Meeting Minutes

The Engineering Committee met Monday, October 24, 2011 at The District Offices at 245 Main Street, Cromwell, Connecticut.

The Chair, John Dunham, called the meeting to order at 5:35 PM. In addition to the Chair, present were Committee Members - Gerry Amodio, Tom Tokarz and John Valengavich. There was a quorum. Also present were Board Chairman - Bill Candelori, Board Members - Peter Centurelli and Ed Sasso, Executive Director - Brian W. Armet, John Braccio, Bill Brown and Chris Pierce from Wright-Pierce, and Bill Neagus from Strategic Persuasion Group.

1) Nitrogen Upgrade Bidding Phase Services

Chair, John Dunham opened the meeting and yielded the floor to Wright-Pierce to give an update on the Bidding Process. John Braccio reviewed, with the Committee, the activities to date: when the project was advertised, October 2nd; the mandatory Pre-Bid meeting on October 13th - 92 people and 12 General Contractors/Construction Managers were in attendance, Jett Industries out of Colliersville, NY had ten people on-site; various firms have submitted a total of 50 Requests for Information (RFI) with the most detailed questions coming from Nickerson; Nickerson has also scheduled a site visit to tour the facility with Michelle Ryan, District Engineer, and Nickerson will also be on-site to dig test pits at the locations of the deep excavations which are also filled areas. Nickerson has requested a one week extension on the bid date and R.H. White has requested a four week extension.

Committee Chair, John Dunham, questioned Nickerson digging test pits without notifying the other potential bidders. John Braccio stated that the bid documents state that the Contractors are to perform all due diligence necessary to become fully informed regarding site conditions and that they are to attest in their bid submittal that they have done so. He also stated that Nickerson has, in the past, dug test pits at other facilities as part of their bid preparation. Chris Pierce of Wright-Pierce stated that if W-P or the District dug the test pits than we would have to notify everyone. He also stated that it is incumbent upon Nickerson to notify W-P if they find the subsurface conditions to be materially different than boring data indicated.

Board Chairman - Bill Candelori asked if it is a Board Decision to extend the Bid date, and John Braccio said yes. Subsequently, the Engineering Committee scheduled a Meeting for November 9th to review the RFIs, Addendum Responses, and to determine if there is a need to extend the Bid Date. John Dunham also requested copies of the RFIs. John Braccio stated that Bid documents require that all contractors be notified five working days before the scheduled bid opening date if the date is to be extended. November 9th would be the last day for the Board to make that decision. John Braccio stated that the Bid date was set around the Board's schedule and requirement to present the tabulation of bids to the Engineering Committee for review and evaluation prior to submittal to the full Board at its December 19, 2011 Board Meeting.

The Committee and the Executive Director reviewed the Bidding Phase Services that W-P has been authorized to perform, these are: finalize the plans and specs and bid documents (completed), advertise the project for bidding (completed), schedule and attend the mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting (completed), review RFIs and prepare addenda (on-going), and attend the Bid Opening (November 18th). The Executive Director stated that these services are estimated at $65,000 depending on the extent of the Addenda. John Dunham stated that if W-P has to make extensive changes to the plan drawings that this fee could be higher.

Chairman - Bill Candelori read a January 2011 letter from W-P to the Board which stated that W-P's Bidding Phase Services would be $100,000. The Executive Director stated that that is correct and is for all of the Bidding Phase Services. However, The District only approved W-P performing the initial Bidding Phase Services and has not approved the services associated with reviewing the bids to ensure that all required submittals have been submitted, a tabulation of all bids and a preliminary review and submittal to the Engineering Committee for their review and evaluation and submittal to the Board.

The Committee also discussed the Form to be submitted to DEEP and included with W-P's Bidding Phase Services Proposal. Chairman - Bill Candelori asked if W-P signed and submitted this Form without The District's signature. After discussion it was determined that The District had to sign the Form as well, and that it is a Federal EPA Clean Water Fund Form that has been around since 1972.

Also reviewed was the requirement to award the project within 90 days of opening the bids.

2) Wright-Pierce and Construction Administration/Inspection Services

Committee Chair - John Dunham stated that due to the need for some Committee Members to leave early that the Committee would have a preliminary discussion of W-P's Construction Administration/Inspection Services and associated Fees, and that a more detailed discussion would be held at the next Committee Meeting. He asked that Committee Members review W-P's Services and Fees in detail prior to the next meeting. Board Chairman - Bill Candelori reviewed, with W-P and the Committee, the merits of a Construction Manager over a General Contractor and that some of the services in W-P's Construction Administration/Inspection Services Proposal would have been performed by a Construction Manager. Bill Brown, President of W-P, responded that W-P's services were services needed by the Owner to ensure that The District received what the Plans and Specs called for and would have been needed even if this project were to have been built as a Construction Management Delivery type Project. The Committee also briefly reviewed a Construction Advisor/Owner's Project Manager Services and Responsibilities and how this entity would interact with W-P: potential overlap of tasks and responsibilities, etc. W-P agreed with the Committee that this project is a significant undertaking by The District and understood their trepidation and concerns. John Dunham reviewed, with W-P and the Committee, W-P's fees. While he did not have concern with their actual billing rates for their staff (less than what DOT pays for consultants on the Q-Bridge Project) he did have concerns with their fixed fee (profit), 13%-14%. It appears that at the end of the project it will total $1,000,000. This percentage is higher than DOT allows on its projects. W-P indicated that they would be willing to discuss adjusting this rate.

The Committee discussed briefly DEEP's stated position that they would not reimburse The District for an Owner's Project Manager. John Dunham requested that the Committee compare the Owner's Project Manager enumerated tasks to W-P's Construction Administration/Inspection Services tasks prior to the next Committee Meeting to determine if there were overlaps and if the overlaps could be reduced. And, he indicated that some duplication may be necessary.

3) Related Business and Staff Updates

The Executive Director reported on the upcoming Middlesex Chamber EXPO on October 28th, and asked if any Board Members were interested in attending in addition to the Board Chairman and Board Members - Ed Sasso, Tom Tokarz and John Valengavich. He passed out photos of the Emergency Generator Switch that causes transfer problems at high temperatures and humidity.

Adjournment:

Mr. Valengavich moved, and Mr. Amodio seconded, and the Committee approved unanimously to adjourn at 6:55 PM.