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SPENCER – The David Prouty High School Building Committee said goodbye to the project manager from Fontaine Brothers and approved change orders during a brief meeting on February 12.
Rob Day announced he was leaving his position at Fontaine Brothers after 20 years. He said, “Life is taking me down a different path, adding that this DPHS project is “near and dear to his heart.”
Day said he would be available for meetings and phone calls even after he leaves the job. He will be working with his successor, Tom Wolfenden, a project manager with Fontaine for about 20 years, during the transition.
Wolfenden said he has a lot of experience working on school projects and is in the process of “digging into details,” to get up to speed. He said he would be working closely with Nick Pimentel of Colliers (owner project manager) and Kristian Whitsett of Jones Whitsett (architects) to ensure the project is brought in “on time and within budget.”
Pimentel gave an update on the project, saying they are working toward a finish date of August 14. He said there will be a topping off ceremony on February 26, tentatively from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
He explained Fontaine Brothers would hoist up a beam by the baseball field, where students can sign it and invited board members to do so as well.
Expected guests include representatives from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA).
Speaking on the budget, Pimentel noted there is $1.1 million set aside for very likely costs as well as $600,000 left in contingencies. There is an estimated $1.4 million left over in the budget overall currently.
He said it is Colliers’ hope that any major structural issues can be put behind them by April. Pimentel said, “things can pop up,” but most of those are known and included in the $1.1 million set aside.
Whitsett took committee members through a list of change orders totaling $77,029. Items included $30,390 for modifications to the auditorium catwalk and the addition of a second outrigger pole for the lighting system.
Also, the committee approved $12,652 associated with the installation of drip pans and condensation piping below mini splits in the elevator and electrical room to protect equipment from potential water damage.
Other larger items included $12,207 to add pads back into the grandstand foundation and $8,187 for creation of a two-hour rated assembly at the electrical room as required by code.
Whitsett said a two-hour rated assembly meant sprinklers do not have to be installed.
Pimentel explained the $77,029 in change orders was contained in the $1.1 million set aside.
The committee also approved a “not to exceed” item totaling $175,000. Whitsett said there are numerous electrical, HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning), plumbing and fire penetrations required through the AF line at an interior existing CMU (concrete masonry unit) wall in the A building.
He said because of the un-grouted conditions of the interior wall, the wall cannot withstand all these penetrations “without being reinforced significantly or rebuilt entirely.”
Whitsett said they have been looking at this issue for a long time and leaning toward removing the wall and replacing it with a CMU wall.
The alternative is to try to stabilize the existing wall, “but the amount of steel that would be required to stabilize that wall would be mind blowing,” Whitsett said.
Earlier in the meeting, Day showed photos of work in progress such as interior framing in the south side of the north wing; concrete placement in the auditorium; installation of a grant-funded utility garage; and the brick façade and masonry walls.
The next two meetings of the School Building Committee are on March 19 and April 16 at 6 p.m. Meetings are held online and at the high school and are open to the public.
