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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJPBMinutes_2011_02_10BROOKINGS CITY/COUNTY JOINT POWERS BOARD MEETING Thursday, February 10, 2011 The Joint Powers Board met on Thursday, February 10, 2011 with the following members present: John Kubal, Tim Reed, Dennis Falken-via telephone, and Deanna Santema-acting as an alternate for Alan Gregg who was absent. Also in attendance were Jeff Weldon, Stephanie Ellwein, Mark Kratochvil and Steve Britzman. REGULAR BUSINESS Chairperson Kubal called the meeting to order and a quorum was established. Motion by Falken, seconded by Reed to approve the minutes from the December 23, 2010 Joint Powers Board Meeting. All members voted “aye”. Motion carried. The board discussed the detail of the meeting minutes and Falken questioned if they should be pared down due to publication costs. Reed said that he didn’t want to have the minutes only be the topic and the vote, but maybe somewhere in the middle. Kubal said that with the magnitude and high visibility of this project, unless it is cost prohibitive, he would like to see th e minutes as they have been done. Santema suggested that as the project goes on and is complete, the minutes can get less detailed. Reed suggested that they look at the cost of publishing the minutes and make a more informed decision. By consensus, the board agreed to continue with the minutes as they have been prepared in the past. The board reviewed the expenditure report. City Manager Jeff Weldon reviewed the bills that had been paid. He said that they are continuing to look at providing information showing the reduction in the costs from the contracted amounts. The board reviewed the design development cost estimate. Weldon said that some things have gone up and some things have gone down, so the bottom line has stayed about the same. Reed said that he is concerned with the change in mechanicals from $2.8 million to $1.7 million and hopes that they aren’t skimping on the quality. Weldon said that he believes they went back and looked at more cost-efficiencies in that area. Falken said that the construction manager was concerned from the start that the mechanical and electrical estimates were too high and he doesn’t believe they’re cutting back on quality. Kubal asked if the Joint Powers Board had given guidance on this issue. Weldon said that they did, but it’s still the construction manager’s job to come up with these costs by looking at the industry. Reed said that he doesn’t want to compromise on the mechanical and end up paying for it for years to come. Weldon said that they aren’t trying to play the game of dropping the cost of one item and raising the cost of another. He said that if they don’t trust them, then they hired the wrong people. Commission Assistant Stephanie Ellwein said that they’ve said from the start that the mechanica l is one place where savings could be found. Weldon added that the schematic is a rough estimate and it will become more specific as the project proceeds. Falken suggested that a simple call from Weldon to ask where the million in savings came from should be able to answer their questions pretty easily. The board reviewed the bidding schedule for bid package #1. Weldon said that the bids will be opened on March 9th at 1:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, with the Joint Powers Board meeting at 11:00 a.m. on March 11th to hear and take action on the contract award recommendations from the construction manager. Weldon said that Bossardt will do an analysis and determine which bids meet the specifications and will make recommendations. Weldon also said that there will be a non-mandatory pre-bid meeting on February 24th for interested bidders. Reed and Falken both requested that Bossardt be present for their meeting on the 11 th. The board also reviewed the bid schedule for bid package #2 in May. The board reviewed a number of design development components. They reviewed the options for the display case for the Historical Society and came to a consensus on which design they preferred. Reed suggested that any lettering on the display case match the lettering throughout the building. Ellwein updated the board on the security system for the new facility. She said the plan is to have access controls at all outside doors, suite doors and office doors with employees being issued identification cards that would gain them access to their designated areas. Ellwein said the system can automatically open and close doors as well. She also believes that this is an eligible expense for possible Homeland Security Grant dollars. Reed said that he wasn’t sure if t here would be a benefit of having the access controls at each individual office, but he would like the wiring to be installed. Weldon said that he and Ellwein will revise this section and get a new estimate. He also noted that this is a part of bid packa ge #2, so they will need to make final decisions soon. The board also discussed the number of panic buttons located throughout the building. Reed said that he was glad to see they are wireless making it easy to expand the system into the future. Weldon also said that they are trying to decide if the camera system should be a security or a technology feature. The board discussed the telecommunications system. Ellwein said they’re looking at using the same type of system the county uses currently. Weldo n said this would be a major operating cost-savings to the city over time. He also said that Swiftel is designing the system for free, but he questioned if they would have to bid the project. City Attorney Steve Britzman said he and Deputy State’s Attorney Mark Kratochvil would review the bidding laws. Weldon and Ellwein reviewed the technology systems for the new building. Weldon said they met with Conference Technologies and there were a number of issues in terms of the features each room will need. He said they discussed having a public address system, a background paging system and sound masking, which is an audio system that creates white noise in common areas to cover the sound of other conversations taking place. Ellwein said they need to deter mine if a paging system or public address system would be required by code. Reed said that even if it’s not, he thinks it’s necessary when you have that many people in one building. Santema suggested that it could be looked at to see if it would be eligi ble for Homeland Security Grant funding as well. Weldon said that a surveillance system could overlap with security, but they still need to get more specific detailed cost estimates. Reed said that he would like to see every room get wired now so they can add technology in the future. Weldon said that there are various levels of sophistication, depending on what they plan to use a room for and that the aggregate estimate for technology came in at approximately $750,000. Reed said that they should have a plan to use what they already have and make sure everything is wired and look at getting it exactly how you want it in the future. Ellwein suggested that they have Conference Technologies give them a phased implementation. Weldon said that the estimate may also contain some duplication in the cost of cabling. He also said that Conference Technologies is designing the system, but they will not bid the project. They are giving recommendations and shopping prices for the board. Falken said that they sho uld get all the wiring in place and then as the bids come in, they’ll know how much they can afford to spend. Reed also suggested that they not have monitors built into the boardroom table. He said that there was an incident in Sioux Falls where someone was caught watching TV. and he feels they should be watching the person giving the presentation, not staring at a monitor in the desk. Reed said that they could have monitors facing the board table with the presentation on it instead. Weldon said that eliminating the monitors would be a huge cost-savings. Kratochvil said that he looked at the bidding laws and there is no requirement for bidding the telecommunications system, but he suggested that RFPs may be a good idea. The board reviewed the plans for landscaping. Weldon said that they’ve had a lot of good in-house design ideas. He said that the city has bollards left over from the downtown streetscape project that can be used, as well as extending lighting from the downtown area. The board also discussed whether to use high-pressure sodium lighting, which gives off a yellow tint or mercury vapor lighting that gives off a white tint. Weldon said there isn’t much difference in price, but the high-pressure sodium was used in the downtown area and the mercury vapor was used at the Children’s Museum. Reed said that they should have Park and Rec Director Allyn Frerichs look at it and give them a recommendation. He also said that he wants them to consider LED lighting. The board discussed furnishings, fixtures and equipment for the new building. Weldon said that Central Business has a copy of the plans and will do separate analyses of what will stay and what will go. He said that the city and county will pay for t heir own furnishings and fixtures. Santema suggested that they should be consistent with the types of shades or blinds that are used so it looks similar from the outside as well. The board discussed budget estimating for operating expenses. Weldon said that he has just started looking at rough projections for utilities, electrical, sewer, liability insurance, maintenance and upkeep. He said that they need to have something in the 2012 operating budget for occupancy of that building. Weldon said that he hopes to have better estimates by April, but believes they will divide the costs 48% city and 52% county based on the percentage of occupancy of the new building. Weldon suggested that he talk to the city members about the garage since the county isn’t a party to the garage at the new building site. Britzman discussed the supplemental conditions to the AIA document and noted that there are 119 changes. He questioned if the two documents could be merged so it’s easer to read and understand. Britzman also said that the instructions to bidders has supplementary information too, which again means they have a modified document. Kratochvil said that the modifications to the instructions to bidders were needed so that they are following South Dakota state law. Britzman said that the sub-contractors won’t necessarily be reading these documents, but will be following the direction of the contractor. Weldon said that these are things that will be gone over at the pre-bid meeting. Britzman also discussed the information on dispute resolut ion. By consensus the board agreed to eliminate the mediation and arbitration verbiage. The board’s next meeting is set for March 11, 2011 when they review the bids received on bid package #1. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Chairperson Kubal declared the meeting adjourned. 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 _______________.