January 13, 2010 Minutes of Special Board Meeting

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Mr. Thompson requested the order of the agenda items be changed – Item #4 (Community Technology Center) follow Item #5 (Early Childhood Education Center).  Ms. Englehaupt made the motion to approve the change in the agenda as requested and Ms. Smith seconded the motion. Motion approved by voice vote.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION CENTER

Mr. Thompson appointed Melissa Olivero and Dr. Larry Huffman to serve on the childcare advisory committee.  He would like Ms. Olivero and Dr. Huffman to work with Diane Christianson and Dr. Rick Pearce and answer the questions proposed by President Corcoran in his January 11, 2010 memo to the Board.  If other Board members have a vision of what the Center could be, they were encouraged to forward them on to this committee.  The goal of this committee is to define a scope by gathering information and determining a direction.  If the direction takes the Center out into the community, a larger committee could be formed.  The committee is to report back to the Board at the February 25, 2010 Board meeting.

COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY CENTER

The purpose of this agenda item was to review the schematic designs and give direction to the architects to move forward with the plans and also to review the exterior images and provide feedback to the architects.  Geothermal borings have been completed. Soil borings have also been completed to provide information as to the future construction site for the Community Technology Center.  After the architects met with the faculty and staff, the size of the proposed building was 80,400 s.f., 4,405 s.f. over the targeted 75,995 s.f.  The administration directed the architects to develop a plan that meets the targeted square footage and present both plans to the Board.  By squeezing the corridors, cutting corners, eliminating space for a mechanical room, shrinking space for a lounge area, and manipulating other spaces, the architects were able to reduce the square footage to 77,200 s.f.  The architects were confident at this point that the additional 1200 s.f. would not be an issue in regard to cost.  The project specifications can be manipulated.  The only problem the architects could foresee is if the quality of the construction would be compromised by staying within the budget.  If this would happen, the architects would approach the Board to discuss solutions that everyone would be comfortable with.  It was the consensus of the Board (Ms. Smith, Dr. Driscoll, Dr. Huffman, Ms. Englehaupt, Mr. Setchell, and Mr. Thompson) to proceed with the 77,200 square feet.