this is hcam just letting everyone know that we're good to go live when you begin okay thank you Matt we'll just wait for a few more people so we can we'll get to Quorum and I know Jeff and Carol are coming too so actually it's not even six o'clock yet so is school done ktim yeah I finished um today actually was the last say a few hours ago right y I was thinking because like the middle school doesn't have air conditioning does it or or does it uh just in a couple locations um yeah so not the whole school but weirdly it stays I mean I'm not going to I'm not going to say it's comfortable but it stays you know relatively okay you know today would have been difficult tomorrow would be worse so we're glad the little cherubs are home for the we for for the summer the the lawn behind the middle school is definitely not air conditioned as we discovered during the eth grade promotion ceremony I got lucky my daughter's was yesterday and it was uh beautiful day yeah bread was the was the order of the day today for the program so Mr lefave does a nice job though huh that's ay good thing yeah it was a nice program yeah hi Mike hi Carol hi Jack rude hello everyone we're here [Music] Nancy's coming in so that will give us our Quorum hi Nancy hi um I know Jeff is coming and Tim and Carol I don't know if Susan is coming or not they're probably the two um you're on mute Carol uh yes Susan is definitely coming because she left here just a little while ago and so I would imagine that depending on traffic okay well we'll give it a couple minutes because I know we really don't want to start uh especially while we're waiting for um Jeff because I know he's our vertex rep tonight just so you know I have select board at seven o'clock so if I disappear that's where I'm going it is my sincere hope to get us through by then oh mine too so yeah I think I think we should be good actually Dan which which sections are yours to present on the agenda we have um I think we have Michelle here from Samy Otis who's gonna go over like a real high level overview of the um planning board submission yeah and Claire is going to jump on from LEC at L like said 6:15 she's in the car right now but she's going to do like a five minute on the kcom submission okay basically neither one of them really changed but we asked them to give like a high level overview for everybody okay and answer any questions that might arise okay Jeff just texted me and said he's logging on right now um and it'll actually give me a chance I didn't didn't see any voices but uh oh there it is okay good that gives me an extra second to find those did you say you were missing the invoices I got them now I got them now though okay thank you well in the interest of time I know Jeff just texted me and said said he's logging on so why don't we go ahead and get started I will call the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m. welcome everyone to the Tuesday June 18th 2024 meeting of the elementary school building committee um we are conducting this meeting virtually in accordance with the governor's regulations um and so since we are virtual any votes we take tonight will be taken via a roll call vote um we do have Quorum with um five committee members in attendance um quick review of our agenda we have our opportunity for public comment following that under new business we will be approving invoices we will look to approve the minutes of our last esbc meeting um and then we will get updates on our local permitting both planning board and concom as well as an update on the meepa process um we will get an update on a recent msba meeting that occurred a couple of weeks ago and we will discuss and take a vote on the approach to negotiations with auts to the project um and we will try to wrap up as close to 7 o'clock as possible if not before um so beginning with public comment is there anyone here who's a member of the public who wishes to comment looking at the windows I'm thinking that's a no um and so we will go right ahead and we will go to approval of invoices in your packet tonight there were two invoices um the first is an invoice for vertex um which is invoice number OPM 11626 in the amount of $ 52,589 33 the second invoice is payable to Perkins Eastman invoice number 95421 006 in the amount of $654,500 the grand total of the invoice package tonight is $ 77,4 63 does anyone have any questions or comments about the invoices no okay hearing none I would seek a motion to improve approve the invoice package uh totaling $ 77,4 63 so move Mr chairman is there a second second okay I have a motion by Mike a second by Nancy um we are roll call so I'll go in the order of my zoom Windows I'll starting with Bill yes Mike yes sir D yes Nancy yes and I am a yes so the invoices are approved unanimously 5 Z hey John yes I don't have a question about that invoice but I just wanted to know I'm sure many people probably saw the article recently about what happened up in Arlington where they had a $450,000 email international email scam in regards to their school construction so I'm just curious what sort of safeguards and protocols do we have here at with our situation that you know our citizens can feel pretty comfortable it sound like it was a very sophisticated group that went after them and I'm just curious what safe cards we have in place if that wouldn't happen to us and and I don't necessarily need an answer right now something that I think we should feel we should know as a committee that we're we're pretty good shape yeah yeah if um refresh my memory but I I think they asked for a direct wire is was that yeah okay so we don't do that at all so we we don't direct wire anyone right and you shouldn't be reached out by vendors I mean you know we are we're the conduit for invoice processing right so you shouldn't be directly asked to be paid by any vendor unless they've already submitted a W9 and already been set up in the town system if they want to do direct deposit all invoices flow through vertex as does all reimbursements back at the state you know some of those scams talked about you know if you wanted to get your reimbursement from your project from the state you know use this link so you know vertex handles all your reimbursements so we submit all paperwork associated with that all invoices flow through us so the town shouldn't be interacting with other entities other than already paying established firms that have a setup system with set up accounts and if there are any questions they should go through you know Susan or or my office um you know to validate any requests that do come in it's a great question Bill and unfortunately something a few towns fell victim to no I appreciate it I'm not surprised you both had very uh comprehensive answer and um I just wanted to bring it up so that we are aware of it thank you no problem thanks Bill um okay next up are minutes so in your packet were the draft minutes from our May 14th 2024 meeting are there any questions or edits to those minutes okay hearing none I would seek a motion to approve the minutes of May 14 2024 so move Mr chairman is there a second second second okay I think Bill got in there first so we'll go uh motion by Mike second by Bill uh roll call vote for approval starting with Bill yes Mike yes sir D root yes Nancy yes and I am a yes so those minutes are approved 5 to zero um next item on the agenda is an update on permitting um and so Dan I think I am turning this over to you or somebody you brought I think Michelle oh there's Michelle sorry I didn't see you in the window so yeah is gonna give you an update on the local permitting I could talk a little bit about meepa we get to that point okay excellent all right thank you hi everyone uh Michelle kaiserman uh Sami Otis Consultants were the civil engineers and we're taking point on the planning board submission um so we are targeting uh for the end of this week on Friday to be submitting to the town uh we are in the process of compiling uh the submission and the submission um is uh is pretty much the uh Narrative of explaining you know introduction of the project kind of the why the the school is needed um kind of how big is the school what is the layout of the school uh the utilities the um impact to the town that this would have um a lot of this information is what we pull from The Narrative that went into msba as part of the DD submission um we're also submitting the storm water report and calculations um and this has not changed from um PR the submission that we did uh to NEPA um and it's going to be the same for conservation St martic calculations and layout of the system uh with the utilities the landscape plans the architectural elevations will be part of this uh the traffic report will be part of this Mission um the lighting plans and site lighting utilities will be part of this Mission um landscape lighting um so that's pretty much the submission um one of the newer items is that the planning board is interested is kind of phasing um so we will be including some information on phasing of dewatering that will be part of kind of a more guiding the planning board that this is a means and methods kind of item and that we do expect that it will be phased by the contractor but it is up to the contractor and their what whatever engineer that they hire to do the the watering calculations and then that would be submitted back to us to review um but we are not the ones who are doing that um so that is pretty much what is in the packet to planning and so the the commission is going into the planning board this Friday the expectation is that while they set the agenda we'd be looking at a hearing in July correct correct y okay Michelle you're also putting together the package for concom as well the same time no uh so we are submitting some items so that's more LEC who is taking charge of the Conservation Commission but I believe that is also going in either next this week or next week I dad can it's the same timeline so we're looking to kind of because a lot of the documents overlap we're looking to assemble it all by the end of the week like signatures and and if they're both ready to go they'll go in on Friday that's Claire's actually on this call to give a quick update on that too okay I don't want Thunder I think you did um and so and so just for from the so for the the full committee's benefits so that again that that is that documentation is being assembled for submission on Friday it reflects all the things that we've already seen in terms of the building specs Etc we're just getting that over the planning board we will have the full submission um before the planning board meeting uh hearing that occurs and obviously we'll share the date with all the members of the committee um you know I think probably would in an ideal world would have had the submission today before this meeting but just timing and everything trying to manage it to the deadlines that the local authorities have and our meeting schedule just didn't quite line up but there's nothing in particular and I'll look to our professionals to correct me if I'm wrong here there's nothing in particular in that submission that is something that would be the sort of first time we've seen information might just be in different formats and things like that that's correct yeah so any questions from the committee with regards to the process of submission for the planning board okay then hearing none um I think we can move on to the discussion of the concom submission right yep yeah Claire I don't know if you want to discuss concom and you're on mute if you're trying to talk maybe she doesn't maybe she doesn't you did give her the out if if you want to talk yeah we kind of did yeah was also GNA chip in on mea too maybe but having trouble unmuting okay okay well sometimes stepping out and stepping back in helps with that but it's up to her I ultimately what we're looking to get out of tonight is a you an approval to submit both the concom and the planning board submissions at your last presentation we talked about the storm water changes that affected concom and planning board and so that's the kind of bulk of the tweaks that have happened over the past couple months leading up to that submission as John alluded to we're going to submit them on Friday but then we're looking to schedule your next meeting in kind of middle mid to early July and that way you'll have the package completed in hand uh prior to any public hearings related to this project so that the the committee will have u a chance to look at it and discuss of the body um prior to those other public hearings um and Jeff is that a vote you need or is that just general approval a would probably be preferable I know it's not hard and fast I mean usually they you know the application the town Town manager will sign it either way but I think uh I think authorizing the project Consultants to or the interim Town manager um authorizing the Consultants to submit on the committee's behalf would be an appropriate vote okay both oncom and planning board okay so what we're looking for is a motion to authorize the again the project team to submit for both concom and for planning on Friday okay so move Mr chairman is there a second second okay motion by Mike second by Jack rud roll call vote Bill yes Mike yes sir D yes Nancy yes and I am yes so the authorization is approved five nothing Claire are you back with us now I am I think I got the mute fixed can you hear me yes y i as committee to to authorize you and uh and samot to submit both planning board and conom and I don't know if you had anything else color commentary you wanted to add about the concom submission or not uh nothing further to add I didn't catch what everybody talked about before I was able to sign on but uh just for context the notice of intent application will be similar to what we submitted for the expanded enf uh it'll just be much more toned down document uh very directed towards uh Wetlands related items and storm water so it I think John put it well it won't really be much new information beyond what you have all already seen Claire do you w to give the update on meepa while you have the floor um I could briefly give an update uh we had the scoping session uh last Monday that went well and I've been receiving some scattered comments from the analyst as he's been going through the review um asking some follow-up questions and clarifications which we've been able to address uh so at this point we're expecting the comment period to end on Friday uh which is when we will receive any comments provided by agencies or members of the public and then we would expect the certificate to be issued next Friday and so once the certificate gets issued that's when we know what we need to address in the environmental impact report the E and so we'll be reviewing the distilled version of the comments letters that have come back from the uh the public through the uh meepa office that's correct the expanded F certificate will provide a scope for what the secretary will be looking for in the E exactly so also one of the reasons why we we bumped up the July meeting because it'd be good to have that in hand um you know early to mid July so we can update and advise the committee on kind of next steps as it relates to that me process which to remind everybody is the critical uh path of the project that is the longest lead time item uh we have so we just we want to make sure we stay on track for that okay any questions regarding meepa I I do have a question um sorry go ahead no no just go ahead yeah I have just a general question about the permitting process given that um you know the the materials being reviewed by NEPA planning uh planning board concom all concurrently how do you manage the the comments that come in say for example me comes up with some comments and there's some there's some changes have to be made to address those comments would you then resubmit to the planning board in the concom or how do you just or would the comments be mutually exclusive where each board is looking at different things um how does the process usually work given that it's going concurrently so meepa is not necessarily A permitting agency they're help helping compile all of the comments that would be coming from permitting agencies uh while they can request some modifications or considerations for the project I essentially what they would be suggesting are items that the planning board and conservation um and other agencies would already be asking for so generally the comments are pretty related to each other um um if there are any comments from meepa in this expanded enf certificate that we do need to address while we are in the planning board and Conservation Commission review process uh we'll just have to be making those revisions concurrently and provide that new information in the eir submitt with meepa okay and usually for the uh local um town uh reviews um usually the peer Reviewer is the same um company in person that does both um just so that it's not one board fighting the other board on making changes and this is also the reason why we submit plans to both um boards concurrently um because we're speaking to them pretty much you know either back to back in the same week or the following week so when they're asking for changes we can talk to the uh the commission and the planning board uh livetime and say that you know well one board has asked for these changes this is going to affect this um and allow to kind of not be stuck making changes undo changes and then redo changes that we can have um these kind of conversations live time so that um we the boards aren't kind of fighting each other yeah that's question CH because it does come up all the time and there are resubmissions for the local boards because we clean up the documents you know we collect the peer review comments and they get incorporated into revised revisions that ultimately get memorialized in the final approval reference and so that there's a record say record set at the end of both those processes thank you thank you any other questions I did have one more thing um we one of the question s from the meepa analyst was about the old Elmwood and what the intention was for that building and I you know know that there were some things out there about but I think it's still unknown so I can um it is still unknown and I can share some of the the work that's out there the um the permanent building Committee in Hopkinton has been doing a fairly lengthy study of several Town buildings and they included the Elmwood existing Elmwood School in there um sort of in case the the project was approved and so they have uh recommended some different models for use the town has not taken up the discussion of what those would be um simply because right now they're prioritizing the center school property to figure that out first but um there is work being done so you can probably distill what I can send you down to a you know paragraph response of what what what is going on the answer is the ultimate answer is nobody knows what it's going to be but there are options being studied and presented okay CLA does that grab what you if we get that was that is that going to be what you need they put a couple paragraphs together or a paragraph together for him yes yep that's that's perfect thank you for that providing that information okay yep I will I'll send that to both of you okay it's great thanks John okay any other permitting questions local or meepa okay so moving on uh we're next looking at an update on the msba meeting from June 5th yep so we uh we had a meeting with the msba on June 5th which had our project coordinator and our project man from the msba as well as the working group um in that meeting they reviewed the advisories which is essentially the modules which explains what to what their expectations are for the design development instruction documents phase and then they go on and describe what their expectations are on the construction and close out phases as well it's a lot about them disseminating information um unfortunately for us there was a misstep for the msba which uh which we have a new msba project manager that's filling in on the interim that started this past week um because the uh current project manager is on on fraternity league and that new project manager came on board uh she reminded us that we missed a design presentation to them which was a requirement they added in vague language um now they had added a couple years ago and so really this meeting was more about them deeming information to us but they did want a little dog and pony show which uh which we uh did not do for them we gave them a verbal update on where the project is and how we're on budget there are no changes but the uh the new project manager would like that record copy so us and Perkins are pulling that together this week as we have all the stuff available we just didn't have it in hand for the initial meeting and we're going to send that over um I believe that interim person is there for about three months until the uh regular project manager returns but other than that it was an uneventful meeting uh all their standard literature was disseminated uh to this group in terms of the working group and uh we're on to the next phase which is construction documents any questions about the msba meeting or process the other point I want to make on that is that the msba uh you know why these things kind of get lost in the weeds there's lots of uh standardization uh and blanket statements and if you've been on this job here with me for the past couple of years you've probably seen a lot of that and so a week ago we got the the email that blasted out to every single District copying the world saying hurry up and get all your reimbursements in for the end of fiscal year and of course I have to write back and and advise them that well you have not signed a funding agreement with us because you're holding us up until mea is available but therefore that does not apply to us but thank you for copying the world so you know which they write back and say oh right yes so that does not apply to you so there's a little dog and pony dance that goes back and forth and I just want you guys to be advised because as Town leadership changes there's new people that end up on the other end of those email correspondents and there may be questions that come back to John or Carol from the interim leadership at the Town um over the course of the project but the MSP agreed that we're not going to submit any reimbursements until they sign the funding agreement which was you know targeted for the beginning of the year um when we wrap up meall and we provided when we when that was agreed upon we provided an updated cash flow to town at the time so they shouldn't be surprised by anything at this point that's correct yeah we updated the cash FL of the Town we've also sent all contract amendments and things like that to the mspa so they're getting the records they're following along but we're not pre submitting you know 14 months worth of reimbursements we're just going to do a a lumpsum submission uh when they finally sign the agreement sure makes sense okay any other questions on that um last piece is um discussing the process um with a butter negotiations so just a contextualize for the whole committee um as we know there are several abutters who's um who are impacted in some way or the other um by this project U most frequently by the roadway improvements even though they're all occurring within the public right away it does have have impact on some of the various properties so um we had begun discussions with the abutters even before project approval to start talking about the process at a high level um we did uh the um vertex and Perkins Eastman and Mike Shepard did a walk through with um all of the abutters on Hayden row so once the once we were able to stake out exactly where the roadway improvements would be occurring um and now um we're beginning the process of discussing with each of the abutters specifically what they might be looking for as mitigation and then also what the town SL the committee would be willing to do to really achieve the output they're looking for so whether it's you know shielding from uh from some of the um the exits or entrances of the new project or other Landscaping that might be desired because in the public right of way um the existing driveway gets Shunk a little bit or something like that so um it will be a process of discussing and negotiating with each individual um affected property uh we'll be kicking that off with discussions that uh in well I guess kicking it off we we're not kicking it off we're continuing it with specific discussions that'll be starting in the month of July um so we're going to be sending out a communication to all of those affected allowing them some opportunities to choose dates and times where they can meet with um members of the committee members of the from Perkins Eastman and from vertex and talk have those specific discussions um I think what we're looking for tonight is as part of that process it is incredibly inefficient if we have to come back to the full committee with sort of each detail level discussion so what we were hoping to do was uh get the committee's authorization to authorize um and myself to be the committee's negotiators um on what those specific mitigations would be with each of the individual Property Owners um we would then uh come where we sort of come back to the committee would be when we know what the the total cost of of mitigation efforts would be just to get that budget approval um Jeff did I miss anything there uh guess the next step is we're going to send out a survey Sign Up Genius that they we're using to the second week of July to provide a bunch of time slots for all those butters on the that surround the property that have reached out to us to date uh and asked them if they'd like to have a meeting at that meeting we're going to talk to them about their concerns uh and understand what their main concerns are whether it's in the front of the yard the side of the yard the rear of the yard and then we'll come back to them with a followup uh meeting about you know how we might be able to address those concerns a lot of that's what'll happen in the interim back and forth before we present updates to the building committee any questions about that process so John do you need a a motion or just someone to move what you've already suggested um yeah I mean if there were no questions then I would seek a motion to authorize um John Graziano and Mike Shepard to act as represent of the committee in negotiating potential mitigation efforts with abutters to the project so moved is there a second second okay I got a motion by Bill and a second by Nancy so roll call starting with Bill yes Mike Mike you're on mute on well Mike we gota we got to hear you say yes you're on mute there you go ah yes sir D root yes Nancy yes and I am a yes so it is approved five to zero um okay that is the last item on our agenda is there anything else Jeff um we were uh we were targeting initially we were targeting later in July but we talked about doing July 9th now um which is I think three weeks from today um the purpose of that meeting date is again as we discussed earlier to try and have a touch space with this group um before all the public hearings initiate with concom and planning board as well as review the uh eir enf comments that will come back from meepa at that point so it'll be a permit focused meeting as well as some other house business with invoices and and minutes so I guess the question of the committee is does July 9th work I know summer schedules get a little uh tricky uh so we just want to make sure you guys have a quorum I think to to Aid with Summer attendance we probably still stick with the remote uh participation in terms of virtual meetings smart um at this lay level if if if the E comments come back and we feel we need a iners discussion we'll We'll advise the committee if there's a change in that John I probably will not be able to join that night that day are others generally okay I should be able to make it John okay all right then I think we'll yeah I think we can Target that day and if and yeah unless advised otherwise so July 9th virtual meeting and just while we had I think the other one we penciled in was August 13th um just again people summer schedules fill up pretty fast we were just planning on doing you know kind of one meeting a month I think at this juncture unless things change in the permitting realm and necessitates another meeting okay I think from thinking about the August meeting maybe what we can do is if we can just get the invite out if we can do that through Georgette and then we probably give us a quick roll call do we have enough people to make it for August 13th okay okay yeah August 13th is on the calendar but July 9th is not so be sure to get that to Georgette great thank you okay so the July 9th replaces July 18th yes that's correct and I think she's already sent out the other one because I have it on here already oh okay great yeah those are the couple ones have been notified the July one was the only at the moment okay awesome well then if there is nothing else I would seek a motion to adjourn so moved is there a second second Mr chairman okay motion by Nancy second by Mike roll call starting with Bill yes Mike yes sir Jag root yes Nancy yes and I am yes so we are adjourned at 6:37 p.m. again our next meeting will be on July 9th at 6: PM uh it will be a virtual meeting but we will coordinate with hcam to make sure that it is broadcast and recorded um thank you to hcam as always and um have a good night everyone thanks thanks everybody take care re e