Mike Grove (Farmington): Raised concerns about brook overflow near his house.

The town looked into it and determined it is a town infrastructure issue, not a school issue. The town is scheduled to do culvert work.

Paul Castagna: Expressed concern over noise levels from the new cafeteria air handling unit at Norton.

The unit is currently being tested and runs slightly above expected levels; noise abatement options will be explored if it doesn't quiet down post-testing.

Dorothy Ross: Sent a letter regarding environmental and process concerns for the upcoming demolition of the old Norton School.

The committee confirmed that all state and federal abatement laws are being strictly followed, building testing is complete, and water spraying will be used during the demo to control dust.

Karen Johnson (Sharon Drive): Inquired if fencing was planned along Sharon Drive facing the school.

The committee reviewed the blueprints and confirmed no fencing is currently planned for those nine houses, as a natural tree line already exists.

NSGBC 6-25-26 Cheshire Channel 14

Staff
Jul 1
5 min read

Meeting Overview

Date: Mentioned as June 2026 (approving minutes from May 28, 2026, and reviewing June 11, 2026, minutes).
Location: Cheshire, CT (Cheshire Public Schools district / Channel 14 broadcast).
Core Focus: Project updates on the construction of the new Barnum and Norton Elementary Schools, the demolition and relocation process of the old Norton School, budget reviews, and invoice/change-order approvals.

1. Community Input & Correspondence

The committee reviewed several recent inquiries from local residents regarding the ongoing school projects:

Mike Grove (Farmington): Raised concerns about brook overflow near his house. The town looked into it and determined it is a town infrastructure issue, not a school issue. The town is scheduled to do culvert work.
Paul Castagna: Expressed concern over noise levels from the new cafeteria air handling unit at Norton. The unit is currently being tested and runs slightly above expected levels; noise abatement options will be explored if it doesn't quiet down post-testing.
Dorothy Ross: Sent a letter regarding environmental and process concerns for the upcoming demolition of the old Norton School. The committee confirmed that all state and federal abatement laws are being strictly followed, building testing is complete, and water spraying will be used during the demo to control dust.
Karen Johnson (Sharon Drive): Inquired if fencing was planned along Sharon Drive facing the school. The committee reviewed the blueprints and confirmed no fencing is currently planned for those nine houses, as a natural tree line already exists.
Jesus Peria (Blue House near Norton driveway): Raised concerns about his view after a tree line was cut down for the new parent drop-off loop. Discussions involved options for adding a privacy screen along the new composite fence line:
- Initial structural/landscaping estimates suggested adding roughly 25 trees (such as Arborvitae or Rocket Junipers) at a unit cost of $1,400.
- Committee members raised concerns about using Arborvitae due to local deer populations destroying them and the precedent it might set for other neighbors.
- Action Taken: The committee requested a reduced, more modest landscape proposal and a pencil sketch for review at the next meeting, opting out of putting any plantings directly on private property due to liability issues.

2. Minutes & Budget Review

Approval of Minutes: Minutes from May 28, 2026 (with a correction noting that book boxes were explicitly purchased from Amazon) and June 11, 2026, were unanimously approved.
Budget Status: Project encumbrances are slowing down significantly as furniture, tech, and equipment orders wrap up.
- The Barnum project budget is 87% encumbered.
- The Norton project budget is 94% encumbered.
- Consolidated contingencies (bid savings + owner's contingency) leave over $19 million available across both projects (excluding unspent construction manager allowances).
State Reimbursements: Payments from the state are arriving slower than anticipated. The district is on its fifth pay requisition for Barnum, but still waiting on the third requisition for Norton, which took four months to process.

3. Construction & Progress Reports

Barnum School

Timeline: Final paving is scheduled for the end of July, striping in the first week of August, and the building is expected to be substantially complete by early August.
Interior Finishes: Wall coverings and protection panels in the corridors will spill over slightly into August but won't impact the school opening. Flooring is going down in the final corridors and cafeteria. Final cleaning crews are starting in Buildings C and D on July 6th, and Building B on July 13th.
Millwork Issues: The contractor noted that over 150 cabinet doors delivered by Nova Wood Products arrived warped (some bowed up to 2 inches). The manufacturer has taken full financial responsibility and is on the hook to replace them by August 21, 2026.

Norton School (New Facility & Old Site Demo)

New Build Site Work: Sidewalks, curbing, playgrounds, hydro-seeding, and security cameras are largely complete. Final health and life-safety inspections for the Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO) are locked in for the week of July 13th.
Old Norton Salvage & Relocation: The old school has been entirely emptied, and power was officially cut. A massive salvage operation successfully repurposed district assets:
- Locksets, flushometers, water fountains, gym ropes, and parking lot LED fixtures were harvested for maintenance stock.
- Kitchen refrigeration units were sent to Cheshire High School and Highland.
- The old library circulation desk was salvaged by Public Works to be utilized in the youth section of the Cheshire Public Library.
- Leftover student desks and chairs were cleared out during a two-day community pickup event, saving the committee a $20,000 final disposal allocation. Structural demolition is scheduled to begin on Monday.

4. Approvals: Invoices & Change Orders

Major Invoices Approved:

The committee unanimously voted to pass multiple standard invoices for architectural services (Tecton), owner representative services (Arcadus), testing (Testcon), and construction management (OMG Invoice #22 for both projects—including a $3.3M draw for Barnum and a $1.6M draw for Norton).

Potential Change Orders (PCOs) Approved:

PCO 631 (Norton): Changing the flooring in the nurse's office and calming room from carpet to hard flooring for $4,300 (funded by owner contingency).
PCO 67 (Norton): A zero-dollar contract timeline adjustment extending substantial completion to the end of July.
PCO 69 & 70 (Barnum & Norton): Installing local fire marshal-mandated heat detectors in the kiln rooms of both schools ($2,132 each).
PCO 65 (Norton Trash Compactor Location): The committee reviewed two options for the trash compactor placement. Option 1 (original design out the north end) costs $26,730. Option 2 (closer to the building) would cost upwards of $34,500 due to concrete trenching and electrical rerouting. Option 1 was approved in a 4-to-1 vote.

5. New Business & Critical Discussions

Subcontractor Performance (Ferguson Electrical): A major grievance was aired regarding the electrical subcontractor, Ferguson Electrical. The committee noted extreme frustrations with delayed change-order pricing and inflated labor estimates (e.g., billing 640 hours via software estimations for work that took less than 60 hours in reality).
- Resolution: The committee noted they will continue to enforce Time & Material (T&M) "not-to-exceed" directives to keep costs accurate, and OMG's president has requested an emergency on-site meeting with Ferguson's ownership to address project speed and manning requirements.
Storage Facilities: The committee authorized $2,000 per school for Tecton Architects to draft schematic designs for permanent 20x40 storage sheds to hold building attic stock. This layout will be presented concurrently to Planning & Zoning alongside the upcoming district solar array initiatives.
Staircase Security Bulletin: At the request of school leadership, Tecton issued a design bulletin to add a secure metal enclosure around the open maintenance stairs leading to the roof to prevent students from accessing the area. OMG is currently getting pricing from steel fabricators.