Falmouth School Board Minutes

Falmouth School Board
Ad Hoc Advisory Building Committee Minutes
Thursday, December 14, 2006

 

1.         Call to Order and Roll Call
The meeting was called to order by Karen Farber at 7:00 p.m.  Committee members in attendance were Karen Boffa, Toni Butterfield, Gerry Davis, Karen Farber, John Flaherty, Jean Gulliver, Andy Hyland, Dan O’Shea, Theresa Pierce, and Judy Schneider. 

2.         Approve Meeting Minutes of November 15, 2006
Mrs. Gulliver with a second from Mrs. Pierce moved the Committee to approve the minutes of the November 15, 2006 meeting.  The motion passed 10 – 0.  

3.         Architects to Select for Interviews
Mrs. Farber thanked the Architect Selection Sub –Committee - Mr. Hyland, Mrs. Schneider, Mr. O’Shea, and Mrs. Wheeler-Abbott, and, for all their hard work.  Mr. Hyland presented the work of the Committee.  The Committee based their evaluation on the template provided in the DOE School Construction Project Workbook.  We received nine applications, from which three clear choices rose to the top.  Mrs. Schneider talked about checking with several references and found the same three choices remained at the top of the list by a clear margin.  Handouts were passed to show the scoring of each of the nine applicants based on eight criteria, and how each of the committee members ranked the applicants.   The entire Ad Hoc Committee agreed that we would move forward by interviewing these top three candidates. 

Interview Process – We agreed the important factors were: 1) Understanding of project/relationships/involvement; 2) Understand the site selection process; 3) Process Management.  We will pre-determine a set of questions that each applicant will be asked.  We will also ask each applicant what school they have done that we might tour.  Mr. O’Shea will contact the architects for the interviews and possible site visits. 

Mrs. Farber summarized the five areas that we want to ask about as follows;

  1. LEEDS experience and ideas
  2. How does design & program come together?  How do we insure quality results?
  3. Site selection – What is their approach?
  4. How to handle impact to Falmouth children – how will displacement work?
  5. How is client engaged in process?
  6. What distinguishes this firm from others?
  7. Rationale for in-house shop vs. partnering?

Other thoughts and comments: We want to assure that the applicant manages to maintain our School District’s style.   We will also want to know who will actually be doing the work.  Will there be a landscape architect? A civil engineer?  Who are the subcontractors? 

4.         East End School Tour – Comments/Ideas
All agreed the school is beautiful and well designed for the community it serves.  Many of the characteristics may not be appropriate for the Falmouth elementary school such as the three separate wings. It was agreed that the cafeteria was too small and too far away from the active classrooms.  Should we consider creating a separate community space like they did at the East End School?  It seems like a great idea to consider.

5.         Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

 

Handout – Architectural Firms Selection Worksheets

Important Dates

Architect Interviews:  Monday, January 8, 2007 at 3:00 p.m.  in the High School ATM room
Next Meeting:  Wednesday, January 17, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. – Lunt School

Last Updated: 1/22/07