Holyoke Veterans Home Reconstruction Access, Inclusion and Diversity Committee Meeting, 10/29/2021

Meeting Minutes

A. Call to Order

• Commissioner Gladstone calls the meeting to order at 10 a.m. and confirms members are present and technology is working.

Confirming Member Access:

• Confirm that all members and persons anticipated on the agenda are present and can hear.
• Members present:
  • Colton Andrews
  • Jose Bayron
  • Rubens Boursiquot
  • Karen Courtney
  • John Cruz
  • Migdalia Diaz
  • Raymond Feyre
  • Segun Idowu
  • Dave Madan
  • Bill McAvoy
  • Coleman Nee
  • Donna Scally
  • Mary-dith Tuitt
• Members absent:
  • Jose Delgado
  • Jesse Flynn
  • Diane Randolph Jones

B. Administrative Matters

• Introduction of new Committee Members: Segun Idowu and Donna Scally both introduce themselves.
• Next Meeting: Friday November 19th at 10am
• December meeting reschedule: Committee decides that DCAMM staff should send out a doodle to reschedule of December meeting.

C. Vote to approve September Meeting Minutes.

• Meeting minutes prepared by DCAMM staff shared with Committee Members for review and approval.
• September meeting minutes approved via voice vote.

D. Introduction of Project Team

• Commissioner Gladstone introduces the DCAMM project team and Commodore/Walsh project team.

DCAMM: 

• Jay Mitchell, Deputy Commissioner
• Gordon Wrin, Director Project Delivery
• Ganesh Ramachandran, Project Manager
• Joe Fazio, Construction Coordinator

Commodore/Walsh:

• Joe Albanese, Principal in Charge
• Chuck Borstel, VP Safety & Regulatory Compliance
• Linda Shaughnessy, Director Workforce Compliance

• Brad Forrest, COO/Px

• Committee Member Segun Idowu requested that Committee meetings be recorded and the Committee members agreed to record meetings to post online. DCAMM will work on functionality for November meeting.
   

E. Presentation from DCAMM Project Team on Reconstruction Project

• Ganesh Ramachandran and Joe Fazio present to Committee on the Holyoke Reconstruction project.
• Questions/Comments from Committee Members:
  • Mary-Dith Tuitt asked about the memory care unit and security precautions.
    • Response: Note that slide was mislabled as memory unit floor when was actually showing typical floor plan. Dedicated memory care floor does address security precautions and reflects input from memory care experts.
  • Coleman Nee: Asked for clarification on survey respondents. How many beds per neighborhood? Did you look at VA’s small home design guide? Are there any single sex floors/neighborhoods for women? Is there the ability to seal pods off for infection control?
    • Response: 10 to 11 on typical floor, 234 beds total. Yes, we looked a the VA's small home design guide. Any of the pods are capable of being single sex. Each neighborhood is a stand alone unit that can be sealed off. HVAC systems designed with infection control in mind and the home will have quarantine space as well.
  • Jose Bayron: Asked for a copy of diagrams in the presentation?
    • Presentation will be shared with committee members
  • Dave Madan: Asked to review the schedule, noting the Committee is here to discuss workforce and enterprise participation in the project. To what extent has schedule and construction design been set up for smaller minority and women vendors? What is current outreach to potential vendors? Planning and schedule are a critical component.
    • Response: November meeting will dive into participation topic.

F. Update on Participation Goals for the Project

• In November 2020 DCAMM established the following participation goals for the project:
  • MBE: 4.7%
  • WBE: 7.7%
  • VBE: 3%
  • Minority workforce hours: 15.3%
  • Women workforce hours: 6.9%
  • Veteran workforce: TBD
•  Commissioner Gladstone indicated that DCAMM will share percentages with committee in follow-up email.

G. Questions/Comments from Committee Members:

• Segun Idowu: Requested a list of opportunities that will be available on this project to share with respective networks at the next meeting. It would also be good to understand DCAMM’s history of reaching diversity goals.
• Mary-dith Tuitt: Agreed with previous request to share a list of opportunities. Noted the important of women in the construction workforce and asked for an upcoming meeting to focus on how women (and veteran women) fit into the workforce outreach.
  • Response: The Committee will spend time on this next meeting.
• Migdalia Diaz: Any statistics on existing population of Holyoke Soldiers Home?
• Coleman Nee: Noted that given the historical and cutltural issues the contractor should be looking to exceed goals in a huge way. The Committee needs to send a message that there is going to be a more diverse makeup of veterans in facility and start by ensuring overrepresentation of underrepresented groups in the construction of the facility.
• Jose Bayron: Reinforce Coleman and Mary-dith’s statements.

H. Conclusion

• Meeting adjourned with reminder of next meeting date (11/19) and to return open meeting law certification forms.