Agenda - 04-15-2025; 8-a - Minutes

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25 1 consistent with the principles they have agreed to. She said she is interested in the financial 2 aspects of the ILAs and allows for an effective and timely management. 3 Vice-Chair Hamilton asked to return to the last slide. She asked if the program manager 4 hires the project managers. 5 Jessica Killian said it is all part of the big team. She said that the recommendation is that 6 it is one company. She said they would report through the program management office and that 7 would ensure consistency in the reports. She said other contractual relationships can get messy 8 and it is almost always better to have everything under the same umbrella. She sees this moving 9 forward as a PMO, but everyone must be involved on the decisions. 10 Vice-Chair Hamilton asked how program managers will be accountable to the county. 11 Jessica Killian said monthly reports on projects, reporting on milestones in the master 12 plan, and perhaps a dashboard for voters to see. 13 Travis Myren said there will be a collaborative solicitation process to choose a program 14 management firm. 15 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said she's in favor of an approach that gives them improved 16 communication and more consistency. She said that voters have been concerned about the bonds 17 and overspending and she is grateful that they will do all they can do to deliver what they 18 promised. She said that she supports program management. 19 Commissioner Fowler said she is in favor of a program manager. She asked if the school 20 districts are in favor of having this setup. 21 Jessica Killian said they want to make sure they are not left out of the project. She said 22 that program management is a specific skill and project management is a separate set of skills. 23 She said the decisions must be made by those making the decisions. She said it is about trust 24 and relationships and that is why it is important to get everyone in the room. 25 Commissioner Fowler asked if the RFQ is for program management and if they must be 26 the same company and if it is more efficient when it is. 27 Chair Bedford asked if they must use the same project manager for the different builds. 28 Jessica Killian said the project holders are the decision makers. She said that the 29 recommendation is one firm that does program management (director) with multiple project 30 managers. 31 Commissioner McKee said he does not have an issue with program management. He said 32 that he wants the Board and both school systems to be kept informed and to be involved and 33 updated along the way. He said that he wants to make sure there is nothing missing. 34 Chair Bedford asked the difference between a construction manager at risk vs. project 35 manager. 36 Jessica Killian said they are different. She said the construction manager at risk is the 37 constructor and they are taking a risk by being involved in the design phase. She said that they 38 are construction related. She said that the project manager is involved from the beginning and 39 managing the process. She said they are not involved with the actual construction. 40 Chair Bedford asked Commissioner Fowler how management of construction of Chapel 41 Hill High School was done. She said when she was on the schoolboard, there was someone on 42 staff that had a background in construction that managed the project. 43 Commissioner Fowler said they hired a construction manager at-risk but there was an act 44 of God clause that was triggered, and they ended up having to pay more than the not to exceed 45 price due to this. She said they had just hired a new principal and the former principal stayed on 46 to assume the project manager role and she said that she is not sure that this is the most effective 47 way for the management to be done. 48 Jessica Killian said there are a couple of different things that happen in school districts. 49 She said there are deferred projects and there are project managers that handle this type of thing. 50 She said a feature of hiring a program manager is that they are not staff, and they can scale as 51 needed. She said in ten-years when it is over, there is not a need to continue to employ them.