DeKalb Times

Dekalb County Public Building Commission met Sept. 1.

Here is the minutes provided by the commission:

Due to COVID-19, this Meeting was held as a Virtual Public Meeting

The Board of Commissioners of the DeKalb County Public Building Commission (hereinafter “Commission”) met virtually in regular session through a cloud-based, peer-to-peer software platform called Zoom on Tuesday, September 1, 2020, at 8:30 a.m. pursuant to written notice to each Commissioner as required by the By-Laws.

ROLL CALL

Chairman Swanson called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. and requested the Secretary to call the roll. Those Commissioners virtually present were Vice-Chairman Larry Lundgren, Mr. Chuck Shepard, and Chairman Matt Swanson. Mr. Mike Larson and Ms. Cheryl Nicholson were absent. A quorum was established with three Commissioners virtually present and two absent.

Others present via Zoom included: Commission Treasurer Gary Hanson, Mr. John Heimbach with Larson & Darby Group, Ms. Megan Simon with Ringland-Johnson Construction, County Facilities Management Office Director Jim Scheffers, Vice President of Management Performance Associates Scott Gima, Rehab & Nursing Center Maintenance Supervisor Steve O’Bryan, DCRNC Operating Board Chairman and County Board Member Jeff Whelan, County Board Member Steve Faivre, Deputy County Administrator Derek Hiland, and Commission Secretary Tasha Sims.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Mr. Shepard moved to approve the agenda as presented and Vice-Chair Lundgren seconded the motion. Those Commissioners voting yea were Vice-Chair Lundgren, Mr. Shepard, and Chairman Swanson. The motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Mr. Shepard moved to approve the minutes of the Tuesday, August 4, 2020 meeting. Vice-Chair Lundgren seconded the motion. Those Commissioners voting yea were Vice-Chair Lundgren, Mr. Shepard, and Chairman Swanson. The motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were no public comments.

NURSING HOME EXPANSION PROJECT Project Update

Ms. Megan Simon, Project Manager from Ringland-Johnson Construction, provided the Commissioners with progress photos. A punch list walk-through of the Activity Center was done last Thursday with RJC, Larson & Darby, and the Nursing Home. Ms. Simon shared that RJC is considering the Activity Center to be substantially complete at this time. They are just waiting on the punch list from Larson & Darby.

The Transitional Care Unit Addition recently had an above-ceiling inspection done and they are now moving forward with closing up the ceilings. Flooring is being installed throughout the corridors and once completed will move into the rooms and bathrooms. Bathroom fixtures and doors are being installed in the individual rooms. RJC is on track to be substantially complete with the TCU on September 14th, with an anticipated punch list walk-through on September 16th.

COVID-19 testing requirements are ongoing to ensure the workers, residents, and staff are all safe.

Nursing Stations A & B are still two areas of concern that RJC needs to finish construction on. Both areas need 25 days each to complete and cannot be done simultaneously.

Change Order Request

The Commissioners were provided with the updated Change Order Proposal Log. Items in white are ongoing issues that are under review, the gray are items that have been previously discussed and approved, and items up for discussion currently are yellow.

The Commissioners were requested to approve the following Potential Change Order (PCO) requests:

PCO #106: (Item #107)

The original design called for the existing air curtain in the Main Entrance Vestibule to be relocated and reinstalled. This unit was installed with the original building and is now 20 years old. The Owner has asked to replace this unit with a new air curtain. The cost for this change includes the new air curtain and the labor to install it. The work has not yet been completed and would cost a total of $10,377.91.

Mr. Shepard questioned that if they were originally going to move the existing air curtain to the new location, then why was there labor included in this change order amount. Mr. Heimbach stated that the mechanical drawings did not show the relocation of the air curtain but the electrical drawings and ceiling grid drawings did. Due to this error the mechanical contractor did not have costs in his bid for the relocation of the air curtain.

Mr. Shepard confirmed that the additional costs associated with this change order are due to drawings problems again. Mr. Heimbach agreed and stated that Larson & Darby did the mechanical drawings and they missed this item on the mechanical drawings.

PCO #104: (Item #115)

The undercounter instantaneous water heater specified for the Ice Cream Kitchen was not compatible with the available electrical power at the new panels in the Activity Center. This change proposal includes a new undercounter water heater and the labor to install it in the total amount of $2,092.28.

Mr. Heimbach noted that this item was a miscoordination between the plumbing drawings and the electrical drawings. It was not properly coordinated and consequently this cost is one that he believes is entirely Larson & Darby’s responsibility.

Chairman Swanson questioned what the status was of the water heater that was previously purchased for this area. Ms. Simon noted that it is currently installed but unfortunately it will not be able to be returned.

PCO #103: (Item #128)

The toilet paper holders as specified are surface-mounted and present a possibly safety concern for the residents. The owner raised this concern and thee units were rejected. A safer recessed toilet paper holder has been selected. The cost for this change includes the new holders and installation in the total amount of $1,035.57.

Mr. Heimbach noted that Larson & Darby should have specified the type of toilet paper holders properly, and they did not. He also clarified that this cost incorporates about 23 holders.

PCO #98: (Item #124)

Ms. Simon explained that Ringland Johnson Construction are requesting $81,923.54 for additional general requirements that will be necessary in order to execute and complete the project. RJC has stated that they have persevered through numerous challenges within this project in order to keep schedule on track and minimize delays such as beginning pre- construction tasks (i.e. submittals, coordination meetings) as soon as notice of award, limited construction tasks (layout, demolition, interior finishes, etc.) as soon as notice of award, and making adjustments to phasing as described on bidding documents. Per the executed contract on the cover letter dates November 16, 2018, “RJC understands the full permit will not be issued until the zoning amendment is approved or zoning amendment is waived entirely. RJC assumes if the zoning amendment is waived by the City of DeKalb, the full permit will be issued mid-December 2018 with new building additions construction commencing immediately. If the zoning amendment process and issuance of the full permit will be end of February 2019 with new building additions construction commencing March 1, 2019.”

The PCO attachments reference the prior project schedules to show the numerous changes in phasing and/or delays. Furthermore, RJC is proposing that any additional general requirements required to complete the project will be taken from the Schedule Contingency, in order to stay within the overall GMP.

Chairman Swanson and the other Commissioners indicated that they did not receive and review the information that RJC provided for this Change Order. Therefore, the information they were now hearing was new to them.

Mr. Shepard didn’t have time to review the materials in the entirety but after reading the PCO paragraph he understood a little of it but thought the City of DeKalb was generous in letting the project move ahead with interior work while the exteriors were going through review. He added that he was floored by the amount that RJC was requesting along with the compounding of their request for additional bonding and insurance costs.

There was a brief discussion regarding the Commission still not having a cost associated with eliminating renovation work in the “480 Wing”.

Mr. Gima shared that they don’t currently know when construction workers will be able to have access to the 480 Wing area of Building B to finish those remaining rooms due to the current pandemic. The long-term plan is that the Nursing Home is going to have to get that work completed in the future and pay for it out of the Nursing Home’s Operations Fund. So, the question was what was the credit going to be for not finishing those six rooms but then the issue with the electrical (installing emergency power in all 13 rooms) came up. That is why the item is still in review and has not moved to an action item for the Commissioners to consider.

Mr. Heimbach shared that the quote to install emergency power in the 13 rooms will cost just over $19,000. The item is still being reviewed the with the City of DeKalb.

In regards to PCO #98, Mr. Shepard questioned if the Commissioners were going to be requested to approve a similar amount for the month of September. Ms. Simon noted that the current request is for two months and confirmed there would be a request for about half the amount for September.

Mr. Hanson asked if the additional fees would stop when the project reached substantial completion or the punch lists or would these fees continue into October, November.etc. Ms. Simon stated that there will be general requirements for as long as RJC is performing any work on site. She also mentioned that they are currently demobilizing equipment and as they reach substantial completion on the exteriors around September 16th, the general requirements will be reduced significantly.

PCO #99

In conjunction with PCO #98, due to several issues that have occurred through the course of this project, the project has been delayed from its original schedule, and the Construction Manager is requesting an addition $14,619.98 related to Bonding and Insurance for the months of July and August. These costs are slated to come out of the Schedule Contingency.

Ms. Simon explained that per the contract, AIA A295-2008 Section 9.23.1.6, insurance and performance & payment bonds are percentages attributable to the overall contract sum. Insurance is 0.75% of contract sum. Performance & Payment Bond is 0.85% of the contract sum. After an audit of the project, the insurance and bond amounts have been under billed for the current contract sum as of July 2020 and will be taken from construction contingency. The Contract Sum to Date: $12,817,768.00. Under Billed: $14,619.98.

Ms. Simon added that once the project is complete come September, RJC will completely reconcile the entire job and there will be another reconciliation PCO similar to the one they are requesting approval of now.

PCO #100: (Item #130)

Temporary supplemental cooling units were provided as part of this cost for short term cooling and dehumidification for the month of August. The total amount of $3,712.00 represents the August costs for the equipment used.

Mr. Hanson suggested the Commissioners hold the item over until they can do more research on the schedule or only pay a portion of the request right now at best. Chairman Swanson and the Commissioners agreed and with Mr. Hanson’s recommendation to wait on this item right now along with some of the others until they were able to review the documentation and understand the requests better.

Once the Commissioners had time to review the documentation and asked whatever questions they may have, Ms. Simon respectfully requested the Commission to hold a Special Meeting to address these PCO’s prior to their regularly scheduled October 6, 2020 Meeting.

Vice Chair Lundgren moved to approve PCO #99, PCO #100, and PCO #103, in the total amount of $19,367.55. Mr. Shepard seconded the motion. Those Commissioners voting yea were Vice-Chair Lundgren, Mr. Shepard, and Chairman Swanson. The motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

The Commissioners agreed to hold PCO #98, PCO #104, and PCO #106 for consideration until a future Special Meeting date, to be determined.

Mr. Heimbach requested that Ms. Simon categorize the Change Order Log to reflect PCO #103 (toilet paper holders), PCO #104 (electric water heater), and PCO #106 (vestibule air curtain) be under the Construction Contingency, that way Larson & Darby will take a look at reconciling their fees with respect to those items.

UPCOMING CHANGE ORDERS

Mr. Heimbach noted that they are in the process of reviewing pricing on the following items:

PCO #81: (Item #88)

Elimination of Renovation Work in Building “B” South (480) Wing. Due to issues

related to the COVID-19 epidemic, the 13 resident rooms in the south wing of Building “b” are needed for daily operations of the Nursing Home. These rooms were originally intended to be renovated and made available as Medicare rooms. Six of the 13 rooms in the 480 Wing have received new finishes and there are seven that are waiting to be renovated. The remaining work in these seven rooms is delayed indefinitely until this current epidemic subsides. The remaining work includes fees and connection points for oxygen and vacuum, new electrical outlets, new finishes including in the associated toilet room. The credited costs include both labor and materials. Costs are still in review.

PCO #92: (Item #101)

Heating Hot Water Controls. The additional controls for the heating hot water system are being required as an upgrade to the new and existing system at the request of the owner. The existing systems were installed with the original building and are approximately 20 years old. These upgrades will provide better control features and will help the systems to operate more efficiently and will provide a more reliable system in the next years to come. This work has not been completed and it is projected that it will cause an extension to the schedule by approximately six weeks. The costs and scope are still being reviewed.

PCO #85 (Item #103)

The original bid documents included new ceilings to be installed in the existing dining rooms where other new finishes were to be upgraded. The condition of the existing ceilings was acceptable and the costs associated with this work is being credited back to the project. This credit includes both labor ($2,787.60) and materials ($3,211.98).

Item #117

Electrical for 480 Wing. Additional emergency circuit outlets are required to accompany the med gas outlets in each resident room. These outlets were not shown in the original construction documents. The costs and scope are still being reviewed.

PLACE ANNUAL AUDIT ON FILE

The Commissioners were mailed prior to the meeting the Public Building Commission’s Annual Audit for the year ending December 31, 2019. There were no questions regarding the audit.

Mr. Shepard moved to place on file the Public Building Commission’s Annual Audit for year ending December 31, 2019. Vice-Chair Lundgren seconded the motion. Those Commissioners voting yea were Vice- Chair Lundgren, Mr. Shepard, and Chairman Swanson. The motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

OLD BUSINESS / NEW BUSINESS

None.

NEXT MEETING DATE

The next regular Public Building Commission Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 6, 2020, at 8:30 a.m. A Special Meeting will be determined and announced shortly following today’s meeting.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Vice-Chair Lundgren made a motion to go into Executive Session at 9:40 a.m. to discuss Pending, or Probable or Imminent Litigation provided for in 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(11). Mr. Shepard seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously by a 3-0-2 roll call vote. Those Commissioners voting yea were Vice-Chair Lundgren, Mr. Shepard, and Chairman Swanson. None were opposed and Mr. Larson and Ms. Nicholson were absent.

The Commission returned to the Open Meeting at 9:54 a.m.

ADJOURNMENT

A motion to adjourn was made by Vice-Chair Lundgren. Mr. Shepard seconded. Those voting yea were Vice-Chair Lundgren, Mr. Shepard, and Chairman Swanson. The motion carried unanimously by roll call vote. The meeting was adjourned at 9:55 a.m.

https://dekalbcounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/pb-min20-sep.pdf