Tag Archives: FPSC

Library Architect RFP and “Bible” (part 2)



Here is the Request for Proposals and the

“Bible” of related documents
that served as background for the architect selection process
for the new library at Five Points.
These were received on a CD as part of
the library architect selection documents in

the very organized open records response from the South Georgia Regional Library;
see

the previous post
for related agendas and minutes.

Included in

the RFP


(which was issued by the County, not by the Library Board),
is a list of fourteen numbered submittal instructions
that looks like it might have been the basis for the list of
90 items on the

Library Scoring Worksheet.

The RFP also includes this interesting section:

RESERVATIONS

Lowndes County Board of Commissioners reserves the following rights:

Rejection of any and all submittals

Negotiate changes in the Scope of Work

Negotiate services to be provided

Negotiate fee proposal

Waive any and all technicalities

That last line basically seems like it could be interpreted to mean
they could select whatever appealed to them no matter what the fit
(or not) with what was asked for in the RFP.

The “Bible” includes a cover sheet that says:

Continue reading →

Library Architect Selection Documents (part 1)

Thanks to a

very organized open records response from the South Georgia Regional Library,
we have available agendas and minutes of the SGRL Board and other materials
related to the selection of an architect for the new library at Five Points.
Here is a first batch of those materials,
which sheds a little light on the library architect selection process.


SGRL Minutes 2012-07-17
According to the

SGRL Board minutes of 17 July 2012
as

approved at the SGRL Board meeting of 18 September 2012,

SOUTH GEORGIA REGIONAL LIBRARY

BOARD MINUTES

July 17, 2012

…

V. Architectural (Building and Grounds Committee)

The Firm of Clemons, Rutherford and Associates (CRA)
was approved as the architectural firm for construction
of the Five Points Library.

Moved: Ray Devery Second: Wyn Miller
Ayes: All Nays: None

No further detail is provided in those minutes.


Library Scoring Worksheet
A

Library Scoring Worksheet
for the design and construction of the “Lowndes County Library”
was included in the materials received in response to the open records request
(it’s the extra item in the left edge of the picture in

the previous post).
It lists 30 topics with a potential score of 3 points each for
a total of 90 points,
grouped in categories of
“Responsiveness/Quality of Presentation/Capabilty”,
“Experience, Design Concept and Creativity”,
and
“Personal Overall Impression of the architectural team”.
However, no marked-up worksheets with scores for any architecture firm
were included.

The complete agenda packets for the SGRL board meetings of

18 September 2012
and

17 July 2012
are available

on the LAKE website where
more will be added later.

Next: the RFP.

-jsq

Tired of seeing transparency be a constant source of tension —Barbara Stratton

Received yesterday on

Bees in the library —VDT -jsq

Thanks for bringing up the question of selling the current library
to SGMC. I tried to follow your link & did not see any reference on
the page it brought up. I personally have been wondering why the


taxpayers are not privy to any discussions of SGMC purchasing the
property. Since SGMC has already purchased the adjoining properties,
effectively land locking the current library, I would think the
library board would have quite a bit of leverage toward negotiating
price & we the taxpayers have a right to know what is transpiring
between them. Everyone I have questioned states they cannot find out
any information about proposed SGMC/library negotiations or
discussions.

Thankfully LAKE does a lot to solicit transparency within local
government entities & boards. I for one am tired of seeing said
transparency be a constant source of tension. No one should have to
constantly work to elicit information that should be readily
available. I personally will not vote for SPLOST VII or any other
proposed tax until I see local government become more accountable to
taxpayers. SPLOST VII needs to die so a more responsible proposal
can be presented. We complain about the federal government not
balancing the budget, yet local government entities seem intent on
devising lists littered with wants instead of focusing on needs as
if the economy is thriving. I am an avid library supporter, but I'm
not willing to blindly accept the current library board (or boards)
opaque tax payer liability assignments.

-Barbara Stratton

-jsq

Bees in the library —VDT

As its closing argument for SPLOST VII,

library bookshelves
the VDT argued that the library has bees in its brick walls.
Sure and we need a new library.
But they didn’t address any of the questions about the Five Points
out-of-state architect plan for a new library
or about

the process by which that plan was produced.

Jason Schaefer write for the VDT 14 October 2012,

SPLOST to solve aging library’s problems with modern building,

Plainly speaking, the South Georgia Regional Library is in bad
shape. Half of the red-brick building was constructed in 1966, and
the other in 1995.

Walking in, the atmosphere seems stuffy and archaic — stained
ceiling tiles and old carpet, color-neutral walls and little
decoration.

The wiring intended to service the computers is buried in the floor
and unable to meet current internet standards, and the
machines—35 to process 7,000 logins a month—are all
clustered together in one area.

The HVAC system is antiquated, riddled with patches and still slowly
disintegrating, and replacement of the system would cost upward of
$2 million.

This and their other points are all true, and although I haven’t seen them,
I have no doubt this is true, too:

Continue reading →

Library process transparency —John S. Quarterman


John S. Quarterman videoing SPLOST VII Kickoff Speeches
It’s good to see that someone responsible for allocating millions of dollars
of taxpayer money is willing to answer questions about related decisions,
as

Kay Harris is doing!
It would be even better if there were a regular process by which the taxpaying
and voting and library-using public could ask such questions and get answers.

If there were such a process, it’s pretty likely Ms. Harris or the Library Board
or the County Commission would have been asked about the architect selection,
considering I wasn’t even involved in that selection and my ear was scorched
with complaints as soon as it was announced.
Maybe Ms. Harris can suggest a way to produce such a process.

Let me take Ms. Harris’ points in order.


“First, they were the only one of the four finalists who did a full cost
evaluation of the project, estimating $16 million while others were more
than content to use the state’s estimate of $21 million.”

That’s very interesting news, which clarifies for me what she was getting at in

the VDT writeup on that selection:

Continue reading →

Why we selected an out of town architect —Kay Harris

Received yesterday on

New Library —Kay Harris.
My response follows in

the next post.
-jsq

I was never asked why we selected an out of town architect, but will

Kay Harris
happily answer that question now. First, they were the only one of
the four finalists who did a full cost evaluation of the project,
estimating $16 million while others were more than content to use
the state's estimate of $21 million. Second, they brought to the
project a consultant who is considered the country's leading library
consultant; only one of the other four brought in an outside expert.
Third, the principals of this firm live right over the county line
in Florida—they are within the 50 mile radius that is
considered "hiring local", so they are indeed a local firm. They
also brought a local engineering firm, from Valdosta, to the table,
and have agreed to hire as many subs from the local area as
possible. So I truly don't understand the "jab" about hiring
non-local… if it was that big a concern, why not just ask me the
question? Mr. Quarterman wasn't even in the room at the time I
spoke….

-Kay Harris

-jsq

New Library —Kay Harris @ LCDP 2012-10-01

At Monday’s Lowndes County Democratic Party meeting,
LCDP Chair
Gretchen Quarterman introduced Kay Harris as chairman of the Library Board.
You can see that board in action a few weeks ago

in these previous videos.




Kay Harris said she was not there as editor of the newspaper,
since as such she wouldn’t be allowed (presumably by the newspaper)
at a partisan meeting.
She was there as chair of the library board.
She said this is her fifth year on that board, and
her second year as chairman.

Here’s

a video playlist.

She said the county put her on that board to move along the
library project, which had been in process for some time.
She said she had led negotiations with the City of Valdosta
for the Five Points process.
She mentioned the

Five Points Steering Committee,
of which she is also a member.

About the current library building and how the new one would be better,

she said,

Continue reading →

Retrofitting suburbia —Ellen Dunham-Jones

There are many jobs in this.
The

Five Points redevelopment
is an example of what she’s talking about.
It’s a lot better than building more sprawl:
safer, less expensive, more jobs, less energy cost, more energy independence,
better health, and more community.

Georgia Tech Professor Ellen Dunham-Jones spole January 2010 at TEDxAtlanta,

Retrofitting suburbia



In the last 50 years, we’ve been building the suburbs with a lot of
unintended consequences. And I’m going to talk about some of those
consequences and just present a whole bunch of really interesting projects
that I think give us tremendous reasons to be really optimistic that
the big design and development project of the next 50 years is going
to be retrofitting suburbia. So whether it’s redeveloping dying malls
or re-inhabiting dead big-box stores or reconstructing wetlands out
of parking lots, I think the fact is, the growing number of empty and
under-performing, especially, retail sites throughout suburbia gives
us actually a tremendous opportunity to take our least-sustainable
landscapes right now and convert them into more sustainable places. And
in the process, what that allows us to do is to redirect a lot more of
our growth back into existing communities that could use a boost, and
have the infrastructure in place, instead of continuing to tear down
trees and to tear up the green space out at the edges.

Here’s
the video:

Continue reading →

Five Points Steering Committee presentation by Mara Register @ LCDP 1 August 2011

Mara Register gave a very interesting presentation about
the Five Points Steering Committee (FPSC) last night
at the monthly meeting of the
Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP).



She sent her slides to me this morning for publication by LAKE.
Here they are

on the LAKE web pages,
in PPT, PDF, and HTML formats.

She said there is no FPSC web page, but their meetings are shown in the
calendar of events on Valdosta’s city website.
The next FPSC meeting shown there is for 18 August 2011.

Date: 8/18/2011 5:00 PM
Location: Valdosta City Hall Multi-Purpose Room

300 N. Lee Street

Videos of her talk will appear on the LCDP youtube channel.

I will probably post some more here about what she said
and some of the Q&A that ensued.
Meanwhile, you can see the slides for yourself.

-jsq