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Construction Manager For New Taconic Expected In July
By Andy McKeever, iBerkshires Staff
11:35PM / Monday, June 15, 2015
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The School Building Needs Commission met for the first time since receiving funding approval for the project.
Dale Caldwell updated the School Building Needs Commission on Monday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A construction manager for the new Taconic High School is expected to be hired by the end of July.

Dale Caldwell, of project manager Skanska USA, told the School Building Needs Commission on Monday that the manager is expected to be hired by July 27.

The requests for proposals have been released and so far five companies have expressed interest.

"It is a qualification based process. So the first step is are they qualified? If so, then they come in for an interview," Caldwell said.

All of the proposals are due by June 25. Skanska will weed through the proposals, ensuring not only that the companies have the qualifications to handle the job but also have the capacity.

"If they have five or six other projects, we want to make sure they can support this one as well," Caldwell said.

On July 15, proposals from qualified firms will be reviewed and a company will be chosen the week of July 20 by a group from the School Building Needs Commission and Skanska. That week will include negotiation of the details of the agreement.

The construction manager at risk process, which the School Building Needs Commission approved earlier in the process, is an alternative to the more well-known "design, bid and build."

The construction manager oversees all of the subcontracts and material purchases of the project to keep it on time and on budget. The manager would come earlier in the process — at 60 percent design — and work alongside architects to reduce any change orders. The model switches the risk of cost overruns to the construction manager. The company chosen is paid the negotiated fee, so any cost overruns digs into its profits.

Caldwell also introduced John Benzinger to the commission. Benzinger is taking the lead on the project management for Skanska.

When a construction manager is chosen in July, Drumney Rosane & Anderson Architects Inc. will be further along in the design work. Carl Franceschi of DRA Architects, said the project will be done with the "design development phase" at the end of July.

The construction manager will join then and have its estimators spend the month of August reviewing it. DRA will have its own cost estimators looking at it. They'll reconcile those numbers in September when the Massachusetts School Building Authority will be asking for an update.

Currently, DRA is still fleshing out the details of the design as it works toward finishing that step.

"What we have been focusing on is developing the design of the exterior envelop and a couple interior spaces," Franceschi said, and detailed the updated the commission on the progress.

Monday's meeting was the first since the MSBA gave its approval to move forward. The City Council and the MSBA both agreed to fund the proposed new school at $120.8 million.

"We are no longer a needs commission as much as being a building commission," said Superintendent Jason McCandless.

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