Good morning.

Morning.

It's my pleasure to step in uh on behalf of Mayor Walsh today, Sharon Owens, Deputy Mayor of the City of Syracuse, uh to uh start the uh August 28th uh JSB meeting.

Um first wanna start by um official congratulations to Pam.

Yeah.

Absolutely, you're gonna be amazing and looking forward to working with you.

Me too.

Thank you so much.

Uh we will start with the acceptance of the July twenty fourth uh minutes.

Everyone received a copy.

Yes.

So entertain a second.

It has been moved and properly said.

Second, any abstentions?

Any objections?

Hearing none, we'll call that item approved.

Hey, Steve.

Good morning.

Agenda item two, report of the Secretary.

Yes, good morning, Deputy Mayor.

Good morning, board members, and welcome back, President Hudson.

Yes.

Uh I saw yesterday.

That's right.

Uh just a quick update today.

Uh the PLA feasibility study uh is continuing.

We're making progress.

And I hope to have uh some material to bring to the board next sept September's board meeting.

In addition, at the September board meeting, we'll have Raymond James uh present an update of their financial plan, which is a component of the overall comprehensive plan.

Uh they're kind of two separate items.

So today we'll hear from the program manager about the comprehensive plan, more about the buildings, etc.

And then the finances um at the next board meeting in September.

Awesome.

And thank you.

That completes my report.

Uh we need a motion for your report.

Uh no, thank you.

All right.

Item three on the agenda, eagerly awaiting the preview of the phase three comprehensive plan from the program manager.

Morning, everybody.

I'm looking to set this, but I'm like, you know, not there anymore.

So we get we got we got a little leaner with the uh with the podium, so no no worries.

Um so good morning.

I just uh want to provide an update what we've been working on here for the past several months, uh putting together about five months here.

We've been putting together the comprehensive plan, which is a total picture of what are we doing, where are we doing it and how we doing it and how we financing it.

And as Joe mentioned, uh the the deeper dive on the financial plan can come uh I think at your next meeting uh with between Raymond James and fiscal advisors in terms of uh in terms of updating you in in more detail on that.

So but I will touch on that.

So the comprehensive plan is fundamentally made up.

There's there's eight components to it.

It's a table of contents.

So our presentation this morning kind of mirrors those eight sections of that uh of the comp plan.

So I'm gonna kind of give you a a high level fly over of what the contents are there and some bullet points uh related to that.

So that hopefully I'll give you yeah, because the full report including the financial section is 200 plus pages.

So hoping to kind of give you a little bit of a uh a condensed version of that today.

Thank you.

Um and would ask and would ask that you if you have a question as I go along, please just I'd rather ask it in real time and and be able to answer that for you.

So uh the eight components that we talked about, I mean overall the goal of the of the program is that we're really trying to renovate spaces um and to give you better alignment with program needs both now and in the future so that the buildings are equipped with that as we as we go forward.

And fundamentally again, you know, improve how the building functions, you know, an overarching theme is keep the water out, right?

So between windows and roofs and masonry indoors and anything on your envelope that we're we're preserving your your buildings because many of these need that.

Um and also being mindful that as we're as we're doing so, um, on some of your buildings you received a double MCA.

So that means and in part of receipt of that double MCA means we don't go back to those buildings for 10 years.

So we want to be mindful of what we're doing there.

So we want to kind of balance that between making the program improvements, but at the same time making sure that you were being good stewards of your buildings and that you know we're gonna be in a position that they they will go 10 more years until we need you know another major project on them.

So uh and obviously safety and security, uh, we're always mindful of that.

And then our other big goal is to try and make this project as aidable as possible.

Um the district receives 98% aid ratio is what you get on the on the project, so 98 cents of every dollar of eligible work, you receive reimbursement back from the state.

So we just want to be very mindful as we develop scope and program that those scopes are eligible for aid in terms of SED in terms of the ISAR.

We we had really good success on the last one.

Um, I think we had uh more aidable expenses on the last one than you have in the in the previous two.

So I'm sorry, in the previous one.

So we want to just make sure that we take our lessons learned from that and continue to be making sure that we're submitting changes to the state and we're getting those approved in concert with the project as we go forward.

So end of the day, we make the project as aidable as we possibly can for you.

And then the history of it, I think you everyone here is keenly aware of where we are, so we're in the third phase.

Um, so we've you know, been at this for not us, but a lot of your team have been at this for a long time.

Um, and uh and going forward, so we look to build on some of our lessons learned from the previous and incorporate those as we go forward.

So jump me forward.

2006 was yeah, first yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

So it's 20 years on time flies.

20 years, yeah.

Um so the the next piece was just uh approvals and oversight.

We do have approvals and oversight that are identified in the legislation.

So just kind of we presented uh this same presentation to the school board, the the city school board um on Monday evening.

Um so that's a step, and then the today we're bringing it to to your team here for approval, and then following that our anticipated predicated on approvals of both of those.

Our anticipation is that the comp plan would uh we would go in October, we would submit that to both the state ed and New York State Comptroller's office for their approval.

And then the hope is that and the target is and our schedule has kind of been predicated on the fact that we will receive approval from both of those entities by December.

So, and as I mentioned to you, I think in a previous meeting, that that OSC approval uh the the SED one, we feel we've had continuous dialogue, we meet with them monthly, and I feel like we're in tune with them and they're in tune with that deadline.

And as I had mentioned previously, we we may look and and ask for some assistance and making sure we can keep the the comp controller's office on that same trajectory to get that back back by December.

Um while we're doing that, um, we are also going to be in parallel uh working on uh procurement of AE services and CM services.

And our anticipation is that uh we would have the RFP for those services to the board here for the 25th meeting, so that you would be able to see the the archite architectural and the construction management RFPs for those services.

And our and our hope is that we we bring those along and we're in a position um by the time we get to December that we have analyzed those, we've interviewed, and we're in a position that we're just once we have comp troller's approval, we'd be able to award and then start design in the first quarter.

So that's the plan there.

You can oh you jump there.

Sean Sean's already pushing me ahead.

He's got me he's got me on the next one already.

Um another requirement of the legislation is that we do the we have public input.

So we've conducted a total of five meetings, one was virtual, the other four were all in person, and the locations are identified on here uh where we had those in the different buildings, and so we received a little bit of feedback on those.

We've captured that going forward.

We also recorded all those meetings and the questions that were asked so that we have those for record as well.

And then that's not the end of that public input.

It really was kind of the beginning of the input because much of what we presented is what is a comp plan, what are we doing, why are we doing it?

Um, we will have another round once the architects are on board.

The state requires us to go three times to them for a schematic design submission, which is like 20% drawings, and then that'll require us to go back at DD and then back at CD.

So during each of those, we're also going to be as we progress the design, that'll get presented at each of the buildings to students, staff, faculty to explain what we're doing and to get again to get input.

And I think at that point, that input will be more project specific in terms of what are we doing in the building itself.

So you can jump me ahead.

So schedule and phasing, I'm gonna I'm gonna let Sean grab the mic here for a minute and talk to you a little bit about some of the concepts for how we put the schedule and the phasing together.

So we develop the the phasing and the schedule by breaking uh into four phases.

Phase A will have three buildings in it, phase B will have three buildings, phase C and D will consist of two buildings.

Um as we start like the design process for the phase A buildings, and when we get into construction, that's when we'll start the design process for B.

So the cycle kind of repeat itself through the project.

Um some of the goals when we're putting together the schedule with district staff and JSCB staff was to minimize the impact on the buildings and to the students in the learning environment.

So we do have two swing schools that we're gonna utilize.

Uh and then the high schools will be phased renovations where we'll have to uh work with the design team and the CM to carve out work scopes to continue.

My question too.

Yep.

Um Levy and Shay.

Um that's kind of a broad overview of the schedule and phasing on the next slide here.

Uh and provided in your in the back of your packet, probably a little bit more legible.

Just a one-page summary here that kind of outlines when we anticipate um starting each of the phases and then the buildings within that phase.

Um you can see kind of the call out there that uh we anticipate construction starting third quarter of 27, and that would be for the first three buildings.

Uh Webster, Seymour, Nottingham.

Nottingham runs a little bit longer because we needed really to try and capture three summers to get the the volume of work done.

Um then once the first two swing schools are completed in summer of 29, we'll move the kids back into their buildings and then utilize those two swing schools for the next group of buildings.

Can I make a comment?

I I said something similar to this at the school board meeting on Monday, but um this phase started in 2023, and it's supposed to be a 10-year phase, and it's already going to be a 12-year phase, and um it is frustrating to me that we need to do to budget for renovations that are you know, Roberts and Hanneger's renovations aren't going to start until 2031, and the amounts the 35 million and the 55 million, um that money is just not gonna go as far as it is it goes today, or if it we were in a 10-year proje project instead of a 12-year project.

And I understand that we are the constraints that we have are set by the state, and we're waiting on the state to get uh stuff approved, so that's why we're behind to begin with.

But the entire structure of this project, I think really uh kind of is is not helpful for the kids at the that go to schools at this at the schools at the end of the phase.

I I wonder, I think that as a board as a district as a city, in conjunction with the work that we're doing right now, we also need to be looking about how this can be structured in the future so we are serving our kids in the most effective way possible, and that money isn't being wasted because the money just simply isn't gonna go as far in the latter buildings, even in the buildings that we start first in 27.

The money that was approved in 23 is simply not gonna go as far, and we're not gonna be able to renovate as much as we want to, and the kids really need these renovations.

Uh so my hope would be this is not um I'm not trying to lay blame anywhere.

Uh you know, I Turner doesn't have anything to do with with this, but coming up with a plan so we can address it so we can be more effectively serving our kids while we're doing this process.

I I think um might be something that we should think about.

Any questions on schedule phasing?

I just you mentioned briefly, Sean that just you mentioned briefly just that the the over the philosophy on this was that we were Sean said it quickly, but we did three summers for the high schools because of that phase, and that for the elementaries and the middles we have two summers.

So that schedule was kind of just was predicated on that because we want to make sure that we've got enough time in there for that, and and the swing space will be really helpful because obviously working on an unoccupied building translates to a lot more efficiencies at a at a few different levels than trying to do a phase just one dialogue.

To the commissioner's point though, um as we get to the last phases, particularly phase D.

The scope is being developed now for that phase, or it will be developed as you get closer to the phase.

Our procurement of AE services kind of mirrors that same trajectory as we move forward.

So uh you know, you're gonna the the first round of procurement will be bringing architects on for those of the reversal as KJ, and then we do that again.

So yes, scope will be developed as we get there.

I think um to your point, we have to factor escalation in as a factor as we get there, right?

Because by the time we get to the to the end of this or eight years from now when we're procuring that, yes, we do have to factor that in.

So does that erode the amount you can do with it?

Yes, it does.

It affects it.

So finish that, and then I have a lot of people.

I said and then that is that's always a perpetually a little thing that we're trying to, you know, do we use two percent for that?

Do we use three percent for that?

I mean, COVID kind of took us off the charts for a while in terms of what we were doing for commodities and paying for stuff.

So we we look at that and we factor it in.

And then obviously if we as we get closer to the bid, we can adjust that to it to that, and then to which point we will identify alternates as well, so that in always in the event that if the bids come in and surprise us, either up or down, we have an opportunity to to put some work back in.

So we will design some of that work in parallel with with the base work so that we have the ability to do that.

So that does help us a little bit there with that.

And having those identified is important because the state also wants they have some criteria for which we can what we can do is change orders, you know, and by identifying alternates that that that helps us a little bit because that work was already approved, and we're not uh constrained by the the value of that work because normally if it's over a certain threshold, we would have to go out and get competitive bids again.

So that doesn't solve the the bigger issue, I understand that.

So but we have a couple little things that we will do.

Yes, sir.

And I should know this because I've been on all three of the uh CP committees decades.

Child when I was on the first one.

Um is there a structure to go back to the state to raise the ante?

Say hey, time and inflation has damaged us.

Can we go back and hit them up for more months?

Now or in the future.

Yeah, ten years from now, uh eight years from now, we I mean I think the the nature of the special the let the legislation that you got, right, does do that.

So I would say there's there's there's a there's an avenue for it, yeah.

So just have to get some sponsorship and go from there.

But yes, there is opportunity.

Well trying to struct the solid.

There's two different points in here where you're in eight schools at the same time.

And we know from the past that's been a challenge.

Yeah, and understand that that total bar, because we had to roll that up to get that to a page.

So there's some detail there that you're not seeing.

So some of that there is there is work on the front end that we've factored for some middles for procurement and some middles.

And on the back end there's close out that's been factored on so to say, but you're absolutely right.

There are if you drew a line through some of those, you would pick that up.

But it won't be the same level of intensity across the board on all.

It would be it would some of those might be in closeout and the others might be in procurement at the front end, of course, the buttons that's we wanted to give you a single page to give you context in totality, but obviously there's a lot of that as well.

What is that if you explore that?

It's like 10 pages.

Yeah, fifteen.

So there's there's some detail within it.

Which we'd be happy to take a deeper dive on on any of that if you want to score.

Within the comprehensive plan, there's a two-page schedule that provides a little bit more detail where you can see the phases within each building, like procurement, design, construction, close out.

So that's in the comp plan.

Yeah, that's also um given everything going on in our community now and in the future, right alongside this construction.

Have you really been giving some thought to the pool of contractors, the pool of GCs, the pool of labor, et cetera.

Yeah, yeah, I think about it frequently.

You know, it's it's it's a it's a challenge larger than us, right?

It's a good problem, but it is a problem.

Like anything else.

So yeah, I think the answer I don't have a single answer to that.

I think a lot of that is early and often in terms of marketing what we're doing.

Letting contractors understand what we want.

Same thing with architects and designers because they're well where they can in this market, they can use a little bit, right?

So I think some of that is having dialogues, communicating, why I would track them out, you know, so that we can get we can get the bid when it comes to the actual labor force, right?

The same thing to kind of gear that up, but I you know we're doing our best to engage young minds to move into the CDE path investment.

You know, you want projects.

That's that's a bigger one than beyond us.

We have a pathway.

That's right.

You do you guys have you've created some pathways.

My son starts it in the fall, so maybe here.

Um you want to just bump us one ahead.

You wanna speak on this one?

Okay.

Um our next slide here is um taking a look at the building workscopes and building budgets.

Um the budget strategy really strategy was to maximize building aid as Chris talked about previously.

Um eligible work that's aidable.

Uh works scopes um are gonna be based on the building condition survey that was conducted in 2021, program needs, uh facility improvements that are past their useful life.

Uh don't have those fully divine, defined at this point, but like we said, when architects come on, we'll go through that process some more.

Um establishing building budgets, we've got some estimated MCAs that we've gotten from the state.

So we've set the building budget just below that MCA.

Um the MCA will be evaluated again once architects are on board and we've got the the design started, and then that final design will lock in what that MCA is.

So there could be the potential for an MCA to go up a little or potentially down a little.

But I may have missed this, but um the double MCA is not applied to the high schools.

Any particular reason why that is that I think um I don't know why it just ended up that way in the legislation.

I think I think with some of your smaller buildings, obviously they don't generate much aid.

Right.

So by having the double MCAC, you could do a little bit more of the buttons than much bit of commons to jump in here.

Because we're doing we did projects at those buildings before, we didn't need the double MCAs.

And the the other issue is like Chris said, when you do the double MCA, we don't get another MCA for ten years.

Normally wait till five.

So if we need if we did a project and then we want to do another project that the high schools, we would get it in five years.

The ten years scares us a little because all of a sudden, you know, we wanted to put an addition on a building.

Let's say we got a we're we can't get aid for ten years, so we have to be really careful with these projects to make sure we get everything in there.

Okay, thank you.

Question So uh in summary, I think what Sean's saying is that the budgets that you see there, we may see a little bit of movement there once we get into the into the project and understand exactly what we're doing.

That may translate to a different MCA.

We may increase that a bit.

And if we can, great, you know, the need is there, and the MCA goes up a little bit, so we may see a little bit of a movement.

Um I anticipate we'll see movement on the total building budgets as we move through S D D D and C.

So we needed something initially to break it down so that we understand the volume for building and so that we can uh we can we can paint that picture to design this and what the volume is so that they can basically.

So in this round we are going to be able to incorporate the use of bands, which is great because it'll help us with cash flow, it'll help reduce some of your capitalized interest costs um that are coming through there, and the whole plan is kind of predicated on four borrowings, and we're trying to align that so that we align the borrowing and the permanent financing to be in concert with state aid so that we kind of keep that smooth in terms of in terms of getting borrowing and then getting aid back to reimburse that as we go forward.

So those are the biggies, and then in terms of um the procurement and diversification plan, the procurement we're we're gonna follow the city's requirements for the procurement of professional services and bids.

Uh so we'll be working with um uh with the the city's group there uh to go through that on procurement, and then in terms of diversification plan, you know, largely the same couple changes that I'd point out.

We are now uh we're at for the MWBE participation, we're at 18 percent um for minority and 12 percent for women, so it mirrors the city's requirements, so it's a 30 percent in totality for the MWBE.

Um our residency is remains in there.

That's the the 20 percent, and then we've added the the um uh service disability veterans business or the SDVB at five percent.

So that's uh that's another change that has come into the diversification plan on that side.

So that's kind of a a flyover of you know a couple hundred pages for you.

Any other questions that I can answer or any uh I think it this is more so for Joe Barry, but I know that um in the schedule we are looking at the professional services um starting in June of is that June June of 25.

Will our internal um team be doing the um procurement requirements for that?

Yes, as we did for the program manager and the ICO.

So we'll be following that and then we'll work towards the ICO, yes, okay.

That'll be scheduled at the point.

Fortunately, we don't need them at the moment with our internal capacity and we're not not there yet.

But and of course, we also have open gov we've implemented which will hopefully make the RFP process go smoother, more efficient.

Thank you.

Welcome.

I would quick comment, Commissioner Kida Cardano.

Sorry, Karen.

Um Cordano.

Okay.

Used to calling you Karen.

So I want to Karen's hi.

Um raised an excellent question.

It reminded me why we're here.

You know, that the JSCB was created by the state for the city and the other big cities, because we all the big cities in New York live under the constitutional debt limit.

So we're constrained about you know the city can't issue 300 million dollars in bonds at any one time.

Uh so as Steve questioned, the the path forward to adjust that would be to go back to the state legislature.

And I believe the school district has kind of a process through the big five association to reach out to them and something to keep in mind for the future.

Thanks, Joe.

Well any other questions, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We have one resolution today making our monthly payments.

Resolution number seven uh 2025 to authorize monthly payments to all JSB contractors, including the PM at a cost not to exceed $68,149 and 70 cents.

Uh and we have in accordance with the uh attachment exhibit A.

At the very end there, yep.

Yep.

Are there any questions?

Charles, do you have anything?

No.

Motion second?

Second.

Any abstentions, any objections?

Item is approved.

Thank you.

Any other business?

I do not believe so.

All righty.

Motion to adjourn.

So moved.

So moved.

Second.

Meeting adjourned.

Thank you all.

Thank you.