2007-04-18
City of Beverly
Planning and Construction Committee Minutes
April 18, 2007
A Meeting of the Planning and Construction Committee was held on
Wednesday, April 18, 2007 at 7:00 P.M. at the Beverly Public Library,
32 Essex Street, Beverly, MA.
Members Present: Chairman Ray Bouchard, Rod Maxner, Cheryl
Sydorko, Tim Brennan, Maureen Hobin, Bob Griffin and Dan Skolski.
Others Present: Tom Ellis from Heery International, Dennis Daly and
William Peters from the Mr. Vernon Group, Joan Liporto, School
Department Business Manager, Peter Seamans and Cheryl Lamont.
The Meeting was called to order at 7:05 P.M. by the Chairman, Mr.
Ray Bouchard.
Mr. Maxner made a motion to approve the minutes of March 21,
2007. Mr. Skolski seconded. All in favor. Motion passes.
Mr. Seamans stated that he had no invoices for payment, but that he
did receive two credits from Tappe. One was for an invoice
Planning and Construction Meeting
Minutes - April 18, 2007
Page 2.
overpayment and the other credit looks like billing for services
already rendered. He has asked them for an explanation for both.
Mr. Seamans stated that he has a contract for additional work to fix
the water infiltration problem but since the weather has been
uncooperative, this will have to wait.
Mr. Daly, from the Mt. Vernon Group, said that they have been
proceeding with the schematic designs for the Beverly High School
Project. He passed out a set of drawings to board members and said
that they gave a presentation yesterday to Heery International, which
included site and civil engineering aspects of the design. Each
engineer gave the architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical,
plumbing and fire protection presentations.
Chairman Bouchard asked with regard to the project schedule, where
they stand on that issue. Mr. Daily responded that they are right on
target and this was the week they planned on meeting with the
estimators and they were very pleased with the level of detail in the
package they received.
Mr. Daily stated that a full tour was given of the existing conditions
with their chief estimator and their architectural estimator so they
could have a good sense seeing it firsthand and understanding the
problems such as the water damage that had been caused by coming
through the existing building.
Chairman Bouchard stated that Heery representatives would be
bringing a copy of the project scheduling as well as the project
budget.
Planning and Construction Meeting
Minutes - April 18, 2007
Page 3.
Mr. Griffin asked how they ended up with a cost estimator from
Maryland. Mr. Daily stated that Heery International is an
international group and their estimating department is headquartered
in Maryland. This group has a great familiarity, not only with the
New England market, but Massachusetts in particular.
Chairman Bouchard stated that Heery International, by contract, is
responsible for project estimates. Chairman Bouchard stated that Mt.
Vernon just opened sub-bids in Manchester. Mr. Daily stated that
overall these came in right on target with their estimates.
Mr. Ellis passed out site plans to board members and explained
various aspects of the plans.
Mr. Griffin stated that he had concerns about the traffic flow.
Chairman Bouchard stated that this was still being developed and
that a meeting had taken place with the transportation office.
Chairman Bouchard stated that the City would be doing some
modifications to Sohier Road and that Frank Killilea and Mike Collins
are working on that project. Chairman Bouchard stated that the
City would be doing the drainage on the North Beverly brook.
Chairman Bouchard stated that there were monitoring wells put in
along the brook for the contamination allegedly caused by Varian.
Mr. Maxner asked about the staging area and is assuming they will
be losing the baseball fields. Mrs. LiPorto stated that arrangements
are being made to relocate these. Mr. Ellis stated that the more
space that can be given up to the project would allow less money on
phasing and more money for the building.
Planning and Construction Meeting
Minutes - April 18, 2007
Page 4.
Mr. Ellis stated that during the design phase and MSBA requirements,
they would be pulling together a lot of documents in preparation for
cost estimates. Mr. Ellis stated that he would bring copies of the
project schedule and invoice schedule.
Chairman Bouchard stated that the contracts with the
architects/engineers and the OPM have been signed.
Mr. Ellis brought the following invoices for review and approval:
Vendor Invoice Number Amount
Mt. Vernon Group 1 $164,959.92*
Heerey International, Inc. 1 100,000.00**
*This invoice is from December 1, 2006 - March 31, 2007.
Mr. Maxner made a motion to approve payment for this invoice as
presented. Mrs. Sydorko seconded. All in favor. Motion passes.
**This invoice is from September 1, 2006 - March 31, 2007.
Mr. Maxner made a motion to approve payment for this invoice as
presented. Mrs. Sydorko seconded. All in favor. Motion passes.
Chairman Bouchard stated that Mr. Seamans will process future
invoices but they will come from the OPM, go to MSBA, and will be
processed by wire transfer.
Planning and Construction Meeting
Minutes - April 18, 2007
Page 5.
Mr. Griffin stated that he is concerned about the cost contingencies
being carried at this time. Mr. Ellis stated that there are a number of
different types of cost contingencies. One of them is the design
contingency, which will actually reduce, as we get closer to the
finished estimate, because more will be on the drawings making
them more clearly defined. Mr. Ellis stated that there would be
construction contingencies that are in the budget that will not be part
of the estimate but will be dealing with changes after the
construction process. He stated they would also be carrying
installation for anticipated increases in construction materials and
labor between now and the mid-point of construction.
Chairman Bouchard stated that Heery International is responsible for
the budget and in the package, which was handed out at the first
School Building Meeting, was a copy of that budget and it addresses
the contingencies.
Mr. Griffin stated that he noticed a 70/0 (7.50/0) construction
contingency which, at this percent of the project, seems small and he
thinks that the downside would be over budget is much greater than
the downside of being under budget so he would recommend that
the contingency be increased to 100/0 - 150/0.
Mr. Ellis stated that historically construction contingencies are a
function of what happens after the project is bid. He sees three
major components going into this:
1. errors and omissions
2. unforeseen conditions
3. owner changes
Planning and Construction Meeting
Minutes - April 18, 2007
Page 6.
Mr. Ellis stated that historically on brand new construction and a
good set of documents that are reviewed well with a good architect,
50/0 is a reasonable contingency. Mr. Griffin stated that at the end of
the process he would agree, but he feels that at this point, a
significant part of this project is renovation and new construction and
feels that they will be treading in dangerous waters with this low
contingency.
Chairman Bouchard stated this project costs $65,000,000.00 and this
amount should be worked backwards. He stated that all prior
projects before this committee always had that type of contingency
to begin with and then as the process moved along and design
development documents came to the point where you could do take
offs instead of doing square footage estimates, then you were able to
start reducing this.
Mr. Griffin stated that this committee has a good record of owner
instigating changes. Mr. Ellis stated that sometimes the right
decision is to make a change and have that money to be able to
make those decisions as you go forward.
Chairman Bouchard stated that by next month's meeting, Heery
International would have had a chance to run through 300/0 drawings
and do an estimate on that and be able to project where this project
is going.
Mr. Maxner made a motion to adjourn this meeting at 7:40 P.M. Mrs.
Sydorko seconded. All in favor. Motion passes.