good evening and welcome to the pasac Valley Regional High School District Board of Education meeting today is February 26 2024 during this regular meeting two opportunities are provided for citizens to make comments in order for a citizen to make a comment they must be physically present at the meeting during the first opportunity early on the agenda comments regarding agenda items are invited the second opport Unity will occur just prior to adjournment when residents May address General comments to the board Mr Yami roll call Mrs Vargis here Mr blundo M Calderon here Mrs Wang here Mr louisi here Mrs Martin here Mr Stanis here miss stepin here Mr Weaver here please join me for the flag salute and Pledge of Allegiance Pledge of Allegiance to flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation indivisible adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by mailing copies of said notice to the record filing copies of said notice with the municipal Clerks of Hillsdale Montvale Rivervale and Woodcliff Lake and Publishing said notice in the record on July 21st 2023 I'd like to take this opportunity to have a a moment of silence in remembrance of Joseph MCN he was a senior at pasak Hills High School uh class of 2024 and unfortunately he passed away last week so I'd like to take 30 seconds for a moment of silence thank you I'd like to extend our deepest cons condolences to the nie family from the entire Board of Education we have up routine matters so we have a district report by Robert Donahue our director of facilities and Capital Improvements he's going to give us a project update and the facilities committee report after that good evening so we have uh quite a number of projects if any of you have been reading your Friday updates we have a we have a lot of projects going on and um I'm going to go through them if you have any questions as I'm going just stop me and I'll answer your questions um so the first project and this is an order from pasek Valley first then pasek Hills actually they're they're kind of out of sequence because some of them are existing and some of them are new uh pasek Valley entry beautification this is a project that we went out to bid preo came in over budget um we've been trying for some time to try to get contractors to give us pricing on various components of the project to try to get something done uh most recently we had a proposal for concrete work what that blew the whole entire budget so um we actually have we're fortunate enough to have a custodian inhouse that is a Mason and he has offered to uh help us uh form and pour the concrete inhouse so we're going to move forward with that project by saving money by doing it in-house um the PV cafeteria HVAC replacement uh is a project that is U going to go out to bid on February 29th and the bids will be due on March 27th um just know that that project because of the rooftop unit involved with the project it's probably a one-year lead time on the rooftop unit so although we're going out to bid and hopefully it comes in under budget and awarded uh it won't happen till not this summer but next summer because the unit won't be available um the roof replacement at the 200 Wing at Valley it's complete but we're waiting for close out documents um we expect to receive them within the next week or two and we can close that project out uh the PV roof replacement uh the lecture hall um this project was already out to bid and is currently out to bid again we had to postpone um a bid for five projects because of the snowstorm so the new bid date bid due date is uh March 6th the PV ventilation upgrades this is a project that's been going ongoing for a number of years actually um a number of the components were delayed because of covid uh we are the project is near completion it is complete we're waiting for close out documents which we actually expect tomorrow the pasc hills roof replacement for awing the projects complete we're waiting for closeout documents expect them within the next week or two uh the Pas kills roof for replacement for seawing similar to the other roof replacement project uh the bids are due March 6th or actually yes bids are due March 6th we went out to rebid because of the snowstorm the pasek hills ventilation upgrade again we're waiting for closeout documents the auditorium renovation this is something we discussed in the uh facilities committee meeting um this is something that um we're still trying to uh nail down uh what's going to happen happen with this project right now the PB uh toilet rooms they're complete we're waiting for close out documents this is a recurring theme um lately projects seem to be taking longer and longer to close out uh PV window replacement this is a project uh that's uh again the bids are going to be due on March 6th the Pasa Hills Auditorium renovation I'm sorry I misspoke before the PV Auditorium renovation is is an upcoming project the pasek hills Auditorium renovation project is a current project uh pasc Hills toilet room renovation waiting on closeout documents uh pasca Hills roof replacement d-wing bids are due March 6 pasek Hills uh hpac airell replacement awing again waiting on closeout documents expect to get them tomorrow and the pasak hills grandstand uh soil erosion and drainage project bids are due March 6th any questions thank you you're welcome I have a quick question yes uh so you had told us that at one point you were taking out the lockers and putting these pull down um chair thing yeah jump seats um how's that going they're done oh wow they're at Valley has anyone been to Valley outside the old gym and what did you think awesome they're great uh it's really great because if you go during the day the students are using them oh man and it's great actually sometimes the teachers are using them too I know I've sat there and worked they're great Maddie what do you think you seen it have you used them that's why she can't use it they're full okay that's a good problem okay nice thank you you're welcome my concern to yes our our our current state of the auditorium is that we've negotiated the prices to approximately $1.9 million um down from over 2.2 I believe this is Valley Hills Hills got it okay um so we're we're waiting to get feedback from the from the users before we decide what we're going to do with the project okay okay thank you you're welcome okay next we have the finance committee report uh by Pat louisi the chair thanks Jenny um we met remotely uh last Wednesday February 21st and uh some of the things that were discussed uh was um uh some of the some of the factors or attributes that are uh causing this fiscal cliff that is being discussed throughout the state probably not the only state that's discussing it but um some of the rising costs that are causing uh this concern is health insurance pensions for non-certified staff student transportation salaries uh special education programs and related Services um uh we also discussed a 2% tax levy cap uh increase which equals um just shy of $1.1 million and uh benefitting B benefits increase alone takes up 2% of that cap um we talked about some some measures to offset the Gap that we have um that's a increased budgeting budgeted maintenance Reserve increase budgeted extraordinary Aid increase budgeted fund balance and increase in state aid that we don't have much control over um and then we also we close out the meeting by talk talking about uh other options to reduce costs for next year's budget and future bu budgets that's all I have thank you Mr louisi next we have the students student reports and we'll start with Olivia G from pasak Hills High School good evening everyone my name is Olivia G and I will be presenting the pasag hills student report for the months of January and February um before I begin my report I would also like to address the tragic event that has deeply affected our school Community um it is with very heavy hearts that we mourn the loss of one of our fellow students Joe MCN and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this diff difficult time um Joe was a part of the class of 2024 and um he was always very involved in the Hills Community he was a member of the bowling team he participated in the Mr pascot Hills competition and he read the morning announcements and overall he contributed to numerous clubs and um organizations within our school um and the loss of Joe has definitely really impacted our school Community um but students and staff have come together to support one another during this difficult time and together we will honor the memory of Joe and ensure that his legacy lives on in our hearts and in our minds so um with co-curricular items the first item is that on Thursday February 1st the biannual Mr pascy kills competition took place in the pasc Hills Auditorium um big congratulations to the faculty winner science teacher Mr Steven Kanto and our student winner um Junior Jack Dugan for co-curricular item number two congratulations to chamber choir member ion Swain for his acceptance to the region one choir of 2024 he proudly represented pasca Hills by performing with the best singers in the region on Saturday February 3rd at Morris SS high school and for our last co-curricular item on Saturday February 3rd um three Indian exchange students from the F FRC team Sigma 9,629 um arrived in New Jersey and they were here to learn about the first robotics competition FRC um by shattering members of the pasc Pioneers robotics team the trip was carefully planned for many months in advanced and the Junior and senior students attended daily classes alongside Hill's upper classmen um followed by robotics in the evenings and afternoons they also explored New York City the Apple Store in woodcliffe Lake and Princeton University for the first athletic item girl swimming had an undefeated season um but unfortunately lost at Ridgewood in the state tournament although the result was not what they wanted they were able to achieve their third undefeated season um win the big North Liberty division uh championship for the third time in program history and they gave coach John Buchanan his 100th Victory so congratulations um athletic item number two at the first round of the N Sia state tournament um senior Nick Luckman carried the middle school basketball jersey of Joe MCN who had passed away on Tuesday um the Broncos won the game and will now face dant in the quarterfinals so good luck to boys basketball and for the last athletic item congratulations to Hassan shocket and Jake Waka who finished um fifth in the Bergen County wrestling tournament Hassan sha shaat um also finished second at districts and Jake Wala scored a win in the District 3 tournament Waka also finished in third place at the NSAA region one tournament and will move on to compete in the New Jersey individual state tournament in Atlantic City later this month for my joke with the day um why did the Scarecrow win an award was he was outstanding in this field yes because he was out nice job I don't know if I don't know if the if that got on the internet because you didn't have your microphone on you're we're going to leave the crowd hanging turn on your microphone and just say the answer because they the crowd's going to be like what yeah was the Scarecrow won the award yeah because he was outstanding in his field [Music] ni next we have our student report by meline Gibbs from pasak Valley High School um good evening my name is Maddie Gibbs and I will be giving the PV February student monthly report for classroom items item number one the first PV service program to Panama was a huge success Mrs Cindy rebot brought eight students to continue the volunteer work that she did last year at an elementary school these students completed small construction projects interacted with the students of the school and engaged in cultural activities and they look forward to returning next year item number two the Panthers band bought brought their infectious energy to a PV hockey game on February 6th helping support the team in their win over rwood also the Panthers band will be performing at a fairly Dickinson University basketball game on February 29th the PV jazz band has been rehearsing in preparation for their performance at the NJ State jazz Festival prelims on March 4th they'll be performing and competing with 50 bands from around the state lastly PV band students auditioned and were selected for Honor bands region one Wind Ensemble sophomore Caroline V on trumpet and Junior Eddie gersic on tuba and all state Wind Ensemble Junior Eddie gersc on tuba also second in the state item number three Abigail comr lla doof Olivia Glasser Angelina Graham Sarah mowy and mine woo will represent Pas Valley High School on February 28th in the stem League challenge at Bernard's High School the stem League challenges consist of a keynote speech identifying either a global or local problem in need of a creative solution students are then tasked with working through the design process along with following the design process students must conduct research about a scientific principle throughout the day Professional Engineers are present to judge the work of each team and how they are working through the challenge lastly the past Valley and pasc Hills stem League students and advisers will be hosting 13 high schools at a stem League challenge at pasc Valley on April 16th for co-curricular items co-curricular item number one pv's chapter of the international thespian Society an Honor Society for theater students inducted 24 new members at our induction ceremony the troop is planning a visit to the actor actors fund home a nursing facility in Englewood to perform songs and monologues for residents also PV theater proudly presents High School Musical featuring the hard work of over 75 students on stage backstage and in the pit band performances are Thursday March 14th through Saturday March 16th and get you can get your tickets now item number two on December 1st members and advisers of the PV gender and sexuality Alliance or the GSA attended the Bergen County Commissioners fifth annual youth Leadership Summit hosted at Bergen Community College the event incl included a variety of local government speakers as well as those from industry the participants were engaged with students from other school districts in leadership activities as the advisers had their own sessions on related topics athletic items item number one the pasic Valley Regional dance team competed at the dance team Union National dance team competition on February 10th and 11th the team placed third out of 13 teams in large varsity team performance and second out of 36 teams in small Varsity Palm the dancers love competing and representing the pasic Valley Regional District item number two congratulations to PV wrestling on being The Undefeated big North national champions py also hosted the NJ njsa District 3 tournament on February 17th where the team placed second overall nine Valley wrestlers moved on to the region one tournament led by District the three Champions Aiden sedeno and Julian Morris for item number three congratulations to the pasak swim team on a remarkable season the girls were undefeated big North Liberty Champions and made it to the state sectional semi-finals where they lost to the eventual state champion making it their first loss of the season the boys qualified for States for the first time since 2016 and made it to the state quarterfinals coach Shan Buchanan earned his 100th career Victory when the girls beat Morristown High School in the state quarterfinals we also have several swimmers who qualified for the state meet of Champions on March 2nd good luck item number four congrats to Selena busanic member of the PV girls basketball team on scoring her a thousandth Career Point on February 16th versus West Milford congrats on this Remar remarkable accomplishment item number five congrats to PV indoor track runners on the following accomplishments Patrick CTS North one group two State sectional Champion 800 m600 meter and Bergen County Champion 1,000 meter and Marcus Koshi North 1 group two State sectional Champion 3200 met and Bergen County Champion 3200 meter as well item number six on January 14th the pasic Valley girls basketball team hosted the Zachary benefit games which raised funds for the zaker foundation for over 20 years the benefit games have become an annual event on MLK Junior weekend raising funds for various charities for the past 5 years these games have benefited the Zackary Foundation which has created in memory of zacker a student from Rivervale who fought a courageous battle against cancer passing away after his freshman year at py the games receiv received tremendous support from the basketball Community with 18 teams including both the PV girls and boys teams playing nine games it is supported by the Zack lary Foundation student ambassadors PV students who have committed to volunteer for the foundation over the years we have seen it Grow from the original ambassadors who were Zach's classmates to their siblings and new students on January 15th during pv's MLK Jr Beloved Community Day Jeff Jasper and Ken sarajian hosted team giving back bringing together faculty current students alumni ler ambassadors Karen Kosh a former PB teacher who now serves on the zlf board and Mrs ler for a session discussing volunteerism Civic engagement and giving back they also provided insight for other groups that seek to in increase their giving back and Civic engagement item number seven in other athletic news congrat congratulations to the following team team and programs PV Regional hockey team for being big North Gold Cup finalist and the PV boys JB basketball team for being Bergen County tournament finalists for my fun fact the executive Council along with all class councils is planning the class cause week starting on March 4th this week will consist of events and fundraisers to raise awareness and money for each class cause be sure to get involved and help support these wonderful causes and now for my joke how does the Moon cut his hair Eclipse it this this concludes my report thank you mine uh one thing I would like to uh talk about with the board is we all got the email for the robot reveal night for the pasc Pioneers robotic team that is tomorrow night so if if we can go and support them it would be great it's going to be here so uh that's from 6 to 7:30 and um we meet their team we meet the robot from 2024 and they have a lot of Outreach efforts that they'd like to uh tell us about so if we can um and you can still RSVP because you can okay uh next we have uh the minutes uh uh for the February 5th meeting 2024 um the pasak Valley High School District Board of Education at the recommendation of the superintendent approve the following pasak Valley Regional High School District Board of Education meeting uh can I get a minutes you are correct Mrs Wing thank you um can I get a motion second any discussion Mr Yami roll call Miss Calderon yes Mrs Wang yes Mr louisi yes Mrs Martin yes Mr Stanis yes Miss stefins yes Mr Weaver yes Mrs Vargis yes next we have comments from the public citizens are invited to make comments regarding agenda items and are limited to 3 minutes according to the pasak Valley Regional High School District Board of Education policy number 0167 persons wishing to speak must upon being recognize rise sign in and state their name town of residence and which agenda item they are referencing looks like we have no one so we will go go on to education where there are six consent agenda items can I get a motion so moved second second any discussion Mr Yami roll call Miss Calderon yes Mrs Wang yes Mr Lisi yes Mrs Martin yes Mr Stanis yes Miss stepin abstain from six yes to the rest Mr Weaver yes Mrs Vargis yes next we have human resources we have 17 consent agenda items can I get a motion so moved second any discussion roll call please Mr Yami misss Calderone yes Mrs Swang yes Mr Lisi yes Mrs Martin yes Mr stankis yes Miss steens abstain from 17 yes to the [Music] remainder Mr Weaver abstain for yes to everything else Mrs vgis yes next we have finance and we have 19 consent agenda items can I get a motion please so moved second any discussion Mr Yami roll call please miss Calderon yes Mrs hang yes Mr louisi yes Mrs Martin yes Mr Stanis yes Miss stefins yes Mr Weaver yes Mrs varis yes next we have old business we have a presentation uh by Solutions Architects about the pasak hills locker room Renovations so I actually would like to suggest that while they set up they're going to do a presentation uh we've got to set up the screen and move things around while they do that if I would suggest that we actually walk down to the locker room real quick so we can get a visual on that I think that would be very helpful yeah that would and so there are no members of the public here but any members of the public that may come in we'll invite them down Miss mck would you mind staying here just in case a member of the public comes in and then there will be there should be the board members there's going to be no discussion while we're going down there we're just going to go down and check it out and then come back oh good thank you Mr okay thank you for letting us take that break to uh check out the locker rooms at pasak Hills both boys and girls and now we'll have the presentation from solution Architects uh regarding the pasak hills locker room renovation wonderful good evening everyone my name is Frank MSO I'm the principal and founder of solutions architecture with me is Tom ster Tom is the project architect responsible for uh pas Hills in pasak Valley so uh we're basically here to talk a little bit about and give you guys an update on where we were you know and if you believe this it was 2022 already the last time we spoke of this so it's sometime has passed but we want to talk a little bit about the high school locker room and team rooms and and the existing locker rooms which no doubt you just all went and saw uh so there there's definitely a need here um for the spaces to update the spaces to provide um greater efficiency and and also uh reclaim underutilized space because you know in locker rooms in middle school high school locker rooms there are there's often a big need today because the old shower rooms have often been misplaced they're used as storage or they're used as you know they're not used in the manner that they were 30 years ago and uh you know we're in this position in many school districts you're not the only one it's something that we're doing all the time for school districts providing a space that the showers can be used but with privacy and with you know dignity like they should be so the critical needs that that were discussed back when were to provide e Equity or equality between the boys rooms and the girls' rooms uh the girls locker rooms and team rooms as well as providing additional team rooms for the the ne necessary for the sports programs so when we looked at this um back in 2022 uh there were a couple of different options that we explored and one was simply to renovate the existing locker rooms as they are try to reclaim that underutilized space try to expand and get more space within the area the footprint that currently exists the second alternative was to look at the explore the possibility of a team room addition somewhere uh whether it was off of this building whether it was a separate a standalone building and we came up with a couple of options one was a a potential second floor Edition and the other was a separate a separately constructed Fieldhouse that would also have public toilets and Concession but also provide necessary team rooms for Home and Away um so in looking at uh the two options the first option was in fact to renovate the existing locker rooms as they are without expanding the footprint but trying to provide space and that ALS Al included an option to construct a new Fieldhouse so if we look at the existing plan and I'm going to zoom in so you can see if we look at the existing plan bear with me so this is your existing plan here uh and you can see from the dotted lines that are shown there is a very large shower area that's underutilized um there are a series of you know smaller toilet room areas and um the space is very fragmented and very inefficient as it currently exists our initial look at the space was to try and reclaim that shower area and make it usable by providing a coach's office by providing additional storage and then by creating uh a team room a girl's team room and then a girl's locker room again creating additional Locker Space by using islands that are low not like the old school locker rooms where you'd have really really high and you could kids could hide or kids could be behind them and the teachers couldn't supervise so the perimeters would be very tall you know tall lockers double tier and the perimeters in in the middle would be just shorter lockers that would provide the the spaces necessary there's also an office space for PE staff upgraded toilets to provide ADA compliance to the space a separate toilet shower room that could be used for gender neutral it could be used used uh you know for the coaches uh so there's a variety of different designs that we could come up with for the space but they would reclaim underutilized space within the locker room area so that was the the the intent of redesign for the girls locker room on the first floor similarly for the boys locker room on the second floor again the intent would be to uh reclaim and re revisit the shower room and underutilize spaces within the existing area look at where the coach's room and the office are to be able to renovate those to provide again additional locker room space uh or additional team room space additional locker room space revised shower areas and you can see from this plan the new shower areas that we provide are individual stalls not unlike a toilet stall they provide privacy they provide an area to towel off so that you're not doing that exposed to to to the area so and there's a variety the number of showers including a handicap stall there's a drying room uh as well as you know upgraded toilet facilities to provide ADA compliance uh additional Locker space uh a coach's office with with adequate storage and then the staff offices as well uh also with adequate storage and ADA Compliant toilet rooms so that was the renovations of the the locker rooms yes how does get up there in terms of in terms of any renovation that we do any any Renovations that we do have to comply with Ada regardless of whether there is or isn't an area to get up there but Tom the the thought that would would be that at some point in time there would be accessibility up into this area whether or not it was another lift that could be potentially located uh towards the back of that space where the stair is or whether or not it could be one of the other options that we have after where we'll show um you know accessibility on that second floor for the second floor Edition but anytime that we touch a space to the magnitude that we're touching this it has to be brought up to code so then the second part of this in order to provide that takes care of the locker room that reclaims un underutilized space within the locker room provides the necessary Locker spaces some team room space but then the other part of this was to look at what could be done at the field uh to provide a team room and Concession space because of the slope and where the existing bleachers exist and I'm going to switch slides real quick and I'm going to go to the site plan and show you where this building is intended to be situated so in between the slope and the tennis court and the existing bleachers is where we're trying to situate this building and use the slope to be able to get two levels out of this one level at grade at the field level and then an upper level uh up above and you can see from this image that this how this building works with the slope so as you go down the slope you have this lower level that's accessible for the team rooms and at the upper level you have concession and a little Plaza that overlooks the field so back to the plan if I look at that lower level I have a home locker room the home locker room is replete with lockers and spaces benches areas to change there's a toilet area uh Ada again compliant there's a trainer's office place to go in and get taped up and wrapped before a game uh as well as uh a Carter that splits between the away away and the home uh lockers so this would be the uh away locker room uh there would be an elevator within this facility to get to the second level and then at the second level we would have public toilets accessible from the upper level so there'd be a you know men's and women's room there would be uh a concession stand that would be uh serving the the public from that upper level uh the elevator would let you off into a corridor and then there would be a mechanical room Janitor's Closet Storage additional storage for the concession stand uh adjacent to the public uh public uh toilets so that would be the second level there'd be a plaza outside uh for concession you could Overlook the field and look at the game or you could go back down uh directly to the field itself either via the elevator or uh the stairs and that's again that that image is kind of what what we would do to uh use the slope that currently exists to be able to get the two layers the the two levels out of this so obviously this is always the big issue and what things cost and how they cost so uh our initial look at this and we've updated this since 2022 because numbers change in fact some numbers have come down but other numbers have come gone gone up and continue to rise mechanical is something that we continue to struggle with as Architects prices are all over the place this is not you know it's not here it's it's all over the state we have projects from Mammoth all the way down to Mammoth County and we have bids coming in with mechanical work that is you know extraordinary the prices are prices we've never seen and the contractors are intent on holding on to these prices so um in terms of in terms of option one uh which includes the renovations of the locker room so this is reconfiguring the first floor and reconfiguring the second floor we've split them in terms of budgeting uh We've provided 2400 Square F feet which is the size of the girls locker room 3700 was the size of the girls uh the boys locker room and we are carrying based on budgetary reasons we're carrying $450 a square foot per cost for the cost of renovating those rooms the reason for that is because of the reconfiguration there's a significant amount of Plumbing work work that needs to be done so we'd be saw cutting floors and rerouting sanitary lines and doing things to be able to get the plumbing where it needs to go in order to create greater efficiency so we're carrying about $450 a square foot we're also including furniture and Equipment which would be locker rooms and benches and those things necessary for a locker room so when we put together a budgetary estimate we want to make sure we're including all of those items that create a full project if I give you a construction budget but I don't give you the soft costs you don't have a complete picture of what this project will cost you so in addition when we bid a project the contractors are going to put overhead and profit on a job so we add that we make sure that you know what the bid price is going to come in at So based upon these two projects we're looking at construction cost only about $3.5 million to renovate the two locker rooms alone renovate those two locker rooms but when we start to add soft costs which are fee 10% contingency environmental um eval Environmental Testing because we have to test those areas make sure that there's no hazardous materials hazardous materials allowances all the things that comprise soft costs we come up with that number we come up with a total project cost of about $4.2 million and the next two columns are here because if we do these projects at of capital this is the number that you guys are confronted with there is no funding for these projects you get no funding if these projects could be included in some capacity in a referendum or something like that you have the ability to obtain 34% Debt Service Aid on those projects these projects would all be eligible renovation projects would all be eligible for the maximum Debt Service aid from the state and that's 34% so it would effectively allow you to pick up 1.5 million in debt service Aid reducing that the renovation cost of those rooms to about $2.7 million it's a big difference between just paying full price or getting the 30% discount if I look at the new construction now and we look at the new Fieldhouse construction we're talking about a new two-story Fieldhouse structure between the tennis courts and the bleachers home away locker rooms toilet rooms trainers office public toilet rooms and concession stands with that Terrace we're looking about building a structure it's about 5200 Square ft new construction the type of construction we're looking at there it's on a hillside it's not simple construction it's not simple footings uh it's probably about $850 a square foot it's a small building you're going to pay a premium for smaller construction um that building alone would be about four $4.4 million in construction cost adding Furniture meaning lockers and benches and those same same types of things for those team rooms uh you're about 4.5 million once we get into those GC and overhead costs the total cost for the project is about 5.2 million as we get in through the soft costs the total project cost is about $6.4 million now because it's a core a core space such as team rooms that are needed for school there is an argument to be made to the doe that we need to we should be eligible for some sort of funding on this it's not educational space but it is a core space that you currently don't have we have been successful in the past in the past by petitioning doe for some funding for core spaces that you are in need of uh and have been successful I won't say it's 30% I won't say you know it's 10 but anything is better than paying full price so we we've included for the purposes of being um conservative here we've incl included zero but the potential is there that you could receive something for that so that's option one that's the renovations and the Fieldhouse number all total those projects would be about 99.2 million to do take care of the locker room Renovations and the Fieldhouse Renovations yeah said home and away yeah you had said Home and Away Locker space for the Field House what sports would be using this would be both the female and male It's Going to Be unisex locker rooms yeah those kind of things yeah I mean it could be home and away it could be male and female it could be depending upon what the sport is and the way it's ultimately designed we've only looked at it from a conceptual standpoint but based upon the sports that would be used the lockers would change based upon whether it's boys and girls we're currently doing a a similar type of facility in Northern Highlands right now that is used for home and away it will be used for girls and boys sports um so there are Provisions that go into the to planning and design to accommodate you know instead of urinals on the wall for boys and girls you know there's an area for that there's an area for just stalls so that it accommodates both groups of of students yeah even in these layouts we the layouts reflect you know the same toilets in both on both sides so there are no urinals just THS we good with that okay so option two is very similar so the the renovations to the locker room don't change right we're going to renovate this locker room anyway so the renovations and the square footage and the costs and everything associated with the locker rooms don't change we're still going to renovate the lower level we're still going to reclaim the the shower area create Locker space so on the first floor our design doesn't change it's the same design to reclaim the UN underutilized space and allow us to effectively use locker and some team room space the only the only major change on the first floor is the addition of an elevator in the lobby thank you so as we get to the second floor however there there is a change and this is our lost my pointer okay so this is our relative footprint right now of the the second floor Flor space the intent here would be to redesign the second floor Locker space coach's office again the same intent to reclaim underutilized space to provide Provisions for all of the other needs of the space but then the intent would be to construct an addition that would actually connect the two sides of the building and allow for an additional girls girls locker room girls team room staff offices toilet room for facilities as well as common toilets and uh uh shower area as well as coaches offices in the center and additional storage and Equipment space so this addition would serve two purposes it would keep the footprint whole it would keep us part of the contiguous part of the building everything's connected if we add the elevator to the to the lobby that also gives us the Ada accessibility that you were asking about so it provides an alternative solution but a contiguous solution to the building um and from that perspective we like this option um it doesn't solve the Fieldhouse problem or something close to the field but it certainly provides a solution that accommodates you know everything now I won't tell you that you know because we do that it's going to be any cheaper than doing the other because we're still constructing an addition on top of an existing building that we don't know is designed to handle the second floor which may require that columns drop down from this floor to the first floor to the ground structural gets enhanced at that point so there's more structure to deal with there's things that we have to address again the the the first line the renovations to the locker room hasn't changed it's the same number you know again if we do get that service Aid you're looking at $2.7 million you're at $4.1 million if we just renovate those rooms the addition however it's only 4600 ft² it's not 5200 ft like the the other building so we save some cost there um we're still using the same number if this was a first floor Edition we wouldn't be using $850 a square foot it' probably be somewhere along the lines of $700 a square foot 725 a foot but uh based upon current numbers and what we've been seeing coming in uh this is a very conservative number and something that we would expect to see for a building that's an addition that's 4,600 Square ft now obviously if we combine the two and the two projects you get an economy of scale that may help biders be interested in bidding the job um so looking at this again the additional furniture and Equipment uh puts us at about four $4 million even uh when you start to look at the contractor's overhead and profit you're looking at 4.6 million and then after you get through soft costs you're looking at a cost of about 5 6 million now since we've already Incorporated the renovation cost you're getting funding on that the addition again is in that similar category where you could potentially obtain funding if we petition the state but we're calculating zero state aid for that number as well this puts you at about $8.5 million for this option number two any questions yeah the uh concession stand now is is what kind of concession stand that we have up on the football field up there is there is one up there right okay yeah go ahead the concession sand is um above like the bleacher area um and it's next to like the house where it stores all like the equipment like the tennis rackets or things like that and it's basically just like this small little one room like Shack house kind of thing um where you can you know sell concessions and go up to the front and buy them okay so it's it's minimal at best yeah okay what's what's causing that those exorbitant prices that you're getting from the contractors is it material so part of it's material since covid we've seen uh an acceleration in construction cost I in fact did several uh budget estimating um seminars down at school boards at you know um business business administrators conference because we're trying to explain it ourselves we're trying to understand it ourselves we're trying to control it ourselves a lot of the change is that it's a bull time for contractors they are holding fast to construction prices that they're receiving manufacturers were receiving a significant amount of you remember the $12 2x4 the $13 2x4 2x4s are backed down by $5 you know per per or 2x4 they'll never be $2 that they were but we're seeing material pre uh prices increase steel those kinds of things anything made with steel furniture Furnishings our biggest issue right now is mechanical mechanical contractors are holding fast to these numbers even where the manufacturers are saying they've receiving an 8% increase or a 5% increase in materials we're getting prices for 30% it's it's a ridiculous notion is it is it unheard of for for projects to where we would procure the material it's it's a strategy it's certainly a strategy that can be employed uh the difficulty there is with a GC or single Prime you have a single Source responsibility everything's warranted when you purchase the the material and you get the material now it's was the material in good shape when you bought it and it opens you it opens you up to issues but yes we in every job that we do out of the gate we procure furniture on state contract we procure casework on state contract we don't we don't expect the contractor to Mark those materials up we don't want them to because if you put casew work and Furniture into the bid the GC puts 10% on it so we try to do employ these types of strategies when we're bidding so that you're not paying those markups and that you're buying materials mechanical equipment it it depends on how complicated the mechanical system is it in a locker room you've got multiple units you've got exhaust you've got you know a series of systems that you need to provide in order to provide ventilation air fresh air as well as make sure that that space is is adequately circulated so purchasing the materials and having the contractor install them he's still going to want to get paid somehow and where where I'm saying in terms of materials we're seeing his markups are on labor that his markups are on the materials he's they're still doing it and it's and again it's mostly mostly mechanical electrical you know the lighting fixtures we've seen increases in materials the lighting fixtures themselves are very costly um P panels and for the new building service yeah electrical panels PSG is taking a year if it's a new service and it's something that needs to get added uh we just had a project just received uh switch gear for an electrical service a year after it was ordered so there there still is this you know this issue with material shortages but it's not as prevalent as it was during Co but it's still still hanging around yes so we were we did not look at exploring other areas of the building we looked at the locker room proper and the the the potential to add additional space we didn't do an overall Capacity Analysis of the building to see if there was areas that could be reclaimed or used um the difficulty when you're looking at Sports and and locker room spaces is the high degree of plumbing and things that are necessary for that space to be able to make it work um if we're talking team rooms that's a little bit less less of it but if it's in located in another location and you have to travel from one side of the building to get there um you know it's a time crunch or it's a another issue in terms of getting utilities to that space so we haven't looked at that it's certainly something that can be explored it's a it's a valid point and uh I I at the you know being fully transparent we're dealing with this we put a project out in uh Lincoln Park it's Mars County we put a project down to doe right before covid hit our estimates were based upon preco numbers the referendum went through and passed in March covid hit we got shut down every the doe got shut down the project got approved and the referendum passed we're dealing with pre-co numbers in a postco world we've bid three we did two roof projects the bids came in fine and we usually put escalators on so that normally in the first of a two or threeyear bid process the initial project come in under budget and that under budget savings floats as the projects come in over budget later on as cost escalate in Lincoln Park we've bid a mechanical project three times the first time it came in and it was 34 unit ventilator replacement the first time it came in 300,000 overb budget and we were like we had one bidder let's bid it again we bid it the same project we gave them more time to do the work same exact scope project came in 750,000 over budget we bid the same project we went into negotiations with the contractors the two contractors we opened it up to everybody else the contractor said I'll take 50,000 off the price we said forget it we we're going to reject the bids he called our office he said don't reject the bids I'll take 300 Grand off we told the district the district said the hell with that you're extorting us we're not doing this they rejected the bids we put the project out to bid another six eight months later bids came in 950,000 over budget we are in a spot in a district that we just are a victim of timing and and the costs are going up every other cost that we're experiencing or most of the other costs have have reached some sort of normaly they floated back down to somewhat reality rates but mechanical is really driving us crazy right now and this you know a project like this has mechanical so that's going to be the big the big ticket the what helps here is being able to find a vehicle to get funding right so you know including this as part of a referendum allows you to look at it from that perspective and again I don't know the the tenor of the public and the community and what that would do but you know the idea of of being able to include it and get 34% on the renovations at least to take a shot at possibly getting 10 15% on the new construction certainly helps make that more palatable because you're not paying out of capital 100% out of your pocket you're not depleting capital on a project like this and you're looking at even potentially adding other items that you might need that have to get done that are so projects like this locker room projects don't typically sell referenda they're you know they're a need mechanical equipment mechanical units people don't see they don't typically sell referenda but throw a media center in there throw a science lab throw education in there classrooms and spaces that directly impact your children they have the ability to do that and again I'm not suggesting it I'm just throwing out that that's the one vehicle that you one thing available to you that you have to be able to obtain some sort sort of aid for the project Rod grants they're not going to allow you to do sections and small pieces you know even if the rod Grant came around again um so and we saw from the rod grants they only they only dealt with mechanical and and you know electrical infrastructure that's the only thing that got approved no matter what people put in so that that's a sure thing the 34% on on the renovations but you have to make you know look at that determination as to whether it's worth to go out for that could you talk just um uh briefly philosophically about the idea of building up on the second floor versus building out now that we own property surrounding Hills so we were previously landlocked now we've got a little bit more flexibility there could you just talk about that just philosophically sure so anytime we can procure additional land it's great but the problem well not it's not a problem right you know sprawl happens all over the place and people do build out and build you know take over space the question is is you if you have a viable alternative to be able to build in your on your existing footprint not change the impervious coverage not change those things that are you know that could thank you um that not change things that could you know be used and just you know blow out and move out to the side it can be done the question is whether there's you know we always as Architects and planners we always want to look at the big picture does that fall within your master plan does that work with what might you do six seven eight years from now that you might need that land what might what might be required to be able to use that land so um again if we did want to explore that we would have to look at that big picture what could come down the road where how does this square footage of what you obtained match up with what we want to do how does that align with where everything else exists you know you know in the school you know and and next to the gym and what do we put there so it's a it's a much bigger question but philosophically it I think what we've come up with is a really pretty efficient plan you could see the cost is even lower than the other one but again there's a cost associated with it and and this is a budget number not knowing when we would go out or not knowing what we would do as we get closer and we look towards the design there are ways to look at this number and try to Chisel it a little bit more and make it more effective and make it more valid so um it's what we do when we get into the design process we're looking at a concept that you know we we took some guesses and assumptions I have a question um I don't know if it's directly at you but um having a freestanding building like that um by the you know uh field um just a little trying to logistically like students are leaving the main building with their stuff and toe I don't I'm a little confused how that would so much as benefit athletes so are we dumping things there in the morning before class um and then running back you know it's it's a walk it's a schlap so it's it's like you know we're now we're bringing all or dumping in the morning going back over there getting changed getting out in the soccer field football field whatever a tennis whatever you're going to do um I don't I just don't know manners in how these rooms end up getting utilized um there's a oftentimes they're used for the games they're used for the purposes of the games whether it be the the baseball game or or the soccer game uh so that the uh kids have a place to go e just before the game or after the game often times they'll leave whatever sport is in season during that period of time they could potentially leave their stuff up there so then they're going up there you know um after school or or on the weekends their their equipment is already there at the same time there's also um the I've seen um some of the schools use it where it's it's not an assign Locker for everyone individually that it's just really whatever team is going in there to practice has the ability to just kind of store their their equipment and their gear during that period of time that they're up there and then that's it and they take everything with them when they go so it's we've seen it used in in multiple ways I know there's a you know this being a slight distance from the building itself I would see that there's a good chance that you get the kids might actually be using and leaving their equipment up there and that's where they have their primary team room as opposed to being back in the building if that makes sense but your point is a valid one I mean and these are the things that need to be explored further and looked at further in terms of does it work and that's kind of why I you know again I'm a I'm a purist I like the in integrated you know looking at this addition and putting an addition on the second floor as opposed to and again I know it doesn't meet the need of the concession stand and the other things but you know there may be ways to address this but by having a conversation it's a good point I mean I get concerned um I'm in Hillsdale and our theyve tried to push a referendum and it was Sure Shot Down strongly by the community and it was very academic and it was for students learning and now we're going to say oh it was a big number yeah it was a big number big number and it was shot down strongly it um so I just I think like a referendum like this again you're going to the community to ask their opinion and they're they're backing for something financially I don't know that like you were saying if we don't have something a little bit better to sell that just Sports is not going to work I I agree I I you have you have my complete agreement for that you need something for everyone and in terms of that referendum strategy you need something that's going to appeal to the community it's going to be a need not a want not a wish it's going to be a need and you know you can demonstrate those things you we do we do referenda all the time we've got a pretty good track record we've passed 12 out of the last 13 referenda since 2019 $370 Million worth of referendum work it's all about transparency it's all about giving the public what they need and letting them know why you're doing this it's about making sure that they understand the cause as well as you do so it's a it's definitely something if it's if it's even a consideration that has to be well thought out well planned and it has to include more than just you know ad you know Athletics the the the only other piece I'll say is the the more Renovations you add the more it offsets the lack of funding for the additions so if you were to add more Renovations you get 43% more in renov 34% more in the renovations so it offsets the cost you could actually do more work for less money because you're getting more funding it it takes that that funding formula and reverses it again we're going to four towns asking them to to do something that's only going to benefit Hills it's a big chunk of money for athletics in one building well when you talk about Equity you might look at what does Valley need now you're D now you're right now you're looking at those things so and again it goes towards you know what the pallet is and I don't know that answer I'm just again my my conversation is about this project and it's about how can you get funded for it because there's no other vehicle to do that so I think this is a big conversation for another time over time uh because we did some of these other projects that may be needed between both schools and not this being an isolated project as part of a referendum okay so those conversations I think did start back in 2022 and Joe who was a part of them speak to that as well okay I'd be curious to know what other opportunities there are within the building renovating existing space okay um and you know the reality is that be pitting one one one school against the other in terms of what one gets and the other should get it should be what what we need as a district um because the reality is when the last referendum passed the one area that was neglected was team space for the girls here at kills so as we move forward we need to rectify that some way um and uh doing it as part of a bigger plan you know what we'll hopefully be able to present in public I just want to clarify when you say uh that you do want to see if there's the possibility of utilizing existing space within the school to do Renovations are you talking about moving the locker room can you I'm not I'm not sure I don't know what room utilization is so I would leave it up to Administration book at rization back with um the last superintendent Who provided us with some details and specifics on how rooms are utilized how many periods during the day a room is is used so I'll leave it up to the Architects to let us know what spaces are around the gym that could be other potential options and how those rooms are currently being used and maybe where else those could I don't know uh the question for The Architects would that impact the cost I mean are there I'm I'm not I'm having a trouble envisioning where there spaces around the gym that we could impact this to impact the cost so this floor plan would that change the cost I think is the question yeah I I think that it if there's something nearby that can be utilized you're not building additional square footage you are renovating it so if you don't don't have to build additional square footage and you renovate more that gives you again more Debt Service Aid if it's a referendum but it does you're not paying $850 a square foot you're paying $450 to renovate even if there's no funding the question is going to be is whether that space exists that's I think that's my qu Robert is there like looking at that right there where is the potential because we know what our room utilization is where around there could we expand two science uhhuh and the science room that's going to be if I'm looking at this right here the two science rooms that are down and to the left are they are they actually touching it yeah I can picture where the science rooms are I'm not picturing how they're touching the locker rooms the back of the science room is touching there's around lock rooms they're landlocked by a hallway yeah the other side of the hallway is the science rooms left so if you were to take on that first floor there then potentially a hallway and two classrooms does that change and so I think what I'm trying to figure out is are we asking The Architects to do a new drawing including those science rooms or are we asking if that would impact the overall cost how would that impact the overall cost let's say that we could go out into the two science rooms for the renovation are we still looking at 450 well correct we'd have yeah but yeah that's my point you you could be looking at more because if you're relocating science labs now you have to find out where to put those room and what you need to do listen I what I would suggest is if these are the questions that you want us to evaluate we certainly can look at it from that perspective because our plan unfortunately I don't have the entire footprint of the school plan but we could kind of do an analysis of that area and ask you about what those classrooms are what their capacities are in terms of how often are they use so six out of six periods a day nine out of nine you know eight out of eight for them yeah but I get what we're saying yeah is the board interested in seeing that in a subsequent meeting or are are we good with the estimate that this might be I think that's then that's my question if the rooms are being used I don't know that it makes sense I mean I think Mike's Point was if there if there are rooms that are not being utilized to the fullest extent okay yeah but it just doesn't make sense if eight out of eight periods uh it's being used because then where do we relocate them to they would have to be relocated yeah I just feel like you're trading you know five pennies for how many what I'd be curious to know is how many rooms are open for period right as a starting point how those rooms are are used yeah for a room utilization standpoint we're four years away from this project even possibly happening I would imagine so I think we would want to put everything on the table in terms of exploring what our options are like the auditorium you know making sure that we we're doing our due Dil to make sure that you know it meets every stakeholders every stakeholders meet it's a relatively simple analysis for us in terms of taking the plan sending out a you know kind of a survey to the principles in terms of the plan and the number of periods each classroom is used and you know if we want to segregate it to a certain period part of the building or look at the whole building we can certainly do that it's a pretty simple calculation with when you look at your lrfp that's down at doe that you do a doe it's really not a capacity you know you get a building capacity from doe that's really a a calculation based upon a formula that's doe did in 2000 it has nothing to do with how many periods your your classrooms are used or what capacity is or how many classrooms do you have that are full-sized that are being used for six kids you know these are things that you know it's a very simple analysis but it's something that could tell you what your room utilization is at that at the district level not at Doe's level it's a different formula I don't really know I want to do this email I don't know where that goes so uh is there a motion to move forward with an analysis that um Solutions Architects would do uh to see what the utilization of the rooms are uh at Hills as of right now so moved any second second is that do we have to do okay any more discussion so discussion wouldn't we typically toe and then come forward with isn't that the process on how that works well this was this particular uh project was requested to be before the full board so it's before the full board right now so I think it makes sense for the board to make a decision since we have the Architects here as to whether or not we want more information and then I think that information will be reported back to the committee first yeah any further their discussion comes with cost yeah so we would have to know what that cost is and be able to V we would get your proposal so maybe we should get that proposal motion to get a [Laughter] proposal no worries yeah so are we going to change that to the motion to get a proposal on what the estimate for would be for uh the room utilization uh at pasak Hills okay we to do all right so Jim you moved that can we get a second second or was doing it over is it's a difference to get the proposal you need you Mo you you you moved it you made a motion yes I need a second second thank you any discussion on that okay I take a vote Mr you saw me oh what I have to take a vote M Calderon yes Mrs Swang yes Mr is not here Mrs Martin yes Mr stankis yes Miss stepin that's a question right no yes Mr Weaver and Mrs Vargis yes okay thank you all good yeah thank you thank you so much will okay uh we will now continue with old business uh can we just get an update on the PV 911 access on the fields yes so Mr Zeller and Mr Donahue actually came up with a um I think very clever um but effective solution to install a phone box um out on the field in between the football field and the baseball field soccer football fields up at Valley the Box will um be weatherproof it'll have a phone inside the phone will only be able to dial 911 um it will actually automate a camera when you open the box a camera will come on it'll dial 911 and we'll have a placard um inside that has the school address and other emergency information where the AED is located that sort of thing we're in the process of updating all of our facility use forms to include emergency information that was a process we had started um several weeks ago so we'll include this into that uh new emergency information that'll be uh available for anyone who rents the facility so that would take the issue of outside people using that field um would give them a way to guarantee to be able to call 911 if they were not able to get it on their cell phones thank you to all for making that happen we really appreciate that any other old business note uh about um this week I just wanted to thank the administration on um how they handled um everything this week with the staff and the students um regarding um you know the unfortunate tragic of event that happened this week with our student Joseph MCN so um I just wanted to call attention to that because I was really pleased to hear what what happened at school thank you sure of course um many of us almost everybody in the school parents people who knew Joe MCN or didn't know showed up at the Wake well I was at training but it was like two and a half hours for people to just get through it was really amazing any other old business what's this one I just want to thank the board for sending me to my training that happened within the first 90 days of me being on the board and it was really informative um 80 80 of us were there so we got to hear in the breakout rooms what's going on in the other districts as well and I'm glad to be part of pasek Valley District thank you and we're glad to have you uh any other old business any new business next we have comments from the public citizens are invited to make comments and are limited to 3 minutes according to the pasak Valley Regional High School District Board of Ed policy number 0167 persons wishing to speak must upon being recognized rise sign in and state their name and town of residence seeing as there is no one here uh can I get a motion for adjournment second second we are adjourned