DeKalb Times

DeKalb County Public Building Commission met May 4.

Here is the minutes provided by the commission:

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 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, Ms. Cheryl Nicholson, and Chairman Matt Swanson. Mr. Mike Larson and Mr. Chuck Shepard were absent at roll call. A quorum was established with three Commissioners virtually present and two absent.

Others present via Zoom included: Commissioner Treasurer Gary Hanson, Commission Secretary Tasha Sims, County Facilities Management Office Director Jim Scheffers, Rehab & Nursing Center Maintenance Supervisor Steve O’Bryan, Vice President of Management Performance Associates Scott Gima, County Administrator Brian Gregory, Deputy County Administrator Derek Hiland, and County Board Member Steve Faivre,

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

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

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Ms. Nicholson moved to approve the minutes of the Tuesday, February 2, 2021 meeting. Vice-Chair Lundgren seconded the motion. Those Commissioners voting yea were Vice-Chair Lundgren, Ms. Nicholson, and Chairman Swanson. The motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Mr. Steve Faivre thanked the Commissioners for participating in all of the building projects for the County. He expressed that he didn’t think everyone in the County realized what a valuable service, especially due to all their skill-sets, that each Commissioners brings to these projects. He also hoped that as they get into this Courthouse Project, that the Commissioner are brought in early enough on the plans to identify any improvements and/or assist with lessening the amount of change orders as to help with the overall cost of the project.

Mr. Chuck Shepard arrived. There were now four Commissioners present and one absent.

NURSING HOME EXPANSION PROJECT

Project Update

251 Serving Kitchen Water Leak

Mr. Scott Gima shared that on the morning of March 2nd, water was found on the floor in the 251 Serving Kitchen. An exterior inspection found water coming out from under the brick. On March 3rd, Shawn Tsusaki of RJC was on-site and the 251 Serving Kitchen wall was opened to find a ruptured 90-degree copper fitting. Two stud cavities were affected but the damage was limited to wet insulation. The water line is located on an exterior wall and the leak occurred after the deep cold snap. There are 2 water lines in Serving Kitchens 219, 251, and 496 that will need to be rerouted to prevent future frozen pipe issues. Mr. Heimbach is working with Ringland and the subs to develop sketches based on the as-built drawings.

Vice-Chair Lundgren, Chairman Swanson, and Mr. Shepard all expressed their discontent with the matter. They questioned how and who put this in the as-built drawings and noted what a sophomore mistake something like this was.

Ms. Nicholson asked that if Larson & Darby drew the sketches wrong, then shouldn’t they be the ones responsible for the cost or if the plumber performed the work wrong, shouldn’t that be on the plumber and not them.

Mr. Gima noted that all of the Commissioner’s concerns are valid and they will be brought up with Larson & Darby. Also, part of the reason why at this point he is thinking the issue should be a future change order is because then it provides the PBC the opportunity to question Larson & Darby and Ringland as well.

Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Inspection

Mr. Gima shared that the IDPH architectural inspection took place on March 24th. The following are the identified issues:

- Fire calk hanger penetrations in Electrical Room 322 – complete

- Adjust fire doors for proper closing function – complete

- Adjust coordinators at Storage Room 749 and Mechanical Room 740 – complete

- Seal piping penetrating through grid ceiling at Storage Room 740 and Water Room 748 – complete

- Cut conduits flush with floor at Nurse Station in Building B – complete

- Relocate 5 smoke alarms to meet the 3’ clearance from supple and returns – complete

Some were addressed immediately during the inspection with all bring addressed within 24 hours of the inspection. Mr. Gima noted that the inspection was conducted by 1 architect who was on-site for 1.5 hours. The last nursing home inspection that John Heimbach experienced involved 2 architects and 2 engineers who were on-site for 2 days.

Mr. Gima and Mr. Heimbach felt that this was clearly not a “normal” inspection and there should be an expectation of a more thorough review during the Nursing Home’s next annual survey, which should occur in the last quarter of 2021.

The furniture, fixtures, and equipment lists are being finalized by DCRNC Administrator Steve Duchene. Once in place, the IDPH health inspection can be scheduled.

The Commissioners discussed the issues. Ms. Nicholson suggested that the County consider adding 2-year warranties to any future projects where IDPH inspections would be involved.

Mr. Gregory noted that the absent retainage takes away leverage that they have. In future projects it would be best not to be 100% paid out until after the time they receive all the certificates of occupancy and sign-off from all of the different agencies/inspectors involved.

Note: These minutes are not official until approved by the Public Building Commission at a subsequent meeting. Please refer to the meeting minutes when these minutes are approved to obtain any changes to these minutes.

Interior Work – Still on Hold

Mr. Gima continued sharing the remaining interior work to the Nurses’ Station remains on hold. At this time, Mr. Gima sees no opportunity or window that is open for the work to be completed. Routine COVID testing of staff and residents continue on a weekly basis. Periodic positive staff tests continue to occur, which prevents the home from allowing indoor visitations.

The other concern is the COVID positivity rate. Nursing Homes are required to follow County positivity rates published by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). He provided a chart to the Commission illustrating the County rate is up to 6.7% as the week of April 19th.

The remaining interior work will require approximately 2 months of uninterrupted work. Right now, the risk of interruptions is very high and it is impossible to determine when the environment will change, Mr. Gima stated.

Ms. Nicholson asked that whenever the interior work may start up again, are they going to use the drawings from the original project. Mr. Gima shared that he needed to get together a clear, detailed list of all the work that still needs to be done. In talking to Mr. Heimbach, he thinks sometime in the near future, they will have a meeting to start that process. That will be the first step in determining how they will proceed forward.

COURTHOUSE RECONFIGURATION PROJECT

County Administrator Brian Gregory re-introduced the Commission to what the Courthouse Reconfiguration Project was and what the projected timeline is.

The Courthouse Expansion project was completed in 2012 and the expansion included a third floor that was not completed, but left as shell space for future growth. The offices operating within the Court System are finding that additional space is needed to accommodate the pressures of growth that they are experiencing. The County hired Dewberry Architects to design the space to meet the current and future needs of various Courthouse offices.

A design layout has been developed and embraced by the various offices which would (a) locate the State’s Attorney’s Office in the third-floor space set-aside for expansion; (b) located in the State’s Attorney’s current office space on the first floor of the Courthouse would be the Public Defender’s Office; and (c) located in the current Public Defender’s office in the basement of the expanded Courthouse would be both the Treatment Court and Pre-Trial offices.

In 2019, the County Board approved to move forward with the project but they had not yet approved the financing piece yet. Post-pandemic, Board Committees are beginning to talk about this project again and expressed that they are anxious to involve the Commission as soon as possible though.

Mr. Gregory provided the following proposed timeline for the project:

- 05/05/2021 Finance Committee Reviews Estimated Budgets

- 06/02/2021 Finance Committee Considers Resolution Approving Project

- 06/16/2021 Resolution is forwarded to County Board for Action

- July-Oct 2021 Phasing and staging plans/diagrams are finalized

- November 2021 The project is put out to bid

- January 2022 Bids are approved

- Feb/March 2022 Construction begins (takes 5-6 months)

Note: These minutes are not official until approved by the Public Building Commission at a subsequent meeting. Please refer to the meeting minutes when these minutes are approved to obtain any changes to these minutes.

OLD BUSINESS / NEW BUSINESS

None.

NEXT MEETING DATE

The next regular Public Building Commission Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 1, 2021, at 8:30 a.m. at a location to be determined.

ADJOURNMENT

A motion to adjourn was made by Ms. Nicholson. Mr. Shepard seconded. Those Commissioners voting yea were Vice-Chair Lundgren, Ms. Nicholson, Mr. Shepard, and Chairman Swanson. The motion carried unanimously by roll call vote. The meeting was adjourned at 9:28 a.m.

https://dekalbcounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/pb-min21-may.pdf