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Home My WebLink About07222008 City Council MinutesCity of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes July 22, 2008 Volume 37, Page 603 CALL TO ORDER The July 22, 2008 special meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Vice-Mayor Willard Dunham. OPENING CEREMONY Council member Tom Smith led the pledge of allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Vice Mayor Willard Dunham presiding and Linda Amberg Bob Valdatta Tom Smith Jean Bardarson Betsy Kellar comprising a quorum of the Council; and Kristen Erchinger, Finance Director Jean Lewis, City Clerk ABSENT -Mayor Clark Corbridge CITIZENS' COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING -None APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion (Bardarson/Smith) Approval of Agenda Motion Passed Unanimous NEW BUSINESS Resolution 2008-068, Authorizing A Change Order To The Contract With Architects Alaska, For The Purpose Of Value Engineering The Long-Term Care Facility Project To Reduce Project Costs By More Than 2.2 Million And Modifying Project Plans To Confirm With V/E Changes, In An Amount Not To Exceed $125,000 And Appropriating Funds. Motion (Bardarson/Smith) Approve Resolution 2008-068 Finance Director Kristin Erchinger introduced Mike Gillen Project Manager for the Long Term Care Facility. Erchinger stated this resolution amended the contract with Architects Alaska. She stated original plans and specs went out to RFP and when the bids came back, the scope of project was too big and had to be scaled back. After two months, staff, Architects Alaska and LTNET had shaved $2.2 million from the original UNET bid. Erchinger praised Architects Alaska and UNET for their cooperation and stated they were helpful and had done a good job. Now, engineers needed to do a new design after these changes. Approval was needed now to do that work and to not stop work flow and save costs, with the money coming out of the bond funds. City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes July 22, 2008 Volume 37, Page 604 Some items value engineered were: siding, lighting fixtures on the property, landscaping, different foundation insulation, changing retaining walls, changing exterior windows, casework inside, carpeting, roofing, trim, framing and boiler parts. Erchinger would get a copy of these changes to the city council. Motion Passed Unanimous Mike Gillen Project Manager gave his first update of the project and said that retaining the architect to do the VE was crucial for keeping continuity. The earthwork activities had gone well and cut and fill projects were now balanced which brought the site up to topographical levels. The schedule would be built around the buildings. Gillen noted that at the end of June, they were five days behind schedule because of mechanical and electrical underground work. They had gained back some of that time. Superstructures should begin going up before winter. Utility site work was complete and they hoped to have power before fall freeze up. Gillen acknowledged there was not a strong contingency for changes with this project. He stressed the integration of Providence would be a big task, especially with electrical systems. Gillen mentioned they had involved Providence at an early stage to assist with integrated systems, which had some cross ties into the mechanical systems. He thought there had been good communications and they were being proactive with design and construction, and the project was being photographed and well documented. COUNCIL COMMENTS Valdatta wanted a buffer by the high school. He appreciated the cooperation of the contractors. Kellar stated the cross country trails were in good shape and should not be affected by this construction project and thanked the contractors for a clean job work site. Dunham was pleased to meet Mike Gillen and wondered about the engineering position. He thought wages were too low. He thought the administration should look at upgrading this and bringing it back to the council. CITIZENS' COMMENTS -None COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CITIZENS' COMMENTS -None ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 t~ ~~ ~F SF ~., '~~~ ~~ G ~tp _. J , Lewis ~ ~~ -~- ill d Dunham ty Clerk ~ -- ~ • _ ~~~ ic•e ayor ( ity Seal) ° "°'~ ''••q~ o~ o-~a~•'~