Plainfield School District
Facilities Committee Meeting
10.18.07
Present: Mike Higgins (Chair), Elizabeth Church, Doug Cogan, Bill Fleming, Bill Taylor. (Allan Ferguson has joined the committee, but did not attend this meeting. Bill Knight also did not attend.)
The meeting was called to order at 7:06 pm.
Minutes from the May 17, 2007, meeting were approved without changes.
§ The sprinkler system has been installed and successfully tested.
§ Fire Chief Dave Best will conduct a final walk through of the installation on Oct. 23 and issue a report to the state.
§ New egress windows have been installed in the Spanish room, special education area and 5th grade classrooms.
§ A new egress door has been installed in the Art room. New doors have been installed in the 7th & 8th grade pod. (The new gym doors still need painting.)
§ The sprinkler system has black pipe and orange hangers, which are our school colors. The ceiling now an attractive pickled stain appearance. The Facility Committee does not see the need for a further application of paint to these surfaces.
§ A new fire alarm system may be required sometime over the next five years at an estimated cost of $50-$60,000. This should be considered as future allocations are made into the Building Maintenance Reserve Fund.
§ The back wing of the school has had new insulation laid in the ceiling and improved ventilation, including installation of a cupola.
§ ProControls has received its final $6,000 payment for the HVAC unit installations and system controls. However, ProControls has not provided support for fine-tuning of the system. A company representative was scheduled to come to the school on Oct. 19.
§ Twelve actuators need replacement. To date, three have been replaced, and nine more need to be replaced at an estimated cost of $3,500. This expense will come out of the maintenance budget.
§ Bill Fleming will familiarize himself with the thermostat control systems to regulate heat by zones during the day and night, and according to use of the building at different times of the year.
§ National Grid has seven years of data on electricity use in the school. Allan Ferguson is preparing an energy report based on this data and records of heating fuel use. With respect to lighting, the Facility Committee would like to compare this report’s findings against the lighting study that Doug Heaton conducted in 2004.
§ Mike Higgins reported that most ballasts and lights in the school are relatively up to date; National Grid has estimated that payback periods if these fixtures were to be replaced would be four to 11 years. However, Mike also said that National Grid currently might be offering an 80% rebate on installation of energy efficient lighting fixtures.
§ Energy issues to explore further include use of occupancy sensors and whether computers should be shut down completely when not in use. (This could be a class project to investigate further.)
§ The Facility Committee will hold its next meeting on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 4 pm, in order to conduct a site review of the parking lot. Doug will invite parking lot designer Alan Saucier and Principal Ellen Langsner to this meeting. Bill T. will invite Road Agent Ken Stalker, Town Administrator Steve Halloran and the Selectboard to this meeting.
§ The Facility Committee will aim to hold a public forum in early December to discuss the parking lot and other facility issues. It is anticipated that the town will provide gravel for the parking lot project and that blacktop will be added to high travel areas only.
§ Window replacement in the original building (and related mold issues)
§ Renovation of gymnasium/shower area (Thom Lappin will be contacted for a quote)
§ Replacement of T-111 siding and possible repositioning of windows within the building envelope in the back wing (Brian Morse will be contacted for a quote)
§ The Facility Committee discussed that additions to the Building Maintenance Reserve Fund could smooth out these expenditures without having to increase the size of the yearly maintenance budget, currently set at $30,000.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.