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Johnson Controls performance contract finalized by school board
The Riverton School Board met June 14 at 6 p.m. The minutes from the regular and closed session meetings of May 10, as well as the treasurer’s, revenue and
expenditure reports, were all approved by a 7-0 vote.
Under “Communications,” Mr. Rob Mehan spoke to board members regarding rumors concerning the purchase of the Riverton Athletic Club by the school district. He, as
well as others who’ve talked to him, are opposed to it for a few reasons, predominantly the financial condition of the school district in a year where they’ve cut instructional
hours and laid off teachers. The board’s focus in difficult financial times, he believes, should be education. Upkeep of the RAC property and fields’ maintenance will be an
ongoing expense; he doesn’t believe it should be a yearly line item in the school district’s budget. He compared it to the maintenance of the football field, only magnified. The
IHSA may also require certain structural elements be brought into compliance, if the district owned the fields and property, which would result in even more costs. If the RAC
wants to sell to a new owner, what would it hurt to have the district lease the fields from the new owner, rather than purchase the entire property outright? He asked that the
board give this long and careful consideration before stepping off into any purchase proposal.
Mr. Nonneman, board president, thanked Mr. Mehan, and stated he didn’t know if it was rumor the school board had discussions with the RAC. Mr. Mehan said the RAC’s
financial difficulties, whatever they may be, are their own and should not be the school district’s. Although for decades, even recently, kids and adults played tournament
games on a regular basis at the fields, he acknowledged times do change and it seems to have become part of that process. He doesn’t believe the school district is the
place to “park” that property at this particular point in time. Overextending financially/going into more debt, in this economic uncertainty is not the best idea, in his opinion.
Mr. Nonneman said he didn’t know what kind of timetable they were on, but he did understand it was to be discussed this evening. He thanked Mr. Mehan.
At 6:09 p.m. Supt. Mulligan distributed information to board members regarding the results of performance contract negotiations with Johnson Controls. Mr. Doug Sitton,
Sitton Construction Group Consulting, helped tremendously with contract negotiations and oversight. He noted throughout questions on bid work, and having Johnson
Controls back off some of their fees and expenses in the proposal, that Johnson Controls has been very cooperative regarding scope of the work. Supt. Mulligan stated the
contract has been reviewed by their attorney and signed off on; the prevailing wage agreement is also one of the addendums.
The assured performance guarantee and competitive bid language were also briefly discussed. Scope of work contains the ECMs. Mr. Sitton reiterated that Supt. Mulligan
and Mr. Geiger had spent a lot of time on the process over the last two months, and he thanked them for their hard work.
The primary items Mr. Sitton highlighted was a 13-page document of Q&A with Johnson Controls; the final scope; and competitive bidding, except for self-performed work.
Johnson Controls will provide a list of contractors to the district. Subcontracted work fees were negotiated from approximately 17 percent to 12 percent. Supt. Mulligan
mentioned the project funding amount — $2,058,000 – is through QZAB bond money already in the bank.
Mr. Sitton said a lot of the unknowns and risk have been removed over the last two months during the contract negotiations. He believes the next key steps are the bidding
process/due diligence, then overseeing the construction periodically to ensure quality and detail adherence.
Supt. Mulligan noted the contract’s one-stop accountability, guaranteed energy savings and guaranteed improvement of facilities are all very positive.
Mike Klebe inquired about the termination clause being standard. He mentioned the dispute resolution process. Supt. Mulligan responded the attorney has seen contracts
worded like this. Mr. Sitton also said it is standard to have a termination clause. Mr. Klebe said as long as the attorney believes the district is sufficiently protected, he’s fine
with it. Supt. Mulligan thanked Mr. Sitton, who left at 6:26 p.m.
A sales tax committee meeting was held last week, per Mr. Klebe, which involves schools in the county, including District 186. Moving forward toward the November
referendum, it is important that factual information be provided for the public. Supt. Mulligan said they’ve thought about people in the community who may be helpful insofar
as educating property owners. The sales tax proposal would abate half of property taxes for the Riverton district, which is very beneficial for property owners.
Presentation of administrative reports began. Mrs. Binegar, elementary school principal, was not present. There were no questions or comments vocalized regarding her
report. Supt. Mulligan said the district should know perhaps by the end of next week if Pre-K will be funded, and at what level; 75 percent is the amount he’s heard. It is in the
ISBE’s court now, per Mulligan. Mrs. Fraase, assistant principal, was not asked anything on her report.
Fred Lamkey, middle school principal, was not asked anything either. Chris Koerwitz, assistant middle school principal, was next. Mr. Klebe complimented Mr. Koerwitz on
the graduation ceremonies. Mrs. Cuffle complimented the e-mail alert communications.
Bill Lamkey, high school principal, was asked by Supt. Mulligan if he’d heard anything back from Sports Boosters regarding parents who have more than one student
participating in sports and reducing admission costs via the Century Club passes. Supt. Mulligan said he would take a look at it. (The board voted in May to increase event
admission fees).
Mr. McClure complimented Ms. Stephenitch’s involvement with the Springfield Muni performance and noted Riverton’s talented students and graduates.
Mr. Klebe asked Mr. Lamkey about the post-secondary plan statistics. Graduating students going into private colleges, technical schools and the military, as well as
questionnaire results from freshmen through senior classes, feedback from follow-up surveys of graduates and preparing students overall for life after graduation were all
very briefly discussed. Supt. Mulligan said these are all good questions.
Mike Gum, assistant high school principal, was not asked anything on his report. Supt. Mulligan stated in terms of ACT results, there will be more data presented at the July
meeting. Bill Geiger, maintenance and grounds director, was asked by Mrs. Moore about adding handicapped spots to the high school parking lot. Re-designating parking
spots near the sidewalk on the south lot was discussed.
Mr. Klebe asked if the high school shop equipment had been inventoried? A list distributed by Mr. Geiger was reviewed, which included items from the home economics
area as well. He was asked if equipment useful for PLTW was included? Mr. Geiger responded yes, and the art program uses the metal roller about four times per year.
There was discussion on the list not being complete insofar as what can be auctioned off. The list was reviewed again. Mr. Geiger was asked about the IT room being ready
for PLTW once school begins. Bill Lamkey and Supt. Mulligan discussed having this list of items ready, because the agenda item is listed under “Business,” allowing the
board to vote to approve the items for sale. Mr. Geiger responded “No, the list is not ready tonight.” Mr. Geiger was asked if he will have the item list ready for the July
meeting, which would allow two weeks before the start of school to hold the sale of items. Would he be able to do that? He responded “Yes,” and this was tabled until the
July meeting.
Supt. Mulligan presented his report. Tentatively they had discussed sending two board members to the fall conference in Chicago. It was suggested that the district register
two attendees, and whoever hasn’t attended in the past would have first consideration. Mulligan also noted the board will be voting on approving a meeting schedule next
month, and would there be an interest in moving the meeting location? Parking and seating for attendees are considerations which have been brought up previously; it was
generally agreed to have future meetings at the high school, at a room to be determined. Supt. Mulligan publicly thanked the Village of Riverton for the Third Street road work
near the high school. He will send them a letter.
Under “Business” was “Consider approval of evaluation documents for coaches for FY11.” This is based on job descriptions, per Supt. Mulligan. He stated there had been
really good discussions with coaches. Mulligan also noted in the future they will have online confidential feedback from students and parents. Board members reviewed the
evaluation document regarding expectations, setting goals, program management, etc. There were suggestions made on the evaluation document itself. The vote was 7-0
to approve the evaluation documents.
“Consider approval of contract for JCI performance contracting” was up next. This is with Johnson Controls, as discussed earlier. Mr. Klebe, who is also on the Building
Committee, noted the work done by administrators negotiating this, and the savings realized by having Mr. Sitton as a consultant. This was approved 7-0.
“Consider approval of items for auction,” this was discussed earlier as having to be postponed until July.
The board agreed to closed session at 7:18, after a short break; they began closed session at 7:25 p.m., and returned to open at 8:47.
“Consideration approval of Personnel Report,” which includes employment of Megan Shane as an individual aide, the coaching recommendation list (with the only changes
being deleting Mr. Brad Polanin from seventh grade boys basketball and adding him to high school as an assistant, and the resignations of Jamie Toland as girls soccer
coach and Tom Weir of J-V boys basketball). The Personnel Report was approved 7-0. Coaching positions that are vacant include HS head cross country, MS cross country,
sixth grade girls basketball and volleyball and seventh grade boys basketball.
At 8:48 p.m. Supt. Mulligan distributed a handout regarding the board’s self-evaluation, which they had discussed a few weeks ago. Areas of focus was seven points, which
included:
1. Annual review to align board’s vision/expectations to district’s strategic planning efforts.
2. Ensure board’s outlook matches community’s desires when making cuts during tough economic times.
3. Gather more input from stakeholders before adoption/implementation of policy.
4. Establish agreed upon uniform expectation for superintendent recommendations.
5. Consider committees as a possible solution to differing needs of board members in their desire for relevant information information regarding superintendent
recommendations (establish clear expectations for the use and structure of board committees). Creating a curriculum committee was proposed, as well as a contract
committee.
6. Clarify procedures for agenda, adding categories of “new business” and “old business.”
7. Board procedures. (Discussion included an IASB code of conduct presentation in the near future, and the board’s use/knowledge of Robert’s Rule of Order and
parliamentary procedures).
Mr. McClure said since he was not at last month’s board meeting, he found it disturbing that there was three pages in the paper of discussion coming from the board that
had happened months before that shouldn’t have even been in the paper; in his opinion having that discussion again during a meeting was a waste of time and taxpayers’
money. Mr. McClure stated further, “Since I am part of the Policy Committee, I do think we need to talk amongst ourselves about how to come up with a censure policy. There
are a lot of examples from different places, in Michigan there has been a gentleman censured twice, and this has to do with not following proper procedures according to
what’s outlined in state board policies and oath of office. That’s one thing we can do. In addition, I propose that from here on out if a board member has a lengthy written
statement that it needs to be copied and given to every board member prior to a meeting so we are not bogged down with unnecessary rhetoric and we all have a chance to
respond, whether it’s about one of us or about what we’ve talked about in the past. I think that will alleviate a lot of stuff. Whether you’re the president or a board member, we
should not be wasting our time or the community’s time with things discussed in closed session. From this point out, we need to have a policy in place if you have a written
statement, it needs to be presented to the board members prior to a meeting. We can regulate it however we want, but I want to make sure prolonged banter doesn’t ever
happen again. We can respect each other and use our individual gifts to be constructive and benefit students. We may not be the best of friends but we have to respect each
other as human beings.”
Overall discussion of these points concluded at 9:22 p.m.
“Announcements and Discussion” included scheduling a Finance Committee meeting, tentatively June 28, which hopefully the ISBE will have released funding levels before
then.
Supt. Mulligan then said, “We’ve been approached by the Riverton Athletic Club about possibly whether the district would be interested in purchasing the athletic club
property. Certainly we’re open to that discussion. There are a lot of things we need to check into, a lot of details we need to check into, before we can really have a thorough
discussion about that. We’re going to be doing some research on replacement costs, etc., and then we’ll bring it back to the full board for discussion.”
Mr. Klebe asked if the sign facing 7th and Jefferson Streets at the elementary school could be used to keep people up to date on how much the state owes the school
district. Supt. Mulligan responded yes, and he’d put it on the district’s website as well.
Mrs. Cuffle thanked the school district for their donation to the Goff family benefit, and also relayed the family’s appreciation and thanks for the high school graduation
ceremony.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:26 p.m.
The Riverton School Board met June 14 at 6 p.m. The minutes from the regular and closed session meetings of May 10, as well as the treasurer’s, revenue and
expenditure reports, were all approved by a 7-0 vote.
Under “Communications,” Mr. Rob Mehan spoke to board members regarding rumors concerning the purchase of the Riverton Athletic Club by the school district. He, as
well as others who’ve talked to him, are opposed to it for a few reasons, predominantly the financial condition of the school district in a year where they’ve cut instructional
hours and laid off teachers. The board’s focus in difficult financial times, he believes, should be education. Upkeep of the RAC property and fields’ maintenance will be an
ongoing expense; he doesn’t believe it should be a yearly line item in the school district’s budget. He compared it to the maintenance of the football field, only magnified. The
IHSA may also require certain structural elements be brought into compliance, if the district owned the fields and property, which would result in even more costs. If the RAC
wants to sell to a new owner, what would it hurt to have the district lease the fields from the new owner, rather than purchase the entire property outright? He asked that the
board give this long and careful consideration before stepping off into any purchase proposal.
Mr. Nonneman, board president, thanked Mr. Mehan, and stated he didn’t know if it was rumor the school board had discussions with the RAC. Mr. Mehan said the RAC’s
financial difficulties, whatever they may be, are their own and should not be the school district’s. Although for decades, even recently, kids and adults played tournament
games on a regular basis at the fields, he acknowledged times do change and it seems to have become part of that process. He doesn’t believe the school district is the
place to “park” that property at this particular point in time. Overextending financially/going into more debt, in this economic uncertainty is not the best idea, in his opinion.
Mr. Nonneman said he didn’t know what kind of timetable they were on, but he did understand it was to be discussed this evening. He thanked Mr. Mehan.
At 6:09 p.m. Supt. Mulligan distributed information to board members regarding the results of performance contract negotiations with Johnson Controls. Mr. Doug Sitton,
Sitton Construction Group Consulting, helped tremendously with contract negotiations and oversight. He noted throughout questions on bid work, and having Johnson
Controls back off some of their fees and expenses in the proposal, that Johnson Controls has been very cooperative regarding scope of the work. Supt. Mulligan stated the
contract has been reviewed by their attorney and signed off on; the prevailing wage agreement is also one of the addendums.
The assured performance guarantee and competitive bid language were also briefly discussed. Scope of work contains the ECMs. Mr. Sitton reiterated that Supt. Mulligan
and Mr. Geiger had spent a lot of time on the process over the last two months, and he thanked them for their hard work.
The primary items Mr. Sitton highlighted was a 13-page document of Q&A with Johnson Controls; the final scope; and competitive bidding, except for self-performed work.
Johnson Controls will provide a list of contractors to the district. Subcontracted work fees were negotiated from approximately 17 percent to 12 percent. Supt. Mulligan
mentioned the project funding amount — $2,058,000 – is through QZAB bond money already in the bank.
Mr. Sitton said a lot of the unknowns and risk have been removed over the last two months during the contract negotiations. He believes the next key steps are the bidding
process/due diligence, then overseeing the construction periodically to ensure quality and detail adherence.
Supt. Mulligan noted the contract’s one-stop accountability, guaranteed energy savings and guaranteed improvement of facilities are all very positive.
Mike Klebe inquired about the termination clause being standard. He mentioned the dispute resolution process. Supt. Mulligan responded the attorney has seen contracts
worded like this. Mr. Sitton also said it is standard to have a termination clause. Mr. Klebe said as long as the attorney believes the district is sufficiently protected, he’s fine
with it. Supt. Mulligan thanked Mr. Sitton, who left at 6:26 p.m.
A sales tax committee meeting was held last week, per Mr. Klebe, which involves schools in the county, including District 186. Moving forward toward the November
referendum, it is important that factual information be provided for the public. Supt. Mulligan said they’ve thought about people in the community who may be helpful insofar
as educating property owners. The sales tax proposal would abate half of property taxes for the Riverton district, which is very beneficial for property owners.
Presentation of administrative reports began. Mrs. Binegar, elementary school principal, was not present. There were no questions or comments vocalized regarding her
report. Supt. Mulligan said the district should know perhaps by the end of next week if Pre-K will be funded, and at what level; 75 percent is the amount he’s heard. It is in the
ISBE’s court now, per Mulligan. Mrs. Fraase, assistant principal, was not asked anything on her report.
Fred Lamkey, middle school principal, was not asked anything either. Chris Koerwitz, assistant middle school principal, was next. Mr. Klebe complimented Mr. Koerwitz on
the graduation ceremonies. Mrs. Cuffle complimented the e-mail alert communications.
Bill Lamkey, high school principal, was asked by Supt. Mulligan if he’d heard anything back from Sports Boosters regarding parents who have more than one student
participating in sports and reducing admission costs via the Century Club passes. Supt. Mulligan said he would take a look at it. (The board voted in May to increase event
admission fees).
Mr. McClure complimented Ms. Stephenitch’s involvement with the Springfield Muni performance and noted Riverton’s talented students and graduates.
Mr. Klebe asked Mr. Lamkey about the post-secondary plan statistics. Graduating students going into private colleges, technical schools and the military, as well as
questionnaire results from freshmen through senior classes, feedback from follow-up surveys of graduates and preparing students overall for life after graduation were all
very briefly discussed. Supt. Mulligan said these are all good questions.
Mike Gum, assistant high school principal, was not asked anything on his report. Supt. Mulligan stated in terms of ACT results, there will be more data presented at the July
meeting. Bill Geiger, maintenance and grounds director, was asked by Mrs. Moore about adding handicapped spots to the high school parking lot. Re-designating parking
spots near the sidewalk on the south lot was discussed.
Mr. Klebe asked if the high school shop equipment had been inventoried? A list distributed by Mr. Geiger was reviewed, which included items from the home economics
area as well. He was asked if equipment useful for PLTW was included? Mr. Geiger responded yes, and the art program uses the metal roller about four times per year.
There was discussion on the list not being complete insofar as what can be auctioned off. The list was reviewed again. Mr. Geiger was asked about the IT room being ready
for PLTW once school begins. Bill Lamkey and Supt. Mulligan discussed having this list of items ready, because the agenda item is listed under “Business,” allowing the
board to vote to approve the items for sale. Mr. Geiger responded “No, the list is not ready tonight.” Mr. Geiger was asked if he will have the item list ready for the July
meeting, which would allow two weeks before the start of school to hold the sale of items. Would he be able to do that? He responded “Yes,” and this was tabled until the
July meeting.
Supt. Mulligan presented his report. Tentatively they had discussed sending two board members to the fall conference in Chicago. It was suggested that the district register
two attendees, and whoever hasn’t attended in the past would have first consideration. Mulligan also noted the board will be voting on approving a meeting schedule next
month, and would there be an interest in moving the meeting location? Parking and seating for attendees are considerations which have been brought up previously; it was
generally agreed to have future meetings at the high school, at a room to be determined. Supt. Mulligan publicly thanked the Village of Riverton for the Third Street road work
near the high school. He will send them a letter.
Under “Business” was “Consider approval of evaluation documents for coaches for FY11.” This is based on job descriptions, per Supt. Mulligan. He stated there had been
really good discussions with coaches. Mulligan also noted in the future they will have online confidential feedback from students and parents. Board members reviewed the
evaluation document regarding expectations, setting goals, program management, etc. There were suggestions made on the evaluation document itself. The vote was 7-0
to approve the evaluation documents.
“Consider approval of contract for JCI performance contracting” was up next. This is with Johnson Controls, as discussed earlier. Mr. Klebe, who is also on the Building
Committee, noted the work done by administrators negotiating this, and the savings realized by having Mr. Sitton as a consultant. This was approved 7-0.
“Consider approval of items for auction,” this was discussed earlier as having to be postponed until July.
The board agreed to closed session at 7:18, after a short break; they began closed session at 7:25 p.m., and returned to open at 8:47.
“Consideration approval of Personnel Report,” which includes employment of Megan Shane as an individual aide, the coaching recommendation list (with the only changes
being deleting Mr. Brad Polanin from seventh grade boys basketball and adding him to high school as an assistant, and the resignations of Jamie Toland as girls soccer
coach and Tom Weir of J-V boys basketball). The Personnel Report was approved 7-0. Coaching positions that are vacant include HS head cross country, MS cross country,
sixth grade girls basketball and volleyball and seventh grade boys basketball.
At 8:48 p.m. Supt. Mulligan distributed a handout regarding the board’s self-evaluation, which they had discussed a few weeks ago. Areas of focus was seven points, which
included:
1. Annual review to align board’s vision/expectations to district’s strategic planning efforts.
2. Ensure board’s outlook matches community’s desires when making cuts during tough economic times.
3. Gather more input from stakeholders before adoption/implementation of policy.
4. Establish agreed upon uniform expectation for superintendent recommendations.
5. Consider committees as a possible solution to differing needs of board members in their desire for relevant information information regarding superintendent
recommendations (establish clear expectations for the use and structure of board committees). Creating a curriculum committee was proposed, as well as a contract
committee.
6. Clarify procedures for agenda, adding categories of “new business” and “old business.”
7. Board procedures. (Discussion included an IASB code of conduct presentation in the near future, and the board’s use/knowledge of Robert’s Rule of Order and
parliamentary procedures).
Mr. McClure said since he was not at last month’s board meeting, he found it disturbing that there was three pages in the paper of discussion coming from the board that
had happened months before that shouldn’t have even been in the paper; in his opinion having that discussion again during a meeting was a waste of time and taxpayers’
money. Mr. McClure stated further, “Since I am part of the Policy Committee, I do think we need to talk amongst ourselves about how to come up with a censure policy. There
are a lot of examples from different places, in Michigan there has been a gentleman censured twice, and this has to do with not following proper procedures according to
what’s outlined in state board policies and oath of office. That’s one thing we can do. In addition, I propose that from here on out if a board member has a lengthy written
statement that it needs to be copied and given to every board member prior to a meeting so we are not bogged down with unnecessary rhetoric and we all have a chance to
respond, whether it’s about one of us or about what we’ve talked about in the past. I think that will alleviate a lot of stuff. Whether you’re the president or a board member, we
should not be wasting our time or the community’s time with things discussed in closed session. From this point out, we need to have a policy in place if you have a written
statement, it needs to be presented to the board members prior to a meeting. We can regulate it however we want, but I want to make sure prolonged banter doesn’t ever
happen again. We can respect each other and use our individual gifts to be constructive and benefit students. We may not be the best of friends but we have to respect each
other as human beings.”
Overall discussion of these points concluded at 9:22 p.m.
“Announcements and Discussion” included scheduling a Finance Committee meeting, tentatively June 28, which hopefully the ISBE will have released funding levels before
then.
Supt. Mulligan then said, “We’ve been approached by the Riverton Athletic Club about possibly whether the district would be interested in purchasing the athletic club
property. Certainly we’re open to that discussion. There are a lot of things we need to check into, a lot of details we need to check into, before we can really have a thorough
discussion about that. We’re going to be doing some research on replacement costs, etc., and then we’ll bring it back to the full board for discussion.”
Mr. Klebe asked if the sign facing 7th and Jefferson Streets at the elementary school could be used to keep people up to date on how much the state owes the school
district. Supt. Mulligan responded yes, and he’d put it on the district’s website as well.
Mrs. Cuffle thanked the school district for their donation to the Goff family benefit, and also relayed the family’s appreciation and thanks for the high school graduation
ceremony.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:26 p.m.
Issue Date: June 17, 2010
