[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Hello everyone,

Here is the obituary for Jon.

https://www.chapmanfuneral.com/obituaries/Jonathan-R-Nelson?obId=26030208#/obituaryInfo

Many of us will be headed down to the Cape on Wednesday to pay our respects to his family.

Take care of yourselves.

Ken

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Update on MHEC event and schedule. We will be having our MFAA Meeting (roundtable discussion) at 10 am in Meeting Room C.  Hope to see you all in Worcester tomorrow. Remember that you need to register through the MHEC site to gain access.

MHEC Supplier breakfast 7:30 am—8:00 am Showcase Corner, Exhibit Hall
Attendee breakfast 8:00 am—10:00 am Showcase Corner, Exhibit Hall
Exhibits 8:00 am—3:00 pm Exhibit Hall
MAPPO 9:30 am—10:30 am Meeting Room A
i-buy demonstration & sign up for
demo @ member organization

9:00 am—9:45 am i-buy theater—booth 512
HECCMA 9:00 am—10:30 am Meeting Room B
MFAA 10:00 am—11:00 am Meeting Room C
CEU Education

The Role of Printing in Education Sus-
tainability

2021 Member Conference Encore

presentation CEU accredited webi-
nar recording

11:00 am—11:45 am Meeting Room D

i-buy demonstration & sign up for
demo @ member organization

11:00 am—11:45 am i-buy theater—booth 512

Lunch 12:00 pm—1:30 pm Exhibit Hall
i-buy demonstration & sign up for
demo @ member organization

1:00 pm—1:45 pm i-buy theater—booth 512

Early Bird Registration Raffle
*Prize: NYC holiday experience

1:45 pm MHEC booth—announced over PA system

Toys for Tots Raffle
*Prize: Tumi backpack

2:00 pm MHEC booth—announced over PA system

MHEC Grand Prize Drawing
*Prize: 2 tickets to
Bruce Springsteen Concert

2:30 pm MHEC booth—announced over PA system
Event Schedule

Wednesday, September 21st

Thursday, September 22nd

mhec simple. savvy. diverse.
*must be present to win

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Hey Rob,

These would be called “House Doctor” contracts. Very common and if you google you will find a ton of info and projects that have been awarded either through DCAMM, Housing Authorities, or other communities.

M.G.L. c. 7C, §§ 44-58 – DESIGN SERVICES FOR PUBLIC BUILDING PROJECTS:
Cities, Towns, Regional School Districts and Horace Mann Charter Schools has a threshold for $30,000 for design with project value under $300,000 recommends but doesn’t require getting three prices.

I’ve found them useful when I was still in Sharon. All depends on what you have for your capital moving forward. Curious to see what others think.

Be well and if you think this is something we should dig deeper on the educational sub-committee can work on that as a topic during this year’s professional development.

I do know we have a couple of design firms registered for booths at the Fall Conference so you can talk to them as well.

Good luck,

Ken

 

 

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Hey Wayne,

How are we looking? Hopefully everyone recovered from summer and is considering giving back to the MFAA. We still have some open positions available for the upcoming elections and would love to see some volunteers step up.

 

Great opportunity for professional growth, supporting our organization, and not a heavy lift now that we have monthly zoom meetings and a few in persons per year. I encourage anyone that has thought about putting your name in the hat for a board position to take a chance and connect with Wayne.

Be well everyone and see you soon,

Ken

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Here is a great resource to help fight for improved IAQ from Harvard.

 

9 Foundations of a Healthy Building

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Hey Dominic,

There are several new buildings that have been running for at least a year now that hopefully you can go look at and see how they have been performing.

 

100% Fresh air is a good way to combat the future pandemic when it shows up!

Last project I was working on. before transitioning to just MFAA, was Sharon HS. They are moving in this Monday so hard to know if the maintenance projections align with what we had discussed during early design. All classrooms have VRF with 100% Fresh air and energy recover on 100% exhaust air. The project mid pandemic add was to install a 2″ filter on the return register in the classroom fitted with a MERV 13 to combat virus spread through the classroom recirc air. Tappe Architects did the design.

As for standard vs. air displacement they are making an interior comfort and teachable space decision. Air Displacement provides a very quiet and stable classroom environment. I was always told it is “Conditioned Air” vs.  air conditioning…. The focus  of removing humidity vs. making a freezer works extremely well and provides an extremely great learning environment vs. standard ductwork blowing all the time.

Some food for thought… 1 in 10 students walking through your doors today are neurodiverse. Autism, Sensory Processing (which I personally struggle with), ADHD….that greatly benefit from stable, quiet, natural learning environments. Not to mention having healthier happier teachers…

No single easy answer for sure. But value engineering the single greatest system in the building to provide a healthier and safer learning environment seems a bit short sighted. And yes, it will cost more to maintain, which they need to add to your operation budget as part of this process… no questions asked!

Good luck and look forward to hearing from others.

Ken

 

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Hey Mike,

Been doing some thinking on this issue as it seems to be a common problem for our members. I’d encourage everyone that feels trapped to look at the procurement law Chapter 30B section 12.

https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIII/Chapter30b/Section12

I’m going to hazard a guess that most folks haven’t followed this law to the letter as any contract for more than 3 years can’t be extended without it being voted on at town meeting…. Yup, every three years you are supposed to bid this out with a new contract. In my opinion, please verify with the Inspector Generals 30B hotline, If you haven’t you aren’t able to pay them as the purchase order and contract are not legal and binding.

The IG’s Office are helpful and may provide you with some answers and support you are looking for.

https://www.mass.gov/the-oig-public-procurement-and-chapter-30b-programs#:~:text=Use%20the%20Chapter%2030B%20Assistance,at%20617%2D722%2D8838.

Good luck everyone,

Ken

 

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

I confirmed our contact for Anchor Insulation: Jerry.Fiske@anchorinsulation.com

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Hey Kevin,

I always had good luck and installation service from Anchor Insulation. I believe my contact, Jerry,  retired but here is the link for you.

https://www.anchorinsulation.com/

Good luck,

Ken

 

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Hey Z,

Josh Peach has recently started consulting with Operations Hero, who is an MFAA Sponsor, and would be happy to connect with you. I’m in Bobby Chaves’ camp on this and think they offer a great alternative.

Josh Peach contact:

josh@beausm.com

Personal cell: 508-326-6308

Be well,

Ken

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Evidently the West Chapter didn’t think the original Tree House was far enough West so they will be at TreeHouse Brewing in Deerfield. Careful, there be Dragons when you get that far west…..

TreeHouse Brewing Co.

1 Community Pl, South Deerfield, MA 01373

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Great opportunity for active members who have a son/daughter, grandson/granddaughter that is either heading off to college or enrolled.

Thanks to the Scholarship Community and the MFAA for continuing to be able to offer this great opportunity.

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Hey Kevin,

I’ve seen some schools shift from natural turf in courtyards to artificial turf to reduce maintenance. Seems to work really well and is more useable. Just make sure to avoid PFAS when specifying products.

good luck

Ken

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

We have many members registered for this weeks in person and would love to see more. Make sure if you haven’t already to register for this Thursday!

MFAA’s March 17th 1/2 Day Summit

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Did you check with DLS and see if they might be willing to help out with this?  Does this have to be onsite or can it be virtual.

Mary Dozois, mary.dozois@state.ma.us,  will be at Assabett on Thursday at our meeting and might be worth bending her ear on this.

You can also check with Lynn Rose, she was at our west meeting a couple weeks ago, to see if she is OSHA certified as she is in your area and always good. lynnfaith@comcast.net

Be well,

Ken