PES Facilities Committee
Parking Lot Public Forum
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Plainfield Elementary School
MINUTES
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm. Present were: Doug Cogan, Allan Ferguson, Mike Higgins, Bill Fleming, Bill Knight, Carin Reynolds, Audra Bucklin, Myra Ferguson, David Grobe, Dennis Girouard, Bob Jordan, Brian Morse, Scott, MacLeay, Roanne Rogerson, Lise Davini, Brandon Fied, Sarah Brooks-Governo, Steve Taylor, Tom Williams.
Design and Logistics
Doug Cogan began the meeting with the two reasons for the parking lot redesign:
· Lot is undersized for staff, daily visitors, school and town activities
o Plan is to add 50 parking spaces including two handicap spaces
· Safety of school children is jeopardized by the current traffic (mostly automobile as busses are more regulated) flow
o Plan is to determine a bus/car drop- and pick-up configuration that is…
§ Has the least number of pedestrian-crossing-traffic options
§ Flexible, i.e., easily rearranged (if necessary)
§ Gives staff good sight lines for pick-up and monitoring for safety and efficiency of each child’s arrival and departure
With these reasons established a discussion followed with input from townspeople in attendance. Following are some of the suggestions and opinions:
· Need sidewalks on the baseball field-side of the “circle” in front of the school
o Noted that concrete is too expensive so the sidewalks will be hard pack, asphalt, or an asphalt berm
· Scott MacLeay says that the design should be divided into three distinct areas and purposes (busses, automobiles/“walkers”, stationary parking). Students, staff, bus, and car should have no need to enter another area. For example, a mother picking up her child by car after school should wait in line (behind other cars) to approach the front entrance of the school for the pick-up; then drive out School Road to Bonner Road without entering the parking lot or the bus area by the gymnasium. Likewise, an educational assistant leaving school will walk out of the building to his/her car in the parking lot and exit from the parking lot access road to School Street/Bonner Road—unimpeded by parked/loading busses or in-line automobiles.
· Bob Jordan wants constant motion of automobiles to make drop-off/pick-up the most efficient. He also wants the fewest number of options where a pedestrian must cross traffic lanes.
o Eight cars in line is the worst stack-up he has seen. He said it is sometimes possible to run two rows of cars at once for pick-up.
· Roanne Rogerson suggests that the children line up under the front overhang to wait for pick-up IF automobiles come through the parking lot to pick-up their child on the music room corner. Dennis Girouard had this plan in mind also.
· General concensus is that busses should be at the gymnasium entrance. This offers the least occurence of pedestrians crossing traffic. Cars for pick-up/drop-off should be at front door in the existing circle.
o This could be a problem because the front office needs to see the busses at all times.
o Brandon Fied said that the gymnasium floor is a mess in inclement weather and a problem for immediate afterschool use of the gym
§ It was suggested that bus riders be dismissed from the front hall and down the art/music hallway to the busses (thus bypassing the gymnasium)
· Lise Davini sited the previous forum/hearing regarding the parking lot issue. She votes for the busses at the gymnasium as she felt it was established at the previous forum/hearing.
· Some type of barrier is needed near the bus “area” to keep cars from exiting/entering the parking lot at this point during school hours. Cars are to access/egress parking lot at only one point by the Water District Road entrance/exit, during school hours.
o The barrier must be easily removed to afford dual access/egress during town meetings or voting days (for example)
· Two handicapped parking spaces including an eight foot wide aisle are provided (and paved) near the gymnasium entrance to comply with state/federal regulations when voting occurs. Existing handicap parking spaces will remain in the front of the school building.
· Brian Morse wants to keep separate “dead” parking from “live” parking. He wants no cars at the gym door. He wants cars in front and busses at gym. We should have “No Parking” signs or “Standing Only” signs along School Street near the circle.
· The area where the busses will stand for loading and unloading will be paved, along with the handicapped parking spaces.
· Question was raised as to the type of parking in front of the school.
o Keep handicapped parking spaces? Yes, because it’s for visitors to the school.
o Visitor parking? Both parking lots in front of the school should remain.
o Have “No Parking” signs all around the circle in front of the school?
· The road that comes from the parking lot (near the Water District Road) and the end of the “circle” in front of the school should intersect with School Street to create a four-corner, ninety-degree intersection with stop signs for vehicles exiting those two parking/standing areas onto School Street.
· There was a reminder that the school/community garden should not be impacted by any of the parking lot design or construction.
· The Water District Road cannot be used for access/egress to parking area because of the amount of fill required to make optimum road grade. Also because that road was built with federal dollars and exploring the possibility of its use would require investigation/negotiation thus slowing the completion timetable.
Cost and Organization
Mike Higgins explained the budget is “bare bones” and that the greatest cost of the project will be trucking from the town’s gravel pit to the site ($18,000). Gravel is free thanks to the Town of Plainfield; the bulldozer and backhoe equipment and operator are being donated by Scott MacLeay; Bill Knight and himself (Mike) will daily oversee the project. Everyone is extremely grateful and appreciative that so many townspeople are willing to donate time, energy and materials to this project.
Lighting of the parking lot will be controlled by an astronomical clock (a 2 circuit, 7-day timer). The clock is a less-expensive alternative that we can adjust at any time for events that are “unusual” (e.g., use of the parking lot when school is not in session). 6X6 pressure-treated wooden bollards will be installed on each side of the new sidewalk and between two rows of parking spaces ($7,500). Ten new sidewalk light fixtures will be mounted (8-9 feet above grade on 6X6 PT wood posts. It is assumed that with existing lighting fixtures on the building and the new light poles (10 of them) there will be safe, night-time lighting ($2,800). Avoiding “light pollution” is a primary goal.
Asphalt paving is the next greatest expense at $14,100. This includes paving the bus loading/unloading zone (approximately 220 feet from garage to front circle), the new sidewalk in the parking lot, and an existing hardpacked “kindergarten” sidewalk.
The design plan shows several items that are not included in the budget; they are:
· Landscape trees
· Top coat/skim around front circle (additional $9000)
· Pedestrian sidewalk around front circle (use asphalt curbing instead and hard pack sidewalk)
Other costs are:
· Tamping equipment rental ($800)
· Underground site utilities (garage power, sidewalk lighting and data line ($4,500))
· Miscellaneous landscaping ($15,00)
· Paint Striping ($200)
· Signage ($750)
· 5% Estimating contingency ($2,500)
The total for the project is $52,650.
The length of the project is difficult to determine because of weather. It is estimated that the project duration will be approximately six weeks if everything goes as planned. However, the site work will take three days. The town building inspector will visit the site for his inspections. Trucking could be a hold-up and it is assumed 500 yards of material can be delivered each day. There will be one week during the summer when no one (i.e., the public) can access (or go near) the work site. The existing plan for the top soil that is taken off of the existing field will be stockpiled on site. (Perhaps small pile of this topsoil can be dumped near the playground for the school children to play in as an added recreation/imagination activity.)
Building Energy Conservation
Mike then explained that the parking lot is not the only financial consideration on the horizon. There is a need to continue our energy conservation efforts as the parking lot is upgraded. He stated that our school is far from energy efficient and we are actively pursuing common-sense methods to reduce energy consumption at this time. It is expected that we will have saved (not spent) between $10,000 to $15,000 in oil and electrical costs that was budgeted for fiscal 2007-2008 due to energy conservation projects completed and ongoing.
Dennis G. asked if the parking lot upgrade should take priority over facility repair and upgrade projects. Bill K. stated that the safety needs of the parking lot and traffic flow are a priority. The replacement windows, T111 siding, insulation should be done as a major combined project to upgrade the building envelope.
The Facilities Committee has a dynamic, prioritized, long-term project list. That list contains common-sense energy conservation actions that we have already taken and includes additional projects where we can save even more dollars. However, some of those items on the list require an outlay of capital spending. Mike said that some of the higher priority projects include: adjusting heating and ventilating units to use less energy heating air that flows through the building; refit the clerestory windows to triple-glazed glass (some are presently cracked); determine how to insulate the gymnasium roof and walls; repairing the T111 sheathing and adding clapboards to the 1989 rear wing addition; install more energy-efficient windows; etc.