Questions on North's heating plan
NEWTON - At least two members of the city's Design Review Committee say cost-saving cutbacks to the $197.5 million Newton North High School project could leave students in the cold for the winter months.
But Mayor David Cohen says he trusts contractors to make sure the heating system is up to par.
"My decision to follow the recommendation of the project team and their engineering consultants . . . is based upon the fact that at the end of the day, it is they who are putting their professional reputations on the line," Cohen wrote in a letter to Design Review Committee chairman Arthur Cohen. In the letter, dated last Thursday, the mayor also said making changes to the system would delay the project, which is seen as the most expensive school building plan in the state.
The mayor's assurances are not enough to allay completely the fears of Design Review Committee member Peter Barrer, who was the first to voice concerns.
"I'm more comforted than I was when I raised the issue, but I'm still not happy because I have not seen the analysis to show why I should be satisfied," Barrer said in an interview last week. "I wouldn't be surprised if there are some cold, windy, cloudy days where students near the windows are not comfortable."
In April, in an effort to control skyrocketing costs, a number of changes to the project were accepted as part of a "value engineering" process. Among the approved options were changes to the heating and cooling system that included removing perimeter hot-water heat from nearly 75 percent of the 86 classrooms planned for the building, Barrer said.
When Barrer, an expert in heating and cooling systems, reviewed the project team's final changes in June, he grew concerned that removing perimeter heat would leave students sitting near classroom windows vulnerable to the cold.
Barrer wrote to Arthur Cohen and city building commissioner Nicholas Parnell, saying that the "change has significantly reduced the quality of the classroom HVAC system from energy-efficient and excellent to adequate or possibly poor . . . it should be changed."
Arthur Cohen and Barrer spoke with the mayor and suggested that if the city cannot afford to go back to the original heating and cooling system, it should request an analysis of the current design and determine whether the system needs modification.
The Design Review Committee held a special meeting on the issue last Thursday. Parnell attended the meeting, and brought the mayor's response with him.
Referring to Cohen and Barrer, the mayor wrote, "Both you and Peter made your points forcefully and compellingly" but the architect, project manager, construction manager, and engineers "argue with equal conviction . . . that comfort will be maintained."
The mayor said he was also influenced by a memo from Francis Allard, an executive with Dimeo Construction Co., the construction manager for the Newton North project. In a letter last Thursday to Brad Dore of Dore & Whittier Architects, the project's design firm, Allard wrote: "Dimeo has expressed its great concerns with the compression of the schedule on numerous occasions. Implementing this change will undoubtedly negatively impact the delivery of the project."
In response to Barrer and Arthur Cohen's request for an analysis of the new system, Dore wrote in another July 31 memo that a review would also delay the project. "At this time, we have not conducted an exhaustive review of these impacts but suffice it to say that this would have a significant impact on the schedule and on-time delivery of the project."
Other aspects of the project are moving at various speeds, Cohen reported in a separate update to the Board of Aldermen. The July 31 letter said half of the structural steel for the project has been installed, and masonry work is expected to begin in September. Cohen said the city "is on track" to sign a project funding agreement with the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which is providing Newton with a $46.6 million grant, at the end of this month.
Negotiations between the city and Dimeo for the final construction costs have "taken a little more time than originally anticipated" because the project team "is carefully scrutinizing each line item," Cohen wrote. However, he said, when a final price is announced, anticipated to be on Monday, "it will reveal some very good news for the city and the project."
Rachana Rathi can be reached at rrathi@globe.com. 