North Adams Struggling to Redact Security Issues From School Records Request
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The School Building Committee's update on Tuesday included that a public records request for the detailed design documents is requiring redaction and review, including by public safety.
"It's a very large document, well over 190 pages, and because it contains information that's very specific to the design, we have felt that it there were portions of it that would need to be redacted in consultation with our design team," said Superintendent Barbara Malkas.
The details of the plan cover a number of security issues. The superintendent said there needs to be consultation with the designer, the project's safety committee and the Fire and Police Departments and emergency services.
"There are elements of the document that it is not in our best interest to have open to public consumption," she said. "Because it potentially could be used for forced entry or a breach of school security."
Malkas said there have been multiple meetings and it has "consumed numerous man hours," particularly of Director of Business and Finance Nancy Rauscher, the public records officer.
"We may not be able to provide all of the document redactions right away, but we will be required over time to provide that," she said.
Rauscher explained that there are exemptions regarding safety and security to open records listed under state law, under "n" in Chapter 4, Section 7.
A fee for preparing documents, including redaction, can be charged under public records law but that has to be filed with the secretary of state's office in advance.
The district had first conferred with its attorney Adam Dupree on a cost before realizing it needed to petition the state.
"What we were targeting is the absolute minimal fee of $25 an hour. We weren't looking to actually recoup the cost of working with our designer, our chief of police and the superintendent, et cetera.," said Rauscher. "But because of that procedural requirement of the 10-day advance, notice the window there [to produce the documents] wasn't met. So we will waive the fee. We will bear the cost of that work internally."
Committee members said they supported the district's decision to redact any security-related issues.
"I fully support redacting any information that would jeopardize or put school safety plans or any of those things out to the general public," said member Richard Alcombright.
Member Benjamin Lamb wanted to emphasize that the committee itself has not been provided these plans.
"I do appreciate going through this full necessary exercise of the redaction," he said. "The other thing I was just going to say is, while we are not going to be filing for the full expense of this time and energy, I think it would be worth quantifying that amount just for awareness."
Member Lisa Blackmer agreed, saying "I know that the people involved in this project and involved in the redaction are paid at a much higher rate than [$25 an hour], and we do need to have an idea how many hours are being spent on this."
The commitee should know the total cost so it can answer citizens, questions, she said, and mentioned that the Massachusetts Municipal Association has asked members to track time and cost requests for public records.
"We do. We keep track of what we really spend on time versus what we can charge, and I'm hoping we will get the committee an update for this specific request," said Mayor Jennifer Macksey. "But I'm hoping in coming weeks to make a full report to the City Council at large."
Timothy Alix of owner's project manager Colliers International said the Massachusetts School Building Authority has issued some comments on the recently submitted design development package, saying they were largely minor questions and a request to update some areas for the next submission. The project has 14 days to respond and that will close out this phase.
This moves the project into the construction phase with the first milestone the 60 percent construction document phase, due on May 9.
"We'll be getting a snapshot of the documents to the estimators to go through that full estimating reconciliation process and then resubmission to the MSBA all over again," he said. "So we kind of repeat the steps we've done in the last phase,
60 percent and then we'll do that again in the 90 percent document, all to make sure that we're tracking the budget."
Alcombright asked how the looming tariffs may affect the cost of the project.
"We've been looking at company forecasts and, tariffs aside, the forecast is low escalation for now," said Alix. "Tariffs are kind of an unknown how much of an impact that's going to have in the short term."
He said the recent bidding has been aggressive, which mean contractors want to have work on the books in case of a recession. Two large sub-bidders, electrical and mechanical HVAC, on a smaller project came in a couple million under budget, he said, but the rest were tracking to the estimates and while tariffs could impact materials it was expected that labor would stay level.
Jesse Saylor of designer TSKP Studio explained the work needed for the next submission will include reviewing in more detail several areas with the working groups, including follow-ups on administrative offices, outdoor play areas, interior colors and finishes, custodial spaces, building services and district standards. Also, as the project moves along, the Appalachian Trail Kiosk on the property. The mayor also asked Saylor to loop in the baseball leagues in regards to the ballfield.
The project is expected to go before the Conservation Commission sometime in April and the Planning Board in May. There will also be a third meeting with the Historical Commission to keep it up to date, and conversations with the building inspector.
The committee also heard from Copeland Draper from Audio Enhancement, one of two proprietary systems including Andover Controls, which it could determine as the school's system.
"In public work, there is an opportunity or a possibility, I suppose, of having a proprietary, specified item, which picks a particular product and says, 'this is the one we need to have in this project,'" said Saylor. "Our understanding is that it requires the School Committee sign off, actually, and so it's not something we want to do very much of as you can imagine."
Draper said Audio Enhancement is in 40 percent of classrooms and was started by Claudia Anderson to help her hard-of-hearing children through classroom audio systems. It now offers two-way intercom systems that can be directed to specific classrooms or areas with announcements, bells or tones, silent alarms, and live translation and captioning.
"The main three components of our solution are the distributed audio in the classroom, the intercom bells and paging solution and the emergency response through our SAFE (Signal Alert For Education) solution," he said.
In other business, Alix said the project continues on time and budget. Of the more than $2 million spent to date, just under $1 million was reimbursable. Vote on an invoice for $317,748.49 on geothermal work was put off to the next meeting until it could be reviewed.
• The project will require some extra testing geotechnical testing, estimated at $23,000, because of the amount of fill discovered during test borings in the building footprint.
O'Reilly, Talbot & Okun Associates Inc. is recommending eight test pits in the southwest corner and at potential locations for stormwater infiltration in the northwest corner and the west of the existing school. This work should be completed in one day. The preliminary geotechnical report will present an estimate of the subsurface explorations required for final design.
• The MSBA has hired a commissioning agent who will ensure that the project meets the requirements as set out by the owners in terms of the building envelop, energy efficiency and the mechanical system.
Tags: Greylock School Project, public records,
