The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) facilities subcommittee will meet June 19 at 1:30 pm at MVRHS in hopes of meeting with an expanded list of candidates for a pro-tem owner’s project manager (OPM) for the renovation of the MVRHS track.
At its weekly meeting Monday, chairman Jeffrey “Skipper” Manter asked Amy Tierney and Mike Taus of the search committee to canvas additional companies, including Gale Associates and Huntress Associates, who have been previously involved in early planning for the project.
At its meeting this week, the subcommittee was provided a proposal prepared by Tom Irwin Advisors, Burlington, for the OPM job. “I’m not comfortable with just one candidate,” Manter said, noting that the search team had been busy, attending trade shows and reaching out to industry and education contacts for additional OPM prospects.
Tom Irwin Advisors works on projects throughout the Northeast, and has consulted with FIFA, the international soccer governing body that organizes the World Cup. Tom Irwin Advisors’ bid was $25,000 for a two-phase feasibility and design project.
Both Tierney, MVRHS business administrator, and Taus, MVRHS facilities manager, said they had found several companies eager to do the construction phase, but who lacked either experience or the willingness to engage in the feasibility and planning phases. “Most wanted to build it rather than to be the OPM,” Tierney told the group. Tierney and Taus agreed to continue the search for additional candidates, all of whom would be invited to the June 19 meeting.
The facilities subcommittee wants to get the job filled using about $30,000 in available funds under the FY2018 budget. The school fiscal year ends on June 30. Those funds would provide a short-term OPM before the long-term project manager is selected using a bid process.
