CRI Project Update/BSB Occupants' Meeting
May 23, 2002 BSB 120

MRE: We received approval from the Charleston BAR on the conceptual drawings of the MRE on May 8th. The next meeting with the BAR will be held on June 12, 2002. The designs for the structure and envelope are progressing. The overall budget was reviewed this week and will be very tight. It will be a challenge to stay within the 4.9 million dollar budget and to get on line the services needed to support the CRI, by April of 2003.

CRI: The tunnel excavation is complete. We do not expect to encounter any more remains in the potter's field; 26 sets of remains were uncovered. The pile caps and also the placement of the first floor slab will be completed by May 24th, 2002.The critical path to completion includes the tunnel activities and the reminder of the building foundation. Installation of the precast planks that make up most of the first floor system is scheduled for September 6, 2002 and erection of the steel frame will begin September 25, 2002.

The restroom renovations are proceeding. The existing restrooms fixture numbers are within code but at an absolute minimum on several floors. Many of the occupants have complained about this issue. We have asked the architects to review this problem and possibly add some restrooms at the break thru in the new building; currently 2 of each gender are planned. We are also investigating the possibility of reclaiming some of the former restrooms that have been renovated into offices, so that fixtures counts can be increased.

It was acknowledged that drawings of BSB, generally available across campus, are mislabeled as to genders of restrooms, and whether or not asbestos abatement has been performed. We would like to see them corrected. And insure that all security upgrades are noted correctly on university drawings as well.

It was also requested that housekeeping check the restrooms more regularly now that the remaining ones will be used more frequently.

The animal facilities engineering/technical review is May 23, 2002 during which the plumbing, mechanical and electrical engineers will view the space to be renovated, then meet with the structural engineer in preparation for a meeting next week with TH Chang, the lab architect.

The elevator upgrade will be done on the operating system of the elevators starting in September and going thru November 2002. The leveler, cycle time for doors and travel time will be address during this work. Two elevators will be out of service for this time leaving two elevators operational. Cosmetic upgrades to the elevators will be performed in the spring of 2003. Concerns were expressed by Dr. Ondo that there are not going to be enough elevators to support both the BSB and the CRI, especially with the maintenance problems with these elevators, since no new elevators are planned for CRI.

Asbestos abatement-- John Brubaker commented that there seemed to be a lack of coordination among the facility manger, OSH and the abatement workers. Removal of furniture from areas to be abated was not pre-coordinated so the furniture was moved to the floor lobby by the abatement team. In addition, the workers did not know where to access the 220 power source they needed. He felt that had there been more effective management the time necessary for the abatement could have been significantly reduced. Jack Buchanan reminded the group that most of his staff was dedicated to graduation festivities preparation, but would certainly be on hand during other abatement projects.

Notification of unplanned outages in BSB- Dr. Dan Knapp asked that Leslie Kendall express his concern over not being notified about the power outage that occurred the weekend of May 25-26. It is necessary for researchers to know immediately that an outage has occurred in case it may affect a procedure in progress, and at the very least shortly after the fact so that all equipment can be reset. Mac McClinton reported that he requested that John Brubaker be paged during the outage. John has no knowledge of having received a page, but he may have been out of range of his pager. At any rate, it was requested that a SOP for unplanned outages be established, including notification of key individuals, and circulated among the BSB researchers.

It was discussed by the occupants that in this situation and in many others, the scope of work that is assigned to one Building Engineer, Jack Buchanan, (as highly motivated, dependable and competent as he is) is too great. It is hoped by the researchers that the amount of financial support and manpower dedicated to BSB equal that dedicated to the Strom Thurmond Building. They hope that an equitable solution to this issue is soon implemented, and includes, additional Facilities and Engineering support for the new CRI.

BSB Security- Dr. Krug had a number of specific security questions for but she asked if these questions could be addressed to Bob Waite at the next meeting. Dr. Krug agreed to this suggestion.

Dr. Krug has concerns about the lack of windows in the doors that will be closed due to the increased security, specific operation of the east end elevator and specifics of the first floor security. Both Dr. Krug and Dr. Schwartz had questions about when they were going to activate the security systems on floors 2 and 6.

Food Court in BSB Lobby- Dr. Ondo asked if the food service would have a space in the CRI since it will be displaced from the BSB lobby when renovation begins. Yes there is a space designated for their use in CRI. When they will leave BSB is not known at this time but occupants will receive prior notice.

Dr. Krug asked if there would be additional steam and gas supply in the new CRI. Mac McClinton answered that there would be gas piped to the individual labs and that there will be two 800hp boilers serving CRI.

Dr. Ondo asked if Dr. John Raymond, Assoc Provost for Research, could attend these meetings. Leslie Kendall assured Dr. Ondo that Dr. Raymond receives the minutes and could possibly be scheduled to meet with us on special issues or on a monthly basis. It was suggested that we consider changing our meeting schedule to every two weeks or even monthly rather to perhaps accommodate Dr. Raymond's schedule. The occupants are tiring of discussing the same issues repeatedly -the malfunction of the elevators was sited as a prime example.

Attendees Mac McClinton Jack Buchanan Dr. Jerry Ondo Cliff Harvey John Brubaker Leslie Kendal Dr. Ed. Krug Dr. David Schwartz Dr. Michael Swindle