The Garden City Board of Education will remain in close contact with those involved in carrying out the improvements included in the $36.5 million school investment bond, vowed School Board President Colleen E. Foley at the January 12th school board work session.

She referred to her experience during construction that ensued after the last school bond was approved in 1998. “I’m one of the only Board members who has been through a rather lengthy, rugged, long-enduring process,” she said. “It seems like we are starting off in a much better place, so that’s putting my mind at ease. I just want to know when we’re dealing with our two largest buildings, where the bulk of our students are, that the availability of weekly communication exists if need be....I really want communication to flow.”

Foley was adamant that at least one representative from the architectural and engineering firm Burton, Behrendt and Smith, and construction management firm T.G. Nickel & Associates, provide the school board and public with an update at every monthly school board meeting.

In addition, a meeting will be held every other Friday between these two firms and Superintendent Dr. Robert Feirsen, Patrick Mehr, the district’s director of school facilities and operations; and Albert Chase, the district’s assistant superintendent of business and finance. The district’s ad-hoc facilities committee will continue to meet on the first Wednesday of every month.

At Tuesday evening’s work session, Joseph Rettig and Frederick Seeba from BBS and Douglas Renna from T.G. Nickel & Associates provided the board with the first of many updates.

Rettig began by reporting that 80 percent of the capital projects included in this year’s budget have been completed. Fire alarms and masonry work still need to be completed at Stratford, as well as a bathroom renovation at the Middle School.

As far as the work included in the bond is concerned, the first project that will begin is the roof replacement at Garden City High School. Construction documents will be submitted to the state education department next week, and Rettig hopes to bid the project in early March so they are ready to begin work after this school year ends during the summer.

At the Middle School, Rettig said they want to reconstruct the parking lot over the summer. They are currently working out scheduling details with T.G. Nickel. “The reason we want to do that is to get the parking issues out of the way early to create a more easily accessible site for the actual construction of the building addition.” He also said the firm wants to take advantage of the lower prices currently available.

Actual construction of the addition at the Middle School is expected to begin at the end of winter in 2011. The firm is now involved in refining the design. They plan to submit the appropriate documents to the state education department in July.

At the bus garage, the roof has been completed and the restrooms should be finished next week. Construction of a new transportation office is scheduled for next summer.

The school board unanimously approved a 15-tier grandstand at the high school with aluminum backrests that will seat 2,100 people. They had the option, which was equivalent in price, to select an 18-tier grandstand without a backrest that would seat 2,500.

After some discussion, Foley said she wanted to go with the more comfortable grandstand. She believed that the reduction in seating capacity would not be a problem because Dr. Feirsen said the current grandstand seats 2,600 and is never filled to capacity. The grandstand is the most crowded during high school graduation, Homecoming and the Winston Classic.

Chase reported that the ad-hoc committee discussed this issue and did not come to a unanimous decision. Many on the committee believed the reduction in seating capacity would not be a problem. However, High School Assistant Principal Dave Perotta was concerned because he believes Garden City can currently boast the largest grandstand in the county, and he does not want to lose the notoriety.

Dr. Feirsen said that he heard from residents who want a grandstand with a backrest. He estimated that each graduate would be able to have seven guests if the new grandstand is built.

Frederick Seeba from T.G. Nickel & Associates reported on the status of the district’s energy performance contract. Energy performance contracting is a way for school districts to implement energy-saving procedures.

Seeba said six firms initially responded to a Request for Proposal, four firms attended a mandatory walk-through of the district, and then two firms eventually submitted a bid. ConEd Energy Solutions estimated the school district will save $12.7 million by implementing their energy-saving procedures, and Johnson Controls estimated the district would save $8.9 million.

Since the difference in the numbers was so large, Seeba looked further into their calculations and realized Johnson Controls had made an error when determining the energy rate. The firm had asked both companies to average two years’ worth of gas and electric bills since the cost had fluctuated so significantly from year-to-year. JC did not do this and is currently in the process of reworking its calculations. They estimate the figure will be close to $11.9 million. Both figures are higher than Seeba expected.

The EPC is not a public bid so both project scope and price can be negotiated. Both firms will be asked to perform a detailed energy audit, which will take one to two months. There will be no cost to the school district, and they are under no obligation to go any further. However, after the detailed audits are completed, the district can select one firm and enter into a binding contract. Seeba expects the school board will select a firm by May. The entire EPC would then be completed by September of 2011.

School Board Vice President Barbara Trapasso expressed concern that Johnson Controls made such a seemingly large error in its calculations. She said she is now skeptical about their ability to handle the district’s EPC. Seeba said the district has worked with Johnson Controls in the past and has been satisfied with their last EPC.

In related news, Dr. Feirsen announced that the school board and administration has decided to go with a LEED “lite” designation for the new construction.

“The Board is very sympathetic to environmental issues and very interested in modeling the appropriate approach for our kids as learners,” he said.

At the Dec. 8th school board work session, architect Roger P. Smith of BBS asked the board to consider three options: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, known as LEED; Collaborative for High Performance Schools, known as CHPS; or a modified version of LEED, which Smith referred to as LEED “lite.”

According to Smith, LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.