Hello Rock Creek Hills Neighbors,
Last Wednesday, February 3’rd, 2016 at 7:30 AM:
· Jim Pekar, President Rock Creek Hills Citizens Association
· Rick Bond, A.I.A., a Rock Creek Hills Resident Architect with experience in large facilities construction
· Hill Carter, Vice-President Rock Creek Hills Citizens Association
Met with Seth Adams, Director, Division of Construction of Montgomery County Public Schools, Ray Marhamati MCPS Project Manager for B-CC Middle School #2, and the leads from Dustin Construction for B-CC Middle School #2 at the construction site in Rock Creek Hills. This is the first of what is expected to be monthly meetings to help foster bi-directional communication between the residents of Rock Creek Hills and the firms constructing the new school. The meeting was both productive and informative.
Attached please find our combined notes in bullet-ized form:
· Dustin Construction is aiming for a 1 July 2017 major construction completion date.
· Some remaining work will be conducted while MCPS prepares for the school year.
· MCPS recognizes that, as a new school, this is a unique situation. The project originally had a 24 month duration, which has been subsequently reduced to 18 months.
· Meeting construction completion date is critical, and a 6 day work week has been included for the duration of the project (included in budget).
· Most of the excavation is complete, and truck hauling of dirt will be minimal in the future.
· Funding for the asbestos removal and disposal will come from project contingencies, and will not increase total cost. They acknowledged that communication regarding this issue could have been better, and believe that these meetings will help.
· Dustin Construction is aware of the issue of the overly early start time on the Martin Luther King holiday and stated this should not happen again.
· The designated construction route for construction vehicles is from Connecticut Avenue down Saul Road
o No school construction trucks should be driving through RCH neighborhood streets
· All early morning truck deliveries are supposed to be queued up in a shopping center parking lot, in anticipation of the approved opening times. No trucks are allowed on Saul Road prior to 7:00.
· The last budget approval provided funding for the 12 classroom shell, the decorative finishes and metal railings on the retaining walls.
· There will be “hundreds” of vendors who will work on this project so some vendors may not be aware of the construction start time or designated construction route.
· Dustin started pouring cement last Tuesday and will be pouring cement daily until spring when the steel construction will start.
o Dustin stated they poured 1000 feet of cement last Tuesday alone
· In the spring Dustin will start drilling wells near the retirement home for the geo-exchange system (for the school HVAC System).
o This work will be noisy and Dustin is working on a noise abatement plans.
· The large piles of dirt on the field next to the Retirement Home are there intentionally as a sound barrier.
· MCPS stated they would post new renderings and other documents of the expanded school (with the add-on shell) on the MCPS web site within two weeks
o These documents may be posted under Division of Construction
o http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/facilities/construction/project/bethesdams.aspx
· MCPS has no authority for sidewalks beyond the school site – this is a neighborhood issue that needs to be taken up with Montgomery County Department of Transportation (STEP Committee?)
· The Middle School #2 Boundary recommendation will be made by new Superintendent next fall. Focus will be on balancing “walking” access and diversity. Another issue is the fact that this school is not programmed to have a Spanish immersion program.
· The MCPS Board Of Education will make the final decision on boundaries for the new school by next fall and expects to have the new Superintendent in place by that time
· The first year of operation of the new school will be “unique” as they likely will not pull students out of Westland if they are already attending Westland.
· Construction Gate 1 is at the bottom of the hill; Construction Gate #2 is at the top of the hill.
We hope you find these notes helpful. Please let us know if you have any questions on the first construction meeting or any questions for the future monthly construction meetings.
Regards,
Hill Carter