DeKalb Times

DeKalb County Public Building Commission met Sept. 7.

Here are the minutes provided by the commission:

A regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the DeKalb County Public Building Commission (hereinafter “Commission”) was held at 8:30 a.m. in the Legislative Center’s Gathertorium in Sycamore, Illinois pursuant to written notice to each Commissioner as required by the By Laws.

ROLL CALL

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

Others that were present included: County Administrator Brian Gregory, Vice President of Management Performance Associates Scott Gima, County Facilities Management Director Jim Scheffers, Rehab & Nursing Center Maintenance Supervisor Steve O’Bryan, Mr. John Heimbach with Larson & Darby Group, County Board Member Steve Faivre, Commissioner Treasurer Gary Hanson, and Commission Secretary Tasha Sims.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Mr. Shepard requested to add an Executive Session for the purposes of discussing Personnel as provided for in 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1) after Item 4 – Public Comments.

It was moved by Mr. Shepard, seconded by Vice-Chair Lundgren and approved unanimously by roll call vote to approve the agenda as amended.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Vice-Chair Lundgren moved to approve the minutes for the Tuesday, July 6, 2021 meeting and the minutes of the Special Meeting on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. Mr. Shepard seconded the motion and it was carried unanimously.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were no comments from the public.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Vice-Chair Lundgren made a motion to go into Executive Session at 8:36 a.m. to discuss Personnel provided for in 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1). Mr. Shepard seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously by a 4-0-1 roll call vote. Those Commissioners voting yea were Mr. Bunge, Vice-Chair Lundgren, Mr. Shepard, and Chairman Swanson. None were opposed and Ms. Nicholson was absent.

The Commission returned to the Open Meeting at 8:45 a.m.

NURSING HOME EXPANSION PROJECT

Remaining Interior Work

As a reminder, the uncompleted interior work is in three locations, the Building A Nurse Station, Building B Nurse Station, and “480 Wing Rooms” located in Building B. The Nurse Station remodeling was stopped midstream because of the proximity of construction workers to both residents and staff. The 480 Wing room renovations were stopped after completion of one side of the hallway to provide a quarantine unit for new resident admissions. A credit was provided in the amount of ($91,861.27) to the project for the work that was remaining in PCO #118, which was approve November 10, 2020. Additionally, most of the materials were previously obtained and still remain on-site. Additional materials that will need to be obtained to complete the project include: copper piping for medical gas lines, electrical conduits, paint and fasteners.

Mr. Heimbach reviewed that at the July 9, 2021 public Building Commission Meeting, the Commission approved a proposal from Larson & Darby Group to prepare pricing documents and then work with Ringland Johnson Construction to develop pricing to complete the interior renovations areas at the Nursing Home that were delayed due to COVID-19 precautions.

At that time, the recommendation was to obtaining pricing from the subcontractors that were part of the original renovations and additions. This recommendation was based on the subcontractors’ knowledge of the building and existing conditions as well as their knowledge of the extent of completion of the work in each of these areas. Additionally, there are existing product and system warranties for the partially completed systems that are tied to the previous subcontractors’ work. Completing this work with the existing subcontractors would provide a clearer path to maintaining these warranties or extending them where applicable.

Ringland-Johnson prepared and provided an estimate proposal in accordance with the scope of work that needed to be completed in the amount of $334,072.00. There was an option for an Alternate to provide Oxygen Tank Access Drive for an additional $37,499.00.

After a review of the pricing as submitted, Larson & Darby and MPA find the pricing from the subcontractors to be unacceptable and cannot recommend moving forward with this project at this time. The pricing is well beyond our expectation for the amount of work remaining and for the level of difficulty.

Mr. Gima explained that because the remaining interior work cannot be completed on a timely economic basis, MPA believes that the best course of action is to close out the project as quickly as possible with the regulatory agencies. The reasons to close the project out are as listed below;

1. Closing out will allow us to use the facilities that are already constructed: these are the Transitional Care Unit, the Activity Center and the Warming Kitchens.

2. Closing out eliminates the need for continued extensions with the IDPH Licensing & Health Facilities Services Review Board (HSFRB).

3. The pandemic has again limited our options. We cannot restart the work, and we have no assurance that the work can be continued in the near future.

4. The remaining interiors work can be completed in the future, hopefully in a better pricing environment and the work can be completed without the need for a CON, eliminating the need to work with the HFSRB.

The HFSRB has indicated a willingness to close-out, particularly in light of the unknowns associated with a re-booted pandemic. IDPH Licensing has been less flexible to entertain a close-out but the opportunity has not been lost as yet. In other words, there may be a work-around that the department would be willing to discuss. This is unusual as IDPH Licensing is not known for its flexibility.

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.

Accordingly, we (MPA and Larson & Darby Group) will contact IDPH Licensing to determine which portions of the remaining work must be completed and which portions can be completed at a later time and on a more flexible schedule. The construction that is already in place has been approved by IDPH Design Standards. The remaining issue is the nursing portion of the licensing survey, which has not happened yet and usually doesn’t until full completion. In this regard, MPA and L&D will need to find out if Licensing has any flexibility for closing out the project. If so, they can devise a plan to close-out based on the regulatory hurdles they have to clear.

MPA and L&D is recommending getting a determination of scope priorities based on regulatory compliance. They are hopeful that the regulators will be sensitive to the difficulties all providers face in dealing with the COVID pandemic. The known risk in any IDPH survey is that previous compliance does not assure that current surveyors will not insist on additional changes. In other words, what is approved today might require a change tomorrow. This is not a new phenomenon; all providers learn to live with it.

Mr. Gregory noted that COVID aside, when they went back to RJC, he thought they would get some fair numbers back. The number that they received back is downright insulting, in his opinion. He thought the contractor would do what is fair and right. Due to the pandemic, they are likely to suspend the project once again, but whether COVID was a factor or not, he would recommend the Commission deny this bid wholeheartedly. In the meantime, they need to find solutions to be able to utilize the spaces within the Expansion Project. Mr. Heimbach expressed that he did not disagree with Mr. Gregory at all.

Mr. Shepard moved to deny Ringland-Johnson’s DeKalb County Rehab & Nursing Center Completion of Interior Finishes and Systems Estimate Proposal. Vice-Chair Lundgren seconded the motion. Those Commissioners voting yea were Mr. Bunge, Vice-Chair Lundgren, Mr. Shepard, and Chairman Swanson. The motion carried unanimously.

MASONRY RESTORATION/REPAIRS OF COURTHOUSE STONE WALL Mr. Jim Scheffers shared the outside of the original building is within the Atrium of the new part of the DeKalb County Courthouse. They recently had an incident where a large chunk fell off the wall. Fortunately, no one was in the area at the time and thankfully no one was hurt. Mr. Scheffers provided photos to the Commission depicting the area of the wall that fell off along with other areas of concern.

He reached out to Seyller’s Inc. located in Genoa and had them come out and take a look and provide an estimate of what it would cost to do masonry restoration and repairs. The total estimate that was provided was $36,700.00. At this time, Mr. Scheffers was not requesting that the Commission consider this estimate. He wanted to reach out to another company and get an additional estimate prior to them making any decisions. In the meantime, the area in the Atrium will be blocked off and Mr. Scheffers will come back next month with hopefully an additional quote for consideration.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH BUILDING PARKING LOT REPAIRS

Mr. Scheffers provided photos to the Commission that showed two fairly good size sink holes. One of those was in a patch that was just fixed two years ago. There are some additional areas that have dropped but have not broken through yet. Mr. Scheffers has reviewed the area with County Engineer Nathan Schwartz due to that fact that about every two years these holes are occurring. Mr. Scheffers noted that he would like to have

Wagner come out and dig out the area to try and figure out what is really going on. He is averaging about $2,500 worth of repairs every two years.

The Commission discussed the issue and Mr. Scheffers provided some possible theories of what is happening underground. Mr. Bunge offered to come out and take some core samples of the pavement to be able to assess how thick is the surface and how thick is the stone below it and if there is anything below that.

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.

PLACING ANNUAL AUDIT ON FILE

Mr. Hanson briefly reviewed the Public Building Commission’s Annual Audit for the year ending December 31, 2020. He reviewed the PBC’s Fund Balance. A majority of the Fund Balance is comprised of the County’s Renewal and Replacement Funds which are set aside for capital projects as the County’s buildings continue to age. Mr. Hanson also pointed out that the all of the PBC’s deposits were covered by either FDIC or collateral held by an independent third party acting as the PBC’s agent at December 31, 2020. He gave compliments to County Treasurer who handles the PBC’s investments.

Vice-Chair Lundgren moved to Place on File the Public Building Commission’s Annual Audit for year ending December 31, 2020. Mr. Shepard seconded the motion and it was carried unanimously by voice vote.

FY 2022 BUDGET

Mr. Hanson presented the Commission’s FY 2022 budget and summary for review. He reviewed the major Renewal & Replacement Projects for 2022. No action was being requested at this time.

Vice-Chair Lundgren requested Mr. Hanson to provide a list of Nursing Home Expansion Project payments to Ringland-Johnson.

OLD BUSINESS / NEW BUSINESS

None.

NEXT MEETING DATE

The next regular Public Building Commission Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 5, 2021, at 8:30 a.m.

ADJOURNMENT

A motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Shepard, seconded by Vice-Chair Lundgren and was approved unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 9:36 a.m.

https://dekalbcounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pb-min21-sep.pdf