DRAFT

 

FACILITIES PLANNING COMMITTEE

 

MINUTES

 

November 22, 2005

 

Members Present:   Yasser Ayad; Paul Bylaska; Deb Fleeger; Steve Hoover; Jack Hubauer; Clare Heidler; Rose Logue; Sally Sentner; Lou Tripodi; Dave Tomeo

 

Others Present: Jim Conley; Mark Franchino, Mike Phillips

 

I.                    Approval of Minutes – October 27, 2005

 

1.       Lou Tripodi noted that since there was not a quorum present for approving items, no motions would be made.

 

2.   No corrections or additions were made to the minutes and action was tabled until the next meeting.

 

3.   The following items were added to the agenda:

 

·         One Stop Shopping

 

II.         Old Business

 

1.  Venango Projects

 

·        Clare Heidler reported that the pre-bid conference was held on Monday, November 21, with bids due on December 6.

·        The design for replacement of Suhr Library windows is complete.

 

2.      Science Technology Center

 

·         Clare Heidler circulated preliminary drawings of the proposed exterior of the building from various views.  The project should break ground in September or October of 2006. 

·         The time for completion of the project is still under discussion and will be 18 to 24 mos. 

·         Plans are to schedule the demolition portion of the project during summer months to cause the least disruption to building activities.

·         Square footage of the new building will be 90,000 sq. ft. in comparison to square footage of the current building of 110,000 sq. ft.   The Planetarium adds another 8,000 sq. ft.

·         Core drilling will be occurring on December 5 to determine subsurface conditions in the area where the new building will be placed.  This will involve closing down sections of the Peirce lot during the day.

 

3.       Energy Projects

 

·         No change in status of ESCOs since last meeting.

·         With the purchase of motion sensors for Davis and Founders, funds from the energy grant have been expended.

·         Preliminary research into bio-diesel products has resulted in some manufacturers indicating that use would invalidate the warranty on their vehicles.  Maintenance uses approximately 500 gal of diesel per year. 

·         Plans are to look into purchasing hybrid vehicles as the need arises.

 

 

4.       Residence Halls

 

·         Letters have been sent to Ralston residents informing them that the building will no longer be used as a residence hall effective May 2006.

·         Dave Tomeo updated the committee on the status of plans for building on-campus student housing, which included:

 

Ø      A drawing was provided that showed a plan to build four residence halls in the center of campus in the Chandler/Ballentine area. 

Ø      The units  would be two and four bedroom suites with a common living area and no kitchen facilities. 

Ø      The units would accommodate 650 students.

Ø      Chandler would be demolished and a new dining hall would be constructed.  Proposed sites include the parking area near Admissions or in the Gemmell area.  A feasibility study will be conducted.

Ø      With completion of the new residence halls, Nair and Wilkinson would be renovated and occupancy would be reduced to 200 per building.

Ø      Plans include building a parking deck in the area where Campbell now stands to reduce impact of parking areas being eliminated.

Ø      When a decision is made to proceed information will be shared with FPC and ways will be identified to notify the campus community and public. 

Ø      Yassar Ayed offered his service to assist in mapping pedestrian and vehicle traffic patterns.

Ø      The location of the residence halls corresponds with suggestions made in the Master Plan.

Ø      Admissions will be advised when plans are complete and provided with necessary details to be used as a recruiting tool.

Ø      If the plan is pursued, demolition would be May 2007, construction would begin in Fall 2007 and the facilities should be ready for occupancy by Fall 2008.

 

5.       Demolition of Buildings

 

·         Approval for demolition of the Haskell and Alumni buildings should be on the agenda for the January meeting of the Board of Governors.

·         Demolition of 177 Greenville needs trustee approval but does not go the Board of Governors since it is not a DGS property.

·         Since 962 Corbett and Ralston demolition will not be occurring anytime soon, they were not included in current requests.

 

6.       Gallery Director

 

·         Lou Tripodi distributed a copy of the memo received from Joe Thomas which outlined reasons why he felt the committee should consider adding the Director of the Gallery as a permanent member of the Facilities Planning Committee.

·         The new director, Mark Franchino, was present and added he felt it was important for the director to be involved in decisions being made on building renovations and other issues that may involve installation of new art on campus.

·         Lou Tripodi requested that committee members review the memo with the intention that the request will be acted upon at the next meeting.

 

 

III.       New Business

 

            1.     One Stop Shopping

 

·         Dave Tomeo reported to the committee on a publication he had received which discussed the “one stop shopping” issue and offered some insights on addressing the need by methods other than moving offices all to one building.  Many of the services could be handled on-line (as much as 90%).  It was also suggested that one person be trained to handle questions for all areas, i.e. financial aid, accounts receivable, etc.,  so that students did not have to be referred from office to office for each question.

·         It was agreed that the university needs to be talking about what we are going to do to address this issue.  Paul Bylaska and Clare Heidler will coordinate formulation of a committee to begin discussions on “One Stop Shopping”.

 

 

The next meeting is scheduled for December 15.  The meeting adjourned at 4:35 p.m.