Holyoke Veterans Home Reconstruction Access, Inclusion and Diversity Committee Meeting, 4/18/25

Meeting Minutes

A. Call to Order

• The meeting was called to order by Charles Kelsey at 10:03 a.m.
• Members were reminded that the use of AI for note taking or recording at DCAMM meetings is prohibited except in limited cases as approved by the General Counsel.

Confirming Member Access:

Confirm that all members and people anticipated on the agenda are present and can fully participate.

• Members present
  • Karen Courtney
  • Andrea Gayle Bennett
  • Bonnie Borch-Rote
  • Debora Olson
  • Michael Rybicki
  • Liseth Velez (Mikila Britto)
• Members absent:
  • Marcony Almeida-Barros
  • Colton Andrews
  • Jose Bou
  • Rubens Boursiquot
  • Maxime Charles
  • John Cruz
  • Micheal Euvrard
  • Colleen Fonseca
  • Aisha Miller
  • Nicole Obi
  • Jorge Santiago
  • Mary-dith Tuitt

B. Administrative Matters

• Charles sent a survey to the committee regarding a tour of the Holyoke Soldiers Home construction site for two possible dates. As result of the survey, it showed the majority of the committee members chose June 6th. Also, a question arose at the last meeting, due to the fact that there weren’t enough committee members present to have a quorum to approve the meeting minutes. The question was whether Charles Kelsey, the acting Chairperson, could count as a voting member in order to reach a quorum and approve the meeting minutes. The Commissioner will follow up with A&F and the GOV’s office on the matter. Presently, without a formal appointment, the answer is no as of now.

C. Review and approve January, February and March 2025, Meeting Minutes.

• Item postponed due to lack of quorum.

D. DCAMM project overview and schedule update

• Nathalie Assens presented project updates. Work in progress and MBE and WBE participation.
• Milestone schedule:
  • Building will achieve temporary weather tightness on all levels by 7/10/2025.
  • Building expected to be permanently weather tight by 1/30/2026.
  • Certificate of Occupancy and Phase 1 Substantial Completion date is anticipated to be in November of 2026.
• Overall sitework ariel visuals.
• Window installation and curtain wall.
• MEP installation.
• Roof wall and roofing mobilization.
• Masonry installation.
• Stopped for questions. Seeing none.

E. Update from Commodore/Walsh

• Project MWBE participation plan.
  • Contract Goals:
    • MBE 4.7% - $18,873,250
    • WBE 7.7% - $30,920,005
  • Current Awards:
    • MBE 4.5% - $17,942,041
    • WBE 8.0% - $32,006,370
• Commodore/Walsh reports exceeding the contract award WBE goal by over a million dollars.
• Commodore/Walsh is approaching the MBE contract award goal, but is still seeking a slightly less than a million dollars in additional participation. Available scopes of work remain to be awarded and Commodore/Walsh is confident it will meet and likely surpass the MBE goal.
• VBE participation reported separately.
  • Contract Goal: VBE 3.0% - $12,046,755
  • Current Award: VBE 3.8% - $15,197,900
• Commodore/Walsh has comfortably exceeded the VBE goal for awarded contracts by several million dollars.
• MBE and WBE participation paid against awarded contracts through Feb 25, 2025:
  • MBE: $3,832,591.93, achieving 1.0% of the 4.5% goal.
  • WBE: $7,020,288.35, representing 1.7% of the 8.0% goal.
• VBE participation paid against awarded contracts through February 25, 2025:
  • VBE: $6,265,149.37, representing over half (1.6%) of the 3.0% goal.
• Project Workforce Participation Goals – Minority, Women, Veteran and Apprentice as of March 30, 2025:
• Workforce Goals and Achieved Participation:
  • Minority Goal 15.3%, Achieved 23.9%
  • Women Goal 6.9%, Achieved 10.3%
  • Veteran Goal 7%, Achieved 9%
• Apprentice Goals Range from 20 – 40%
  • Minority Apprentices 37.2%
  • Women Apprentices 29.9%
  • Veteran Apprentices 4.5%
  • Minority/Women Apprentices 10.5%
     

Charles question: When do you anticipate peak construction manpower? Nathalie Assens answered that there will be about 300 workers on site in the coming months.

Paused for questions. Seeing none.

F. Outreach Update

• Suzzette Waters from DCAMM spoke about upcoming outreach events. Certification zoom meetings and Mass Construction Opportunities Events happening June 12th and October 8th.
• March 20 Career Exploration new North Citizens Council Youth build.
• March 27 Career Exploration – Putnam Tech 12th grade electrical
• April 9 East River School Career Exploration Fair (K-12)

G. Question/Comment Period

• Mary-dith Tuitt asked whether their was a vote to change the meeting to June 6th as she is not available that day Charles Kelsey explained that it was a survey and not a vote.
• Deb Olson mentioned that all major veteran organizations have their conventions that week so they won’t be able to attend the tour or meeting that day. Nathalie Assens clarified that the meeting will be hybrid. Just the tour is in person. A discussion regarding scheduling and associated details concluded that May 30, 2025 would be the best date for the committee for a hybrid on-site meeting.

H. Conclusion, Adjournment and Set Next Meeting Date/ Time

• Meeting adjourned at 10:33 a.m.
  • Nathalie Assens reminded folks about limited parking with tour bus being provided for local transportation for the hybrid meeting.
  • Reminder: next meeting Friday, May 30th at 10AM at the construction site in Holyoake with a virtual participation option.