NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city will again team with Colliers International on a school project, pending approval by the School Building Committee and the Massachusetts School Building Authority.
The OPM Selection Committee (made up of building committee members) voted unanimously on Thursday to make Colliers the owner's project manager for the Greylock/Brayton school project. Colliers became the OPM for the award-winning $30 million Colegrove Park Elementary School when it acquired Strategic Building Solutions, the original manager, in 2015.
The owner's project manager will manage the entire project on behalf of the school district. This may include planning, construction and design, and oversight of contractors and subcontractors to the project on task.
Colliers was one of three firms interviewed earlier this week by OPM Selection Committee members Superintendent Barbara Malkas, School Committee member Tara Jacobs and Benjamin Lamb.
The finalists were rated in 10 categories by each committee member on a scale of one to 10 for each category. These included the grasp of project requirements; design approach and methodology; personnel and roles; related project and previous work; technical project management; responsiveness to committee concerns and working relationships, and relevant issues as well as references.
Colliers had the highest at 276 points (out of a possible 300), followed by Skanska USA Building Inc. of Springfield at 242 and Arcadis of Middletown, Conn., at 228.
Jacobs said the candidates were "exemplary" and that their interest in the project spoke volumes.
"I think all three were extremely qualified. And even though that was the case, there was still notable differences when we did our scoring, it wasn't that we were really torn on any of our responses," said Lamb. "When we looked back at them after we completed all three, we still agreed with everything that we had done, which I thought was important to sort of reflect on."
He also noted that none of the interviewers had been involved with the Colegrove project and thought it good to have that disconnect from the prior process.
Building Committee member Richard Alcombright asked for information on how well each candidate scored on the equity and community outreach, both issues that Jacobs brought up as being significant during discussions on the finalists.
All three, it was noted, scored closely with each other.
"I was wondering if there was a great disparity there," he said. "It didn't seem to have, it seems like they all kind of had a pretty good reaction to that level of questioning so that's good."
The School Committee last June authorized $300,000 in school choice funds toward the feasibility study, the next step in the process. The MSBA will pay for part of the study once a reimbursement percentage is set. School districts are required to fully fund projects up front.
Business Administrator Nancy Rauscher said MSBA will provide a base contract that the committee will review and customize if needed by the next School Building Committee meeting on Feb. 15, after which it will be forwarded to the MSBA in March before it can be finalized.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
Your Comments
iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary.
No Comments
North Adams Committee Rejects Changes to Airport Commission Ordinance
By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The General Government Committee is recommending the City Council reject a proposal for council approval of appointments to the Airport Commission.
The question had been raised after an appointment to the commission by Mayor Jennifer Macksey had come under fire at a council meeting. Macksey had withdrawn his name and appointed him without council approval, as laid out in the city charter. Prior to that, she had put forward all appointments to boards and committees for confirmation.
The 2-1 vote, with committee member Ashley Shade voting nay, came after a sometimes testy debate on Tuesday over whether the current language aligns with state and federal laws.
The committee also recommended, again with Shade voting no, to not amend the ordinance to prohibit anyone with business at the airport from serving on the commission. Attorney Joel Bard of KP Law, the city solicitor, said state laws were in place to deal with the conflicts of interest on the independent commission that Shade sought to deter.
"There's a whole apparatus at the state level to enforce the conflict of interest law. That's not self-enforcing, so if there is a violation that's occurring, somebody needs to bring it to the attention of the staff of the State Ethics Commission," Bard said, attending via Zoom. "There's a large state bureaucracy that enforces that law."
Shade had put forward the language she said would bring the ordinance in line with MGL Chapter 90, Section 51E that states airport commissioners "shall be appointed, in cities, by the mayor with the approval of the city council, and in towns by the selectmen."
"It's this MGL provision that allowed us to establish an airport commission. Airport commissions did not exist before the charter, because this provision is what allows us to even have an airport commission," she said. "We should be following this provision in MGL to the exact letter of the law, because it is what allows us to even formulate and have the Airport Commission to run and operate."
The General Government Committee is recommending the City Council reject a proposal for council approval of appointments to the Airport Commission. click for more
A light installation that's graced the Esplanade and Greenway in Boston the last couple years will spend the spring, and likely the summer, in North Adams. click for more
Capped by Sam St. Peter’s come-from-behind win in the final bout of the day to win the 285 crown, the Spartans placed second at the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Championships at Mount Greylock. click for more
Roads, and especially bridges and overpasses, will likely become slick and hazardous from snow, sleet and ice accumulations. Plan on slippery road conditions. Power outages and tree damage are possible due to the ice, snow and winds.
click for more
Child Care of the Berkshires has an ambitious goal to grow over the next three years — more educators, more programs and more families being served.
click for more