DeKalb Times

Dekalb County Public Building Commission met Sept. 16.

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 special session through a cloud-based, peer-to-peer software platform called Zoom 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 Mr. Mike Larson, Vice-Chairman Larry Lundgren, Ms. Cheryl Nicholson, and Chairman Matt Swanson. Mr. Chuck Shepard was absent at the time of roll call. A quorum was established with four Commissioners virtually present and one 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, County Finance Director Pete Stefan, DCRNC Operating Board Chairman and County Board Member Jeff Whelan, Deputy County Administrator Derek Hiland, and Commission Secretary Tasha Sims.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

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

PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were no public comments.

Mr. Chuck Shepard was now virtually present. The roll now reflects all five Commissioners present.

NURSING HOME EXPANSION PROJECT 

Change Order Request

Mr. Heimbach noted that at the September 1, 2020 PBC Meeting, there were a few requested PCO’s that the Commission did not feel comfortable with approving due to not having time to review the PCO documentation and wanting to ensure all of the Commissioners were present to weigh-in on the issues.

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.

Since the last PBC meeting, Larson & Darby have been revisiting pricing. There is a thermostat called for that might not be necessary and the hours to install the unit are being reviewed because they seem in excess.

Mr. O’Bryan shared that he met with RJC on Monday and they had a conference call with CMI. There was brief discussion of possibly doing this item on a time and material basis with a not to exceed cost of $10,000 because there are discrepancies in the drawings and how the piping should be installed. Mr. O’Bryan expressed that the material pricing alone is extreme and the insulation of the piping is extreme because of the amount of piping. He believes the cost could be a lot lower than the requested amount.

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 is entirely Larson & Darby’s responsibility. The Commission would need to approve the change order for the work to be done but Larson & Darby will reimburse the County for the costs associated with this PCO #104.

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 issues related to this request include early project delays relating to zoning reviews and a related change in project phasing, delays related to interpretations of regional plumbing inspector, delays in Serving Kitchen equipment manufacturing and delivery, and delays related to shifts in interiors work related COVID-19 precautions and procedures. 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.

Ms. Simon reviewed the PCO attachments which reference the prior project schedules to show the numerous changes in phasing and/or delays.

A punch list walk-through has been done on the Activity Center, the Serving Kitchens, and the Fire Marshall is currently on-site doing an inspection of the TCU Addition today (9/16/2020). RJC is primarily complete with the “additions” portion of the project. The remainder of the base bid is with the Nurse Stations and the 480 Wing, which they will not be able to complete the 480 Wing. It has been postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Hanson noted that at the April 2019 PBC Meeting, RJC’s previous Project Manager Jeff Blanck, updated the project to the Commissioners and said that, “None of this is expected to hurt the overall schedule in any way.”. He pointed out that in April the Commission was told they were okay, but now RJC is looking back and saying that wasn’t the case. Mr. Heimbach said that statement was probably accurate back then but the early delays are only one component of why the project is now at least two months beyond the original schedule.

Mr. Shepard questioned how much more is RJC was going to request in general requirements from them. Ms. Simon answered that they are only billing for the time they are only actually on the project and items that they handle for the project, including any design issues or additional change orders that have been on the schedule. They only anticipate billing for what it takes to complete the job.

Ms. Simon provided some clarification and answered questions relating to the job responsibilities for some of the personnel that was billed for and part of this PCO. The Commissioners also expressed how difficult it was for them to make sense of the information that was provided to support the change order request.

Mr. Shepard inquired about why they don’t have a credit amount on not finishing out the rooms in the 480 Wing. He additionally shared that he spoke with the City of DeKalb in regards to Item #117, for adding additional emergency circuit outlets to accompany the med gas outlets in each resident room in the 480 Wing, and was provided a solution that would require them not to have to tear open the walls. The Commissioners questioned why that item and others have been noted as Current Issues for months with no costs associated with them to approve and yet they are being requested to approve items such as PCO #98. The group continued to discuss Item #117 further.

In regards to PCO #98, Mr. Hanson noted that the key question will be what is/was the end date. That will dictate how much the Commissioners will want to pay RJC for their change order request. Ms. Simon stated that the original substantial completion date was July 31, 2020. Ms. Nicholson questioned why the change order request includes the month of July.

Ms. Simon stated that general requirements are reimbursable by the contract. The project went over on general requirements prior to the substantial completion date. RJC is within the means of the GMP Budget and the contingency is allotted for these sorts of items. The GMP is based on the overall project amount and with this general requirement addition, RJC is within the means of the GMP overall dollar value and any general requirements, contractually, can be reimbursed and that is what they are requesting, Ms. Simon expressed.

If that contingency is not used, it will be credited back to the County, Ms. Nicholson inquired. Ms. Simon confirmed that was correct.

The question was asked if the Commission needs to anticipate another $40,000 for the month of September. Ms. Simon noted that they have been demobilizing since they did the Activity Center punch list walk-though on August 27th. She added that they are trying to complete this project and get off site and that yes, they are anticipating requesting additional general requirements for the month of September, but will not be to the extent of $40,000.

Ms. Nicholson requested from RJC an anticipated date of substantial completion for the entire project. Ms. Simon shared that she didn’t think she would be able to provide that based on the unknowns surrounding the interior work (Nurse Stations A & B and the 480 Wing). Having some kind of schedule would let the Commissioner know how many more months they are going to be getting requests for more general requirements. Ms. Simon shared that she would send the schedule of anticipated work and the durations but they unfortunately don’t have a start or end date. Everything is based on durations at this point.

Mr. Gima shared with the Commissioners that about two weeks ago the Nursing Home and another small outbreak of COVID (4 employees and 1 resident tested positive). That required the Nursing Home to tell RJC that the work on the Nurse Stations could not be restarted yet. Since then, the first round of retesting came back negative and the second round was done yesterday. If those tests come back negative again the interior work can be restarted. One of the stipulations is that the contracts have to seek COVID testing themselves to ensure they don’t bring it into the building. They are still using the 480 Wing to quarantine residents with COVID and for new admissions. He still does not think they are going to be able to free up those rooms to be done at this time. Mr. Gima also commented on RJC’s request for general requirements. Based on the information that was provided, he wouldn’t feel comfortable with the Commissioners approving the request at this time.

Ms. Simon questioned what the Commission would need in order to make a decision on the PCO. Mr. Hanson requested to receive a not to exceed amount on all of the final payouts so they could get an idea of what the end-game was. The Commissioners also requested to receive the information earlier in order to have time to review what is being requested of them.

Vice-Chair Lundgren moved to table PCO #98. Ms. Nicholson seconded the motion. Mr. Larson, Vice- Chair Lundgren, Ms. Nicholson, Mr. Shepard, and Chairman Swanson all voted yea. The motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

Ms. Nicholson moved to PCO #104 in the amount of $2,092.28 with the stipulation that Larson & Darby will reimburse the County for that cost, and PCO #106 on a time and material basis in an amount not to exceed $10,000. Mr. Larson seconded the motion. Mr. Larson, Vice-Chair Lundgren, Ms. Nicholson, Mr. Shepard, and Chairman Swanson all voted yea. The motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

ADJOURNMENT

A motion to adjourn was made by Ms. Nicholson. Chairman Swanson seconded. Those voting yea were Mr. Larson, Ms. Nicholson, Vice-Chair Lundgren, Mr. Shepard, and Chairman Swanson. The motion carried unanimously by roll call vote. The meeting was adjourned at 10:19 a.m.

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