Right to Know: The primary copies of these minutes are stored electronically and posted on the web to
inform the campus by the Office of the Vice President of Finance & Administration. Please feel free to
dispose of these secondary copies at your convenience.

FACILITIES PLANNING COMMITTEE
MINUTES
April 26, 2012
Members Present: Jon Beal; Diana Brush; Paul Bylaska; Bruce Exley; Deb Fleeger; Marlene
Kennedy; David Love; Madeline Robinson; Deb Sobina; Ric Taylor; Chad Thomas
Others Present: Dan Fleming; Jack Hubauer; John Massa; Joyce Overly; Ray Puller; Rein Pold;
Steve Selker
I.

Approval of Minutes – A motion was made by Chad Thomas and seconded by Bruce
Exley to approve the minutes of March 22, 2012. The minutes were approved as
presented.

II.

Additional Agenda Items: No additional agenda items were added.

III.

Old Business
1. Facilities Master Plan – Rein Pold
Last Thursday the selection committee comprised of Yasser Ayad, Jon Beal, Rose
Logue, Deb Sobina and Chad Thomas met and narrowed the 12 participants down to
6. The next step will be to contact the six finalists that will be coming to campus to
deliver a presentation. A pre-presentation meeting will be held the week of May 7th
on campus to layout the format for the finalists. The selection committee will be
asked to come up with questions for the finalists. A ratings sheet will be provided to
the selection committee for scoring the presentations. The remaining firms will be
notified that they were not a finalist.
2. Becht – Ric Taylor
The internal review was finished and the asbestos abatement will start in the fall in
September or October. The progress set is being reviewed by the LEED consultant to
at least achieve silver LEED. Diana Brush asked about information that she had been
given on a new design firm and new plans for Becht Hall. Chad Thomas said that
must have been a miscommunication; floor plan for her area have not changed and
the design firm remains the same.
3. Tippin – Ric Taylor
Ric Taylor took part along with DGS in the selection process for the professional on
the project. Out of 24 submittals, DGS chose three of the four firms that Ric Taylor
chose. The timeline for the project is estimated to be 4 – 5 years from start to finish.
1

4. Venango – Deb Sobina
A second job conference was held on the Nursing SIM lab project. Move out for
Montgomery will be mother’s day with asbestos abatement beginning on May 14th.
A furniture solution has been worked out. The drainage project is now out of the
Attorney Generals office. The design piece of the Rhoades project has been signed
off on. Deb Sobina reminded the members of the Venango Founders Day celebration
going on tonight; a day not just for Venango, but a university celebration.
5. Environmental Subcommittee – Paul Bylaska
The Clarion Green Team is in the process of approving and printing posters to focus
on the importance of recycling. An e-mail reminder came out today reminding the
committee to reconnect at the start of the fall 2012 semester. The team consists of
approximately 12 members who are actively engaged. The team has talked about
contacting Chartwells on composting. They are also looking to link with other groups
on campus. Joyce Overly spoke about a faculty member that is interested in forming
a sustainability living learning community (LLC) and she will keep the committee
posted.
6. Apple Sculpture – Chad Thomas
$2K was shaved off the cost. Shelly Wilson is working on the language for the
contract. Chad Thomas will be working with Ric Taylor this summer to get the base
poured. The traditions council of Student Senate brought forward the idea of the
apple which has significance to the history of the university as a teacher’s college.
Bill Bailey spoke about Admissions trying to establish a “signature moment” for
students and how the apple sculpture could play a role in that. Jon Beal spoke of his
former institution giving apples to the students. Bill Bailey said that Slippery Rock
uses a series of rocks starting out rough and in the end becoming highly polished as
an example of how students are transformed through education.
7. Work Order System – Ric Taylor
Good feedback was given at the last FPC meeting and some of those ideas have been
implemented in the work order system. A handout was given to members on the new
generated response the system now has. Generating a work order number was not
possible. With the approval of FPC, notification will be sent to the campus
community to start using the system. Members discussed dropdown options within
the building field. Chad Thomas still has concerns about circumventing the process
he has in place for the residence halls.
8. Bell Tower/Becker – Ric Taylor
The professional is hired. Bid documents will be available the second week of June.
Ric Taylor commented on related projects of concern at the last FPC meeting. The
history of leaking in Keeling has been taken care of and a professional has also been
hired for Stevens to identify that problem.

2

9. Still/Carrier Elevator – Ric Taylor
These projects are on track for June 4th. Dan Fleming has looked into a battery pack
system and was able to locate a system that will be added to the Carrier Elevator at an
additional cost of $2K. In the event of a power outage, the system will lower the
elevator to the next floor. The Still project which was further ahead could not include
the battery pack, but Bruce Johnson will be looking into the emergency generators
which the reboot function will take approximately five minutes.
10. Summer Projects – Ric Taylor
The painting project list was approved by FPC and PEC and Human Resources is in
the process of hiring the staff. June 25 – August 17th work will be done at Gemmell
to replace the concrete bridge. The Still transformer may happen this summer and
Rein & Dinah are working on the procurement end. Sidewalks are starting to happen.
Rein Pold commented on the severe pitting that has occurred over at Still Hall from
previous work that a contractor had done after digging up the area. He said the
university may be able to hold the contractor responsible.
Chad Thomas spoke about the Eagle sculpture that will be suspended from the ceiling
in the entrance/lobby of Eagle Commons. The sculpture will have lighting directed
on it and will be angled to give the illusion of a soaring eagle. It will be 12’ from
wing tip to wing tip. Mini eagle replicas will be available for donors. The sculpture
was initiated through donations from Dr. Karen Whitney and Dr. Peggy Apple. Dan
Fleming asked if Labor & Industry would be involved. Chad Thomas responded that
the area had been engineered early on with the thoughts that there may be a need and
this would just be a continuation of the initial project.
Ric Taylor updated the committee on issues around campus of concern at the last FPC
meeting. The “Y” that is missing on the Wood Street signage has been ordered.
Planting of flowers has begun today in the flowerbed near Becht Hall. Vinyl slats are
being installed in the fencing at Harvey. Diana Brush recognized the efforts of the
maintenance staff in fixing the wallpaper in her area.
11. Reinhard Villages Sidewalk – Ric Taylor
A meeting was held with Michael Keefer. It was noted that with the recent changes
in the borough structure that it would not be advisable to submit something to
PennDOT at this time
12. Grunenwald Center – Ric Taylor
In the GIS lab the university will look to install an independent air conditioner.
Currently estimates are being compiled and then funding will be looked at. Steve
Selker said that they are replacing all the computers in that room and if the timing
was right this could be done when those computers were removed. Dan Fleming
added that the system will be the same as what is in Still Hall and he will keep
everyone in the loop as to the timing.
Paul Bylaska said that several names were adopted early on for the science building
and an effort will now be made to acknowledge it for its correct name as the
Grunenwald Center.
3

IV.

New Business
1. Utility Shutdown – Ric Taylor
The steam shutdown will run May 14th through May 31st. Some buildings will be
affected with the lack of heat. The upper floors of Still Hall and the Rec Center will
be without air conditioning. Spirax Sarco surveyed 297 steam traps and found 23 of
them to be faulty. It was determined that $30K/year was being lost on steam traps.
Jack Hubauer explained that as steam goes through the system it loses power and
goes to water, the traps remove the water out and leave the steam in. Doing this inhouse there will be a four month payback; realizing the majority of the savings in
labor costs.
The electric shutdown with be on May 19th. Still Hall will have a generator and all
other buildings will be on emergency lighting only. Both sides of the system will be
down.
Rein Pold commented that the natural gas in March has been the lowest he has seen in
his 10 years here.
2. Starbucks Patio – Ric Taylor
Ric Taylor said the Paul Bylaska came up with the idea of a patio on the 9th street side
of Starbucks. A concrete patio will be constructed with have umbrella tables as an
outside area for students and staff to gather. This will be done over the summer.
Dan Fleming said that M&B Concrete is willing to come train our staff on how to
color and stamp concrete. Chad Thomas questioned prior concerns with salt getting
in the cracks of stamped concrete and the affects. Dan Fleming said that they will
need to keep the concrete sealed, but that area should not have a lot of salt anyway.
3. Bus Service – Paul Bylaska
A meeting was held Tuesday evening on campus regarding bus transportation.
Members from the Area Transportation Authority, the university, student
representatives and the Clarion Student Association were present to respond. Student
Senate shared a survey that had been done with students. Paul Bylaska said the
meeting was positive and they have agreed to two meetings a year on bus
transportation. The first meeting will be held in September in conjunction with the
student senate meeting. Rein Pold said that he was impressed by how active the
students are. He said their major concern was to have an additional bus in the early
morning hours and the late hours on the weekends for events. ATA was receptive to
looking into this. The cost of the bus is $200K and $91K is paid by a federal grant.
The bus is dependent on ridership. Madeline Robinson said that she felt ridership is
not a problem and in some cases the bus is over packed and an adjustment to run
more buses at needed times would help.
4. Trustees’ Facilities Tour – Paul Bylaska
Every year a tour of the facilities is required by PASSHE. The tour will be a
walking/riding tour. There will be 2 -3 stops and 10 buildings that may be toured.
4

The Trustees’ Facilities committee will tour along with university staff and members
of FPC are invited to attend. A date will be forthcoming.
The meeting adjourned at 4:08 p.m. The next meeting of the Facilities Planning Committee
will be held on May 24, 2012.

5