NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The steel work is completed and the roof is taking shape at the new Greylock School. 

 

"Nearly all of the steel is complete. They've essentially demobilized from the site," Todd Ashford, representative with owner's project manager Colliers International, told the School Building Committee on Tuesday. "A couple of big trades that have started their construction are the masonry block on the exterior walls, the exterior metal framing has started, and roofing is anticipated to start in the next, I would say, two weeks."

 

He said a lot of the masonry block and steel framing on the exteriors should be close to completion by the next meeting. Also, a binder course of asphalt should be down by the first week in October, which should help reduce the dirt and mud coming off the site. 

 

A large slab actually was scheduled to be poured Wednesday to house the HVAC equipment and was expected to take until 7 p.m. Mayor Jennifer Macksey said those residents signed up on the email list were apprised of the after hours work. 

 

The committee also approved invoices for the month and Ashford noted that about $17.8 million in invoices have been paid to date, of which $6.4 million was eligible for reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building Authority. The MSBA is reimbursing the city for 80 percent of eligible costs, or about $42 million. 

 

Committee member Lisa Blackmer asked if the reimbursements were keeping pace with expenditures. 

 

Macksey said it's been about 30 to 45 days for reimbursement, and so far they've had no problems with reimbursements. Colliers and Nancy Rauscher, director of school finance and operations, have been working well together, she said. 

 

Rauscher confirmed there had been no "real delays," but added "as our invoices have gotten larger, particularly with [general contractor] Fontaine, they are asking for additional detail and backup that Colliers has been providing. 

 

"That isn't necessarily the reason that things have been going a little bit slower, but they have. We've not gotten the reimbursement yet for July, and typically I would have gotten it early September. So we might be a couple of weeks behind, but we're in direct contact with the MSBA regularly, so there's not a big issue. It's just there's a slight delay."

 

The committee also approved change orders, including one for a reduction in costs. The mayor was authorized to approve change orders of $50,000 or less, so as not to hold up work, and to bring them to the committee for confirmation. 

 

The first orders totaled $27,053.67 for relocation of connections or changes in materials in culverts per the Water Department, an additional fire hydrant and the abandonment of a well site not being used. The second set of orders was a reduction totaling $132,280.35. 

 

"I love these kind of change orders," said the mayor. "That was to remove the refrigerant exhaust system. We are no longer using refrigerant. We built it into the project in hopes of, or in thought of, that someday we may go to that kind of system as the world changes and things, we decided that it wasn't necessary at that time."

 

That credit was close to $134,000; other changes included adding a sump pump at $603 and additional drainage in the courtyard of about $1,200.

 

Ashford said it was a "welcome surprise" that the project has not had to dip into its contingency fund for construction.

 

"We've been under construction for about six months, and we have not spent any of the contingency construction or owner's contingency. We've been operating on a credit as far as change orders go," he said. "It's kind of a nice surprise to be this far along in the project, mainly out of the ground. All of the steel is up, and we've been operating based on credits back to the project from the contractor's bid."

 

In other business, 

 

• Jesse Saylor of TSKP Studio, the designer, said they are expected to provide quotes and reviews for technology by December after meeting with information technology staff over the summer. There was another meeting with teachers now back from vacation about furniture as well. 

 

"This round of meetings was more confirmation, and it went in depth a little bit more, and and I feel that we've got a firm understanding of the intent for the furniture. Our next step is to go out and confirm pricing," he said. "We'll be testing the pricing in in certain packages and come up with an overall budget for the district to review and to compare against our our our budget, probably by November."

 

• The mayor said the team had also met Monday with TSKP's Anne Queally on railings and flooring. The administration regularly meets with project managers each Thursday at 11 a.m., she reminded the committee. 

 

• Ashford informed the committee that Derek Smith is the new MSBA project manager, taking the place of Isabel Doane.