Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education School Construction topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Smithfield advances SLAM to price negotiations and files RIDE Stage 1 school improvement application
Summary
Council authorized staff to enter fee negotiations with highest-scoring architect SLAM and approved the town's Stage 1 submission to the Rhode Island Department of Education; both actions are subject to subsequent approvals.
The Smithfield Town Council on Feb. 4 authorized town staff and the school department to move to price negotiations with SLAM for architectural design services for School Construction Stage 2 and authorized submission of the Necessity (Stage 1) application to the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE).
Dawn Bartz, Superintendent of Schools, said the council's approval would permit negotiating a fee structure with the top-scoring firm after a qualifications-based selection. Patrick Grobler, the owner's project manager from Colliers, said three firms submitted qualifications; SLAM scored highest, about 83 percent, and staff now seek permission to request a pricing proposal from SLAM and negotiate fees. "The qualifications only bid is to try to make sure that we get a good qualified company, and then we go into price negotiations," Grobler said.
Councilors clarified that any negotiated fee would be returned to the council as part of the contract approval process and that the action was subject to school committee approval. The council voted to advance SLAM to the pricing negotiation phase.
Separately, the council approved submission of the Stage 1 Necessity application to RIDE by Feb. 15. Staff said RIDE recently moved from paper binder submissions to an electronic portal and that the town is using the Jacobs facilities assessment for the Stage 1 packet; the town expects a Bureau Veritas facilities assessment to be available soon and said it will swap that into documentation when it becomes available. Town staff said they expect RIDE to respond to the Stage 1 submission in approximately two months.
Why it matters: advancing the most qualified architect to negotiations and filing the RIDE Stage 1 application are procedural but necessary steps for Smithfield to secure state approval and funding that could lead to Stage 2 design and construction work on school facilities.
Next steps: staff will request a pricing proposal from SLAM, negotiate fees with the school department and return to the council with contract terms; the Stage 1 packet will be submitted to RIDE by Feb. 15, and the town expects an agency response in about two months.
