May 13, 2008 Facilities Committee Minutes

The meeting was called to order by committee chair Dennis Thompson at 3 p.m. in the board room. Committee members David Mallery and Deborah Sweeden were present, as were board chair Dave Wilcoxson, staff members Jerry Corcoran, Gary Johnson, Cheryl Roelfsema, Sue Isermann, and Harold Barnes. Paul Basalay, IVCC’s architect, and Bill Serre from KJWW Engineering Consultants also attended.  Kevin Caufield from the News Tribune was present and Wanda Kember, an IVCC student.  Mr. Setchell entered the meeting at 4:42 p.m.

Energy and Thermographic Study Phase I Report

KJWW Engineering reviewed the existing mechanical, electrical and building construction for Phase I of the Energy and Thermographic Study.  Findings were:

1) The existing campus buildings’ roofs, walls, doors and windows are very energy inefficient and have high energy losses compared to similar buildings in the Midwest.

2) Previous steps taken to save energy through the boilers, lighting, and lighting controls have been very effective.

3) IVCC, on a cost per square foot as reported to the Illinois Community College Board, falls in the middle of the range for energy usage for Illinois community colleges.

4) Some items identified in the thermographic study should be corrected as soon as possible.

5) The current systems need to be tracked using the building automation system to analyze energy usage vs. building interior/exterior conditions.

Phase I is the baseline for the current state of energy usage and systems operation at IVCC that can be used to analyze future and more aggressive energy saving methods.

Priority projects included:

1)  Recommission the campus as one system and update the controls.  This would allow the system to have a base point to which future projects could be verified for energy usage and savings.  Currently, there is no way to determine if the systems in one building are “fighting” the systems of another.  Recommissioning the entire campus would allow for the building automation system to be configured to record usage and trends.  This would be essential in any future energy studies or future projects.  The rough cost for the balancing of the air and water sides of the system and the controls update would be $35,000 to $50,000, based on commissioning of similar type buildings.

2)  Perform electrical testing on the existing medium voltage equipment as required to determine condition, reliability, and a time line for equipment replacement.  The rough cost to have a testing agency would be $25,000 to $40,000.

3) Re-insulate buildings.  This could be included in the price as areas of the buildings are updated and remodeled.  This may need further architectural and engineering review.

4) Replace the aluminum feeders, update the ground wiring, and replace the medium voltage feeders, switches, and transformers.  Currently these are on the PHS project list with a probable construction cost with engineering fees of $3.75M to $5M.  There was concern as to if it was critical to replace the aluminum feeders. The lugs are loose and there is a maintenance problem with tightening the lugs.  It will be expensive to replace the aluminum feeders with the cost of copper.  The College is moving forward in replacing some of the electrical panels and switches.  A maintenance schedule that keeps a record of what is being done, when it is being done, and who is responsible is a very important component to solve or rectify some electrical and facility needs of the campus.

PHS Projects

Wanda Kember, an IVCC wheelchair-bound student, attended the College’s safety and operations committee with student concerns about the physical accessibility to all aspects of the College. 

New ramp at main entrance – improve access to main link

Restrooms and mirrors – lower height of mirrors

Library elevator – this is inoperable and Gary Johnson and Emily Vescogni are looking into this matter

Spirit Day – suggested to move activities onto the blacktop – very difficult to navigate on the grass in a wheel chair.  Cory Tomasson and Gary Johnson are looking into this.

Fitness Center –equipment is not accessible by wheelchair-bound students

Science Labs – Ron Groleau has included special tables in his budget

Special Populations Department – suggested changes have been brought to Marianne Dzik’s attention

Ramps in courtyard entering buildings E and A – ramps are very narrow and a safety hazard for students.  Suggestion: add curbs to prevent wheels from going off the walkway; add handrails; or add additional concrete to make the walkways wider.

An updated list of potential PHS and other capital improvement projects for Board consideration were discussed.  PHS projects rated as first priority:  (Note:  costs are only estimates)

Improve drinking fountains and restrooms (ADA) - $1,273,000

This project will provide a male and female restroom on each floor and could be broken down into phases.

Improve access to Main Link (ADA) - $20,000

This project will provide a ramp at the main entrance.

Improve D-223 music room accessibility (ADA) - $100,000

This project will allow physically-challenged students to join other students in the music pit of this room.

Install additional proximity readers, auto mag locks to entry doors, additional surveillance cameras - $200,000

In light of the recent events at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University, this project would be a safety issue in an emergency.

Address facility-wide, re-keying needs - $120,000

Another PHS project that was listed as a second priority was the installation of a sprinkler system in Buildings A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, and open walls around central core of Building C to glazing - $1,500,000.  The architect stated the sprinkler systems will eventually become mandatory and sprinkler systems would provide a savings on insurance.

Mr. Thompson noted three goals with these projects:  budget, student impact, and long-term maintenance.  Keeping that in mind, he requested the administration to recommend a list of PHS projects based on the concerns discussed.

RAMP Projects

IVCC has three projects awaiting state support besides the Technology and Workforce Development Center.  The third project, Additions/Renovations to Buildings C and G, was resubmitted one year ago and has now been placed on the ICCB list (#56).  The administration proposed to add the allowable inflationary increase (four percent) for each project plus six percent for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) costs.  A question was asked if the College has been increasing the match each year by the same percentage and does the College have the match for the Tech Center.  It was suggested this could be discussed further at the Board retreat.

Maintenance Contract for Chillers

The maintenance contract for six McQuay chillers will expire on June 30, 2008.  The current contract is $65,000 per year and the College has not paid any additional cost.  The College has three options: 1) prepare a request for proposals; 2) train someone in-house (This would not save anything on the service contract cost); and 3) discontinue the service contract and request service when needed.  It was the consensus of the committee to prepare a request for proposal and a decision could always be made to reject the proposals and continue the contract with McQuay.

Paul Basalay, Bill Serre, and Kevin Caufield left the meeting at 5:04 p.m.

Purchase of Electricity

The College has been purchasing electricity through Sempra Solutions under real-time pricing. The administration recommended entering into a contract with Constellation New Energy for a fixed price through the summer months and then switch to 25 percent fixed, and 75 percent real-time pricing for the remainder of the year.   The committee recommended the administration analyze what the savings were from last year comparing Sempra over Ameren.  It was also recommended to compare prices with large businesses in the College district and not other community colleges.  This could be a great opportunity for local industry and the College to work together.

Information Technology Plan

An information technology security audit to assess the vulnerability level of the IVCC network infrastructure was conducted by Burwood Group, Inc.  The details of the results were presented to the Board.  The current PHS project for rebuilding the server room will reduce available server room space by over 50 percent.  Part of this project involved replacing the aging Nortel telephone switch with a more compact system.  In discussions with Burwood, it was decided it would be more cost effective to replace all the phones at once instead of two phases and to enhance the new system to provide an integrated emergency notification solution.  The estimated cost of the equipment and installation used for the PHS project was $140,000.  The cost for installing the entire system at one time with the enhancements is estimated to be $224,000 plus $63,800 in labor and $15,000 for maintenance.  The network equipment upgrades are estimated at $170,000 plus $46,200 in labor and $11,000 for maintenance.  The total cost which includes equipment, maintenance and implementation is estimated at $530,000 and will be paid from the ITS 05 fund balance.  This purchase will be recommended as an item on the May Board agenda.

The meeting adjourned at 5:30 p.m.