For minutes of meetings not listed below please contact Alan Lo
at 203-854-6790 or email at alo@norwalkct.org

REGULAR MEETING
JULY 19, 2007

ATTENDANCE: Douglas Sutton, Chair; Gwen Briggs, William Krummel

STAFF: Alan Lo, Building and Facilities Manager;

OTHERS: Amar Shamas, School Building Program Manager; Les
Kozerowitz, Norwalk Library Director; Ralph Valenzisi,
Norwalk Schools IT Department, Hal Alvord, DPW Director

I. ROLL CALL

Mr. Sutton called the meeting to order at 7:34 p.m. and announced that there was not a quorum present.

Mr. Lo announced that he had an updated copy of the agenda, which included approval of the Special Meeting on May 31, 2007 for the Committee members. Mr. Lo then distributed the update agenda.

II. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING(S)

June 21, 2007 and Special Meeting May 31,2007

The approval of the minutes was not addressed since there was not a quorum present.

III. NEW BUSINESS

A. NFCC referral

1. School project update by Amar Shamas

Mr. Shamas gave a slide presentation of the school construction projects.

Ms. Briggs asked about bathrooms in the new wing at Norwalk High School. Mr. Shamas explained that plans were underway to add additional bathrooms in the renovated section of the building rather than the new wing. Mr. Lo added that it would be about 175 feet from the further point in the new wing to a bathroom. Adding bathrooms to the new wing would be extremely expensive and difficult.

Mr. Shamas pointed out that the NHS connector completion will be a critical component and that the boiler room must be completed by September.

Ms. Briggs asked if there would be additional parking at NHS once the addition is completed. Mr. Shamas said that he believed that there would be an additional 2 spaces once all the reconfiguration is done.

Mr. Shamas then reviewed the progress on Roton, Ponus and Nathan Hale with the Committee.

2. For information purposes: review recent school construction budget reallocation with the multi-year school improvement plan.

Mr. Lo pointed out that of all the school building projects, the NHS project is the most expensive. Mr. Shamas then reviewed the reallocation of the Board of Education figures. Mr. Krummel commented that it would be helpful to have the original budget figures included on the sheet. Mr. Shamas said that he would send Mr. Krummel the original figures via email. He then proceeded to review the January 2006 budget reallocations with the Committee. Mr. Krummel said that it is important to keep the shift of funds from school projects that have not yet started to current project in mind because when the other projects start, there will be mandatory items that will need to be done. Mr. Shamas agreed, but also pointed out that there can be as much as a 2 to 3 year time lag between the bid submittal and the actual start of construction. There has been about a 9% increase in material costs on some of the school projects. Mr. Lo said that this presentation was being made in order to keep the Council informed on what is happening. Mr. Krummel said that it was important that the Council be aware that the school building budget is being reallocated and funds allocated from future projects are being moved to cover shortfalls in the current projects.

B. Norwalk Public Library

1. Review bids for the replacement of the air conditioning unit at Belden Avenue Library and refer recommendation to the Common Council:

“a. Authorize the Mayor, Richard A. Moccia, to execute an agreement with Main Enterprises Inc. for the supply and installation of a rooftop air conditioning unit for the Main Library Auditorium, for a total not to exceed $75,164.00. Acct. #09076210 5777 C0401

b. Authorize the Library Director to issue change orders on contract for a total not to exceed $7,500.00”

Mr. Kozerowitz said that the Library is in the third year of a seven year Capital plan for replacement of the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning system. The system for the auditorium system failed and it is very hot in the auditorium now. A best case scenario would be that the work will be completed in September.

Mr. Krummel asked if the City had any previous experience with Main Enterprises, Inc. Mr. Kozerowitz said that the Library had not, but that he had checked with the engineers and that the engineers were satisfied that the company knew what it was doing. Mr. Krummel then asked if the auditorium gets much use. Mr. Kozerowitz said that it does, especially during the summer months. Mr. Lo said that Coastal usually does most of the City’s work but this particular job is over $50,000, which requires bonding by State Statute. Mr. Lo also said that he believed that Main Enterprise had done Lockwood House, but he would verify that. Mr. Alvord said that not having a bond capability is not a black mark. He then explained that many of the smaller companies don’t want to be bothered with the amount of paperwork involved.

Mr. Sutton said that he would forward the item to the Common Council.

C. Office of Building Management

1. Review proposal for building facilities management services and refer recommendation to the Common Council:

“Authorize the Mayor, Richard A. Moccia, to execute an agreement with Guardian Engineering Services LLC to provide Facilities Management Services from September 1, 2007 to August 31, 2012 with a two year renewal option thereafter. Contract amount for year one shall not exceed $341,718.00. Annual increase for overhead and profit shall be at 5%. Staffing costs shall be direct pass-through to the City without mark-up with a projected annual increase of not to exceed 5%. Account # 014071-5258.”

Mr. Lo reviewed the previous situation in which a Facilities Management Service contract had been awarded to Fusco and another contract for building and janitorial services had been awarded to Guardian. Since the execution of the contract with Fusco, the company has submitted a 5% increase for Management Fees, with the intent to incorporate a 7% annual increase over staffing costs. Guardian had been doing an excellent job with their contract, which has resulted in significant improvements in the various buildings. Mr. Lo said that he had worked with Guardian on this issue and pointed out the cost would be the same as what the City was currently paying Fusco. He then reviewed the request to give Guardian the contract that Fusco had previously, the details of which were outlined in Mr. Lo’s memo of July 12, 2007.

Mr. Krummel asked if this would be a five year contract. Mr. Lo confirmed that it would. Mr. Krummel then asked if Mr. Lo had discussed this with Mr. Foley. Mr. Lo replied that he had. Mr. Krummel then stated that this would be a new contract and not an extension. Mr. Lo confirmed this. Mr. Krummel then suggested that the contract that was already in place be amended. Mr. Alvord then reviewed the details and the strategy behind having two contracts. A discussion about sole source procurement, timing and contractors bids then followed. Mr. Lo commented that the process allows the staff to bring this type of proposal directly to the Council. Mr. Krummel objected, saying that this was bypassing the bid process. Mr. Sutton requested that Mr. Lo located the specific wording in the Purchasing Guidelines and include that in the backup materials for the Council. Mr. Lo said that he would do that.

Mr. Sutton then said that he would forward this item to the Council.

D. New Business

1. School IT Department Capital Purchases for 2007-08

Authorize the Purchasing Agent to issue Purchase Orders to the following companies for the purchase of IT equipment for the Board of Education (account #09085010 5777 C0112):

1. Digital BackOffice – PC Tablets & docking stations $ 33,960.00
2. CDW Government – Monitors $ 6,842.50
3. Dell – 3rd Grade PCs $176,566.00
4. Dell – Teachers PCs $ 44,141.50
5. Apple Computer –Secondary School Art Labs $104,125.00
6. RnB Enterprises – Smart Boards $ 85,385.00
7. Adtech Systems – Multimedia Carts $ 43,225.00

Mr. Valenzisi presented the Committee members with a copy of a memo from Karen Del Vecchio dated July 17, 2007 regarding the Capital Purchases for 2007-08.

He then reviewed the requests for various computer components with the Committee. Mr. Valenzisi explained that there had been some items that had been authorized in previous years, but had not been purchased. He also explained that he had cleaned out the old equipment and replaced many units.

Mr. Sutton then said that he would forward this item to the Council.

IV. MISCELLANEOUS/DISCUSSION ITEMS

A. Discussion with Historical Commission on matters relating to Norwalk Museum

Mr. Krummel commented that on page 2 of the June 2oth minutes, there was a request for Attorney Nolin to provide comments on the proposal by the Friends of the Norwalk Museum. He also stated that he believed that the Committee had viewed this proposal favorably. Mr. Lo said that it was his understanding that the drafting of the proposal had been done by the Friends and would be presented to the Historical Commission before being forwarded to the Law Department. Mr. Lo said that he believed that the proposal had been forwarded to the Historical Commission. Ms. Briggs said that she had heard that the Historical Commission had postponed taking action on the proposal.

Mr. Krummel said that he had gotten the impression that the Museum was being neglected and not open at the proper times. The overall impression was that this was an urgent matter. There was considerable discussion about this issue. Mr. Lo said that he would check with the Historical Commission regarding the status of the proposal by the Friends of the Norwalk Museum. Mr. Krummel said that he would be inquiring about this also and that the Historical Commission should be contacted.

Mr. Alvord commented that the Friends had said they would be meeting with the Historical Commission and that there had been two Historical Commission meetings since then.

B. Discussion regarding Fodor Farm

Mr. Lo said that he had no new information on this issue. Ms. Briggs asked if there had been any progress with the lot lines. Mr. Sutton asked if the lot lines could be revised. Mr. Lo said that an 8-24 review would be required but that he could start the process and the decision to sell the lots could be voted on separately.

C. Update on the Ben Franklin Center – heating system conversion project

Reject bids for the Ben Franklin Center Heating System Conversion Project and authorize to rebid project in the winter for early summer start of construction.

Mr. Lo reviewed the situation at Ben Franklin and explained that N.E.O.N., Crystal Theater and Recreation and Park all use the building. He explained that the heating system was old and needed lots of repairs. Fletcher Thompson did a design and the bids came in at $650,000. There are some time limitations, and potential problems with upcoming exterior lead abatement project. Based on that, Mr. Lo recommended that Commission reject the bids. This was agreeable to all.

ADJOURNMENT

Mr. Lo said that the next meeting will be on August 16th, but he will be on vacation. There was some discussion about rescheduling the meeting.

Mr. Sutton adjourned the meeting at 9:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon L. Soltes
Telesco Secretarial Service

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