. All members voted “aye.” Motion carried. The board discussed the brick sculpture allowance estimated at $30,000. Gregg liked the idea of a clock that is estimated at $10,000. Kubal asked if they should delete the $30,000 now and commit to the clock later. Falken said that he feels they should leave at least $10,000 in that line for something in the future. Koch said that they could rough in the electrical wiring for a clock now. Chairperson Kubal accepted public comments. Mary Negstad asked if the structure would be strong enough to hold a sculpture if fundraising efforts were successful. Koch said that it would be able to hold a wide variety of options. Reed liked the idea of roughing in the wiring now so they have it for whatever may go up there in the future, but take the $30,000 out. Falken said that they know something has to go there so they should leave $10,000 in and put the clock up in a worst-case scenario. Motion by Gregg, seconded by Kubal to leave $10,000 in as a sculpture allowance for a savings of $20,000. All members voted “aye.” Motion carried. The board considered finishing options next. Bosch said that these could be done as either adds or deducts, but it is best to have them as adds. For instance, bid the project using paint on the walls, but have an add be vinyl wall covering. The board discussed using sealed concrete, sheet vinyl flooring or rubber tile in the non- public storage type spaces of the building. Motion by Reed, seconded by Kubal to use sealed concrete in the non-public storage areas for a savings of up to $40,000. All members voted “aye.” Motion carried. The board discussed the use of maple wainscoting versus gypboard. Koch said that the original design had wainscoting throughout all the hallways and all three floors. Ellwein noted that the design presented on Tuesday had wainscoting only around the entrances to the building and the office suites, the chambers and elevators now. Reed suggested they wait to make a decision on this item so they know where the cost is with the revised plan that was shown. Falken said that the wainscoting had been very scaled back and that affects the design as they now go forward with presentations. He said that he doesn’t want to cut corners and they need to consider the aesthetics of the facility as well. Gregg said that he would rather spend the money now on the wainscoting and get what they want instead of trying to go back in later to add it. Kubal thought they should take the $58,000 in savings they would get by removing the wainscoting. Chairperson Kubal accepted comments from the public. Mike Bartley encouraged the board to not discuss only the financials, but to talk about the aesthetic value of these items as well. He said that the building has to have aesthetic value and that comes with a cost. Bartley added that this is the public’s building and it has to look nice. Deanna Santema said that when you look at the exterior of this building, it’s beautiful. But she said she feels like they’re trying to nickel and dime to afford the inside. She said that if they need a sterile atmosphere, to put it in areas where the public won’t see it. She said she wants the public to be proud of this building. Santema said that she realizes they’re trying to save money, but they have to do it wisely. Stephne Miller said the hallway coming in the north door is a long, long hallway and it has to be broken up. She said that it’s an aesthetics issue and it would be absurd to cheapen it or think they’ll come back and put it in later. Mary Negstad also said that the drawings shown on Tuesday were sterile and there was no warmth. She said that she is disappointed that the design had been pared down to such a sterile look that isn’t inviting. She said the maple wainscoting would warm it up. Koch said that he could send the updated designs to Bosch this week and Bosch said he could look at those drawings and have an updated estimate by the week of December 20th. Falken said that what people saw on Tuesday and what has been taken out so far, it is not acceptable. He believes they need to the leave the $58,000 in to do the maple wainscoting throughout the building. He said that structurally it isn’t going to make a difference, but it will aesthetically. Reed said that he would like to look more closely at the presentation from Tuesday and see what the price difference is in leaving some in and taking some out. Falken said that no matter what the dollar figure is, the wainscoting should be left in. He said that the commission is saying don’t take it out at all. Reed said that he sees it both as a money issue and an aesthetics issue. Falken noted that they’re talking about $58,000 of a $12 million building. Weldon said that they asked the Construction Manager for value-engineering considerations and this was one item they gave us. Falken noted that these aren’t recommendations. Reed said that he would like to look through the slides of the design of the building again and understand where the wainscoting would be put back in. Kubal asked if that would be an exercise in futility if the county isn’t going to budge on wanting any of the wainscoting removed. Weldon asked to get an estimate on the three different amounts of wainscoting. One with it all in, one middle of the road and one totally stripped down. He suggested leaving the wainscoting as pending until the December 23rd meeting when they can get those estimates. Weldon said that it’s important to keep both the architect and CM on track to keep that good bidding window open. He said it could wipe out any savings if potential bidders bid other projects because this project gets behind schedule. The board discussed flooring. Kubal recommended that they do not accept an alternate to the terrazzo flooring. He said that terrazzo makes such an incredibly decent floor. Motion by Gregg, seconded by Kubal to use terrazzo flooring. Reed said that he would like to look at this in the total package, because it could be an alternate. Falken said that if you use an alternate of a less costly product, how are they ever going to justify spending more money on the better quality product. He said that if they go with the lowest alternate, then they’ll get what they don’t want. Roll call vote: Falken “aye,” Gregg “aye,” Reed “no,” Kubal “aye.” Motion carried. As for the grade of porcelain tile that will be used, Bosch said that they will evaluate the differences and bring back that information to the Joint Powers Board for the December 23rd meeting. The board discussed the cost savings in using a 5-foot ceramic tile wainscot in the restrooms instead of full height ceramic tile. Kubal asked what the issues would be. Koch said that it’s an aesthetics issue, tile requires less maintenance and is a little more durable, and there may be issues with mounting things to the wall. Motion by Falken, seconded by Kubal to use the 5-foot ceramic tile wainscot in the restrooms for a savings of $24,000. All members voted “aye.” Motion carried. The board discussed using vinyl wall covering versus paint. Reed said that he would like to see the cost estimates of those similar to the estimates on the maple wainscoting. Ellwein suggested that they address the board chambers and conference rooms separately from the office spaces. Weldon asked to refine the potential $75,000 in using all paint to using the vinyl on one wall in each office and what the Tuesday design showed for vinyl in the lobby areas. Bosch said that estimate would be available at the December 23rd meeting as well. The board discussed using MC flexible conduit for the electrical. Bosch said that it is less labor intensive to install, but they could run into issues if they need to add additional outlets, for instance, in the future. Motion by Gregg, seconded by Reed to not accept the substitution of MC flexible conduit. All members voted “aye.” Motion carried. Brookings resident Dennis Willert told the board that he appreciated their discussion, but asked them to please keep the aesthetics of the building in mind and consider the generational impact. He asked them to consider durability, usability and feasibility. The board discussed the metal tubing for the staircase banisters and railings. Weldon said that the group doesn’t like the look of the metal tubing, but asked if they could still find savings in a different design. Falken said that they had previously agreed to save $29,000 in this area, so they need something else put in there that the board can live with. He said that issue gets put back on the architect for design ideas. The board also discussed the staircase. Falken said that the group doesn’t like the looks of the staircase, so it falls into the same discussion with the banisters and railings. He said that the architects need to bring in a different design. The board discussed widening the staircase a foot, and changing the color of the terrazzo on the steps. Chairperson Kubal accepted public comments. Santema said that the current design makes it look like a secondary stairway. She said that it’s so austere. She wants to have something so when the public walks in they feel welcome. Following public comments, Reed agreed with Falken saying that it’s a challenge to the architects to come up with a different design. Koch said that he thought he could have something for the group’s December 23rd meeting. The board discussed the board room. Falken said that he thinks when you go into the chambers, they need to have it designed like it will be there forever, nothing trendy, more of a traditional look. Reed agreed saying that it should look as classic as possible. Kubal asked if they would be bringing all of the value-engineering items to the full city council at their next meeting. He thinks this would show the council that they’re not being extravagant in what they’re doing. Reed said that they would be going over the floor plans, looking at the value-engineering items and discussing the budget for the building at Tuesday’s meeting. Weldon updated the board on the technology process and said that they’ve contracted with Conference Technologies for consulting work on the AV for the joint facility. Ellwein said that the commission had approved that contract this week. Bosch, Ginter and Koch left the meeting. Reed said that his goal being on the Joint Powers Board is to bring the full council along and complete this building. He said that the overall concept is right, but they need to get more council members on board. Reed said that he’s going to try to communicate back to the council better on some of the issues. He said especially with the cost of the project and spending money, the council needs to feel they have a say. The next Joint Powers Board Meeting was set for Thursday, December 23rd at 8:00 a.m. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Reed, seconded by Gregg to adjourn. All members voted “aye.” Motion carried. It is the policy of Brookings County, South Dakota, not to discriminate against the Handicapped in Employment or the Provision of Service. The County of Brookings is responsive to requests for communication aids and the need to provide appropriate access, and will provide alternative formats and accessible locations consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act. ____________________________________ Stacy Steffensen Deputy Finance Officer Brookings County Finance Office Published once at the total approximate cost of _______________.