Merrimack School District
Planning & Building Committee

Minutes of the June 9, 1998 Meeting

Present: T. Koenig, B. Triolo, W. Morrison, S. Heinrich, D. Miller, School Board liaison J. Flis. Excused: M. Morrison

S. Heinrich called the meeting to order at 7:39 P.M.

Approval of Minutes

By consensus, approval of prior minutes was postponed.

Update on Parking/Fields Project

DiGeronimo Associates is no longer under contract with the district for this project. Meridian is the new project designer. B. Triolo and W. Morrison attended a preliminary meeting with Scott Isabelle and Meridian to discuss the project. They reported that Meridian will provide detailed drawings originated by them. The final plans will be done in AutoCAD with copies given to the district. Meridian has established three priorities for this summer: the high school parking lot, the middle school field and the high school lower field. The elementary school field will be postponed until next summer and will be done simultaneously with the track. The project will be divided into two separate parts as well. (1. Parking. 2. Fields.) Other issues that were discussed during the preliminary meeting were traffic flow and barriers and the cut into the hill at the lower field. The committee requested an opportunity to meet with Scott Isabelle and Meridian to review the final plans before the projects go out to bid. It was noted that there should be several P.R. opportunities during the project duration that should be taken advantage of.

Update on Technology

W. Morrison attended a meeting of the Technology Committee to discuss plans for networking the district schools. He told the committee that Lucent Technology has given the district a master plan but that cost may be an issue. The plan involves a combined voice and data solution. The server will be at the high school. Lucent is also working with the district regarding certifying the network after it is installed. The district hopes to devise a "sub plan" to focus on meeting the needs of the math grant. The math grant requires that one classroom plus one other space at each school be wired for video conferencing. J. Flis asked about securing corporate sponsors to help fund the entire program. He was concerned that the project would fall apart or be significantly inadequate in order to meet the district needs. S. Heinrich asked if the project could be scaled down and then upgraded in the future. W. Morrison answered that Lucent is not in favor of approaching the project this way. He felt the project was not proceeding as well as he would like it to be.

MHS Space Needs

S. Heinrich thanked all committee members for attending the presentation of the preliminary report to the School Board. He felt that some of the School Board attacks on the report were inappropriate. He further noted that the committee should review the maximum enrollment figures for the high school to re-confirm them.

B. Triolo noted that the committee now has done all the groundwork but could use some professional assistance to determine potential renovations at the high school. He wanted to know whether the little theater could be renovated into other usable space and a bigger theater included in an addition.

D. Miller asked about demographics. S. Heinrich stated that the committee needs to look at demographics for a longer term solution, but has to decide how many years they want any solution to satisfy. He suggested that the committee may want to come up with a series of potential plans for 3, 5 and 7 years. He noted that even without demographics there is an immediate need for additional space.

B. Triolo asked if the committee should invite the building principals in to prioritize the immediate space needs. He felt the committee needs to quantify the numbers of what types of spaces are needed. He also asked about the possibility of portable classrooms as a short term solution. J. Flis and S. Heinrich stated that this are costly and usually a hard sell.

By consensus, the committee decided to invite Mr. Marston, Mr. Walker, and Mrs. Gould (the new principal) to the committee meeting on June 23, 1998. B. Triolo asked about including Superintendent O'Neil. The committee decided to ask Mr. O'Neil and representatives of Keyes Associates to meet with them on June 30, 1998 after they had had an opportunity to meet with high school staff. The committee decided to hold a meeting on July 7 as well as July 14 in order to prepare a final report for presentation to the School Board on July 20. All meetings will start at 7 P.M. and will be held at the high school in Room E-112, if possible. S. Heinrich left the meeting at this time.

There was discussion the estimate of approximately 200-300 additional students that are projected over the next ten years. It was noted that to house just these students would require about 12 classrooms and would not address any of the current space problems. It was suggested that building a new elementary school in two to five years could help the space issue if M.E.E.P. and possibly the District Library Office were moved to alternate locations.

On a motion from T. Koenig, seconded by B. Triolo, the committee unanimously voted to adjourn at 9:25 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Planning & Building Committee

Merrimack School District