Orange County NC Website
Manager may request, and the changes included in the procedures section are that the procedures the <br />advisory board would have would be consistent with the County's rules and regulations. <br />A motion was made by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Brown to approve <br />the changes on pages 24, 25, and 26. <br />VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />An overall motion was made by Commissioner Brown, seconded by Commissioner Carey to <br />approve the agreement as amended and to forward the document to the other parties of the agreement <br />indicating that this is the form which has been approved, and asking that they consider the matter as soon <br />as possible, hopefully by July 15, 1999, approving the timeline that Manager Link distributed, and <br />authorizing the Chair to sign the agreement in this form on behalf of the Board. <br />VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />d. Value Engineerinq Consultant Section <br />The Board considered authorizing County staff to complete negotiations on an agreement <br />with Pacific Environmental Services (PES) to conduct constructibility reviews for two (2) schools, and to <br />endorse a second phase of the selection process for a value engineering firm. Purchasing Director Pam <br />Jones made the presentation. She indicated that the staff has moved rather expeditiously on the selection <br />of a value engineering consultant since both school systems have projects that are imminent and could <br />benefit from the expert advice of a value engineer. <br />The desire of the Board to gain better control of resources associated with construction of <br />County and school facilities is well documented. Value engineering was identified as a potential answer to <br />this issue. As clarification, value engineering is a process whereby each and every aspect of a project is <br />reviewed by an unbiased third party, in collaboration with the other key players, such as the designer and <br />school and/or County personnel. <br />In order to assure that value engineering resources were available for the school projects <br />during the summer, the selection panel undertook an intensive process to bring forward a recommendation <br />at this time for Board consideration. The selection process was enlightening, and brought a new <br />perspective about what a whole value engineering program should be, and what could be expected of a <br />properly executed program. The interviewing consultants supported what has been heard before, which is <br />that value engineering is most effective when it is started early in the process of project development. Since <br />bidding for the middle school project in Chapel Hill and the elementary school in Orange County is <br />imminent, these projects would not experience the full benefit of value engineering. <br />If the Commissioners desire to pursue any functional elements of value engineering for these <br />two (2) projects, it is recommended that the Board consider retaining PES to conduct constructibility reviews <br />for the projects. <br />The costs quoted by PES for this work is $39,295.00 per school. Although the costs are <br />significant, PES indicated that each project will easily surpass the fee in the amount saved on the project <br />and it will provide a good benchmark for the County to more fully understand the benefits of the value <br />engineering process. A complete report detailing the substance of the savings will be provided by PES at <br />the end of the review process. <br />Assuming that the Board approves this plan to acquire value engineering services, it is <br />further recommended that the Manager communicate to the Superintendents the Board's desire to see <br />value engineering incorporated into the earliest stages of development of any school. This would be <br />particularly important as to the design development of the new high school for the Orange County system. <br />As to financial impact, it is recommended that funds to cover the costs for this work be <br />appropriated from the School Capital Project Fund Balance. Potential project savings should offset the cost <br />of this appropriation. <br />The Manager recommends that the Board authorize County staff to complete negotiations on <br />an agreement with Pacific Environmental Services to conduct constructibility reviews for two (2) schools, <br />whose total costs shall not exceed $78,590.00; authorize the Manager to sign the resulting agreement; to <br />endorse a second phase of the selection process for a value engineering firm; and to direct the Manager to