The Public Building and Site Commission (PBSC) met remotely on June 22 to hear updates on the progress of the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial on Riverside Road.

Daniel Affleck, of the design firm SWA Group, informed the PBSC that he met with the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission and received approval for the names and fonts for the various engravings at the memorial.

For the site itself, he said that the meadow prep has been done and weed control has been applied.

It was also noted that the project has received the state review process for storm water.

PBSC Chair Robert Mitchell said there are branches on the memorial site that he would like to see taken down before anyone else goes there.

PBSC member Sally Feuerberg added that there is a dead tree at the back of the property, and inquired if that whole tree would be taken down.

The tree is “part of the site demolition and clean up” and will be taken down completely, said Tara Vincenta from Artemis Landscape Architects.

Jeff Anderson, of Downes Construction Company, announced, “We are officially out to bid on the project as of today. The bid request was sent out to the bid list based on the prequalification process that we undertook that was coordinated with Rick Spreyer of the purchasing department.”

He explained that they currently have a pre-bid walk-through scheduled for June 30 at the site.

“The bids are due on Thursday, July 15, at 2 pm,” Anderson said.

From there, he explained, there is about a two-week process that will include reviewing the bids to make sure they are in full compliance with the project, making a recommendation for who is the most qualified contractor, and sending that information to First Selectman Dan Rosenthal to sign off on.

Later in the conversation, Anderson discussed that they will have “an eight-foot-high construction fence with privacy mesh enclosing the memorial construction” for security purposes.

There will also be conversations with Public Works about adding signage on Riverside Road for vehicular and construction traffic to ensure people are aware of the memorial driveway.

“We acknowledge that there is a concern there, and we have to do some due diligence to prevent any fender benders, as you will,” Anderson mentioned.

To that, Vincenta brought up that there were previous talks about chopping down the grade by the entrance to help the line of sight, and how that might still be of interest.

Mitchell segued into the topic of nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), which the town has requested all subcontractors sign.

“We do not want photographs of the memorial being taken and all of a sudden showing up on Facebook before the commission has a chance to walk through it and the parents have seen it,” he said.

Mitchell recalled how, back when they were building the new Sandy Hook Elementary School, they not only required all the contractors to sign an NDA, but they also had to leave their cell phones in a trailer during the workday.

Anderson said he completely understands. They have full NDAs in the bid documents and will do so throughout the process “to ensure that everybody understands that what goes on behind that eight-foot construction fence needs to be for our eyes until it is 100% complete and ready for ribbon cutting.”

The last point of discussion Anderson brought up was pertaining to the pricing of materials and the longer wait times to receive them.

“Some of the things that are being highly impacted are PVC piping, as an example. There’s extensive lead times, and I’ve heard recently a quote of a 30% increase on PVC piping since January 1,” Anderson said. “This project does have an extensive amount of PVC piping scheduled for and associated with the water feature construction.”

He said they will be looking at these variables closely to ensure the schedule they are developing is accounting for these factors.

After finishing going over the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial updates, the commission approved an invoice of $16,887.50 for work done in April, as well as a conditional approval of $4,782.75 upon the commission receiving information as to why it was presented separately from the previous invoice.

For more information about upcoming Public Building and Site Commission meetings, visit newtown-ct.gov/public-building-site-commission.

Alissa Silber can be contacted at alissa@thebee.com.