Progress 03/15/23 to 03/14/24
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience included: faculty, staff, students, farmers and the general community. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We expect construction to proceed without delay and the project to achieve substantial completion during the next reporting period.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Agriculture Research and Education Center: The 100% CD Design milestone was reached in July 2023. During the current reporting period, efforts were focused on the following key activities: Outstanding Questions on 100% CD Design: Addressing outstanding questions with the Service Center at the University of Maryland College Park, and Design Build Team. Among the specific issues were design of the HVAC system to satisfy Maryland's future building codes. Ground Breaking Ceremony: A formal groundbreaking ceremony was conducted on November 30, 2023. This event was attended by senior USDA officials, state legislators, federal congressional representatives, and the local community. Appropriation of outstanding funds: During the FY2024 legislative session, the Maryland Legislature further appropriated the outstanding amount of $4,816,000, which became available on July 1, 2024. Thus, all funds needed to complete the project have been secured. Bidding Process: The preparation of Bid Documents commenced March 2023 and was completed in January 2024. The Bid Period commenced in February 6, 2024 and was completed on March 7, 2024. The GMP preparation and approval was done between March 11, 2024 and May 29, 2024. BPW Approval: The Board of Public Works approved the GMP on June 24, 2024. Trade Contracts: Trade Contracts were issued on June 27, 2024. Materials Procurement: Material procurement is expected to commence August 2, 2024 and be completed in June 12, 2025. Construction: Construction is expected to commence in July 2024. Completion of Project: Substantial completion is expected in August 2025.
Publications
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Progress 03/15/22 to 03/14/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience included: faculty, staff, students, farmers and the general community. Changes/Problems:Due to the cost escalation, we have had to seek additional funds from the Maryland Legislature to allow the project to proceed as originally planned. The request is being considered and continued activities are contingent on receipt of the requested funds. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We anticipate that the project schedule will be delayed pending the appropriation of additional funds by the Maryland Legislature at the end of April 2023. Assuming the funds are available, project activities will be restarted on July 1, 2023, with a focus on completingthe design components and procurement of construction contracts.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Agricultural Research and Education Center (AgREC): The design phase of the project was initiated at the beginning of August, 2020 with a projected time frame for completion in the Fall of 2022. The Schematic Design (SD), Design Development (DD) and Construction Documentation (CD) phases of the project continued relatively smoothly with minor delays. The COVID-19 pandemic has however had a significant impact on construction costs with an unprecedented escalation in project costs. In December 2020, the SD budget estimated and project costs had escalated to $15,024,744. It is noteworthy that costs were higher than this but these were reduced following a major value engineering effort in an attempt to manage costs. In April 2021 with approximately 35% DD, the total project cost had escalated again to $15,695,443, an increase of $670,699 since the SD phase. Again, we managed costs to the same level as the SD estimate with even more aggressive value engineering. At the end of July 2021, we received the working budget for the 70% CD Phase. The costs for the project have escalated to $19,364,872. In July, a reworked Environmental Assessment was submitted to NIFA for approval. Given the sharp escalation and given the fact that the project had already been considerably trimmed down through value engineering, it was clear that it was not possible to reduce the budget without a major change in scope and design. In September 2021 UMD College Park and the Design Team presented alternative designs that would keep the project within budget. The UMES administration assessed the alternative designs and determined that these would not meet the intended purpose and vision for AgREC. A decision was therefore made to pursue alternative approaches to financing the shortfall. Specifically, the option available was to seek funding from the state. However, this required that the project be formally submitted to the University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents and the Maryland Department of Budget and Management as a state capital project. In order to do this, an updated Program Document was required. The existing document dated back to 2015 and many aspects of the program had changed. The existing Program Document was revised during the early part of 2022. The revised program document was submitted to the DBM on June 30, 2022. In July, The DBM initiated review of all state capital projects including the AgREC for prioritization for state funding in FY2024. All approved projects will subsequently be presented to the Maryland Legislature during the forthcoming legislative session in January 2023. It is anticipated that the AgREC project will be approved for funding for FY2024.
Publications
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Progress 03/15/21 to 03/14/22
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience included: faculty, staff, students, farmers and the general community. Changes/Problems:The impacts of COVID-19 pandemic and other economic factorshavenegatively impacted schedules and caused a major escalation in construction costs inMaryland which are impinging on the implementation of the planned projects. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?June 2022 - Submission of revised program document to the USM/Maryland Department of Budget and Management. July 2022 - Presentation of AgREC Project to the USM/DBM Capital Development Committee July 2023 - Commencement of construction
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
At the end of July 2021, we received the working budget for the 70% CD Phase. The costs for the project have escalated to $19,364,872. In July, a reworked Environmental Assessment was submitted to NIFA for approval. Given the sharp escalation and given the fact that the project had already been considerably trimmed down through value engineering, it was clear that it was not possible to reduce the budget without a major change in scope and design. In September 2021 UMD College Park and the Design Team presented alternative designs that would keep the project within budget. The UMES administration assessed the alternative designs and determined that these would not meet the intended purpose and vision for AgREC. A decision was therefore made to pursue alternative approaches to financing the shortfall. Specifically, the option available was to seek funding from the state. However, this required that the project be formally submitted to the University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents and the Maryland Department of Budget and Management as a state capital project. In order to do this, an updated Program Document was required. The existing document dated back to 2015 and many aspects of the program had changed. The existing Program Document was revised during the early part of 2022. The revised program document was submitted to the DBM on June 30. The university president will formally present the project in July 2022 and it is expected that once approved it will be scheduled for funding during FY24.
Publications
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Progress 03/15/20 to 03/14/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience included: faculty, staff, students, farmers and the general community. Changes/Problems:The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted schedules and caused a major escalation in construction costs in Maryland which are impinging on the implementation of the planned projects. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Construction of an Agricultural Research and Education Center -October 2021 - Completion of design and procurement bidding. -March 2022 - Start of construction. -August 2023 - Completion of construction.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Review of bid D/B proposals for the Agricultural Research and Education Center (AgREC) project, and selection occurred in March-April, 2020. The selected lowest bid by Bancroft Construction of Salisbury, MD was approved by the Board of Public Works on July 1, 2020. A request for approval of contractor and release of funds was submitted to USDA-NIFA on July 27, 2020 and approval was received on August 1, 2020. A project initiation meeting with UMCP, Bancroft and UMES was held on August 6, 2020. During 2020-2021, the Schematic Design (SD), Design Development (DD) and Construction Documentation (CD) phases of the project have continued relatively smoothly with minor delays. The COVID-19 pandemic has however had a significant impact on construction costs with an unprecedented escalation in project costs. In December 2020, we received the SD budget estimated and project costs had escalated to $15,024,744. It is noteworthy that costs were higher than this but these were reduced following a major value engineering effort in an attempt to manage costs. In April 2021 with approximately 35% DD, the total project cost had escalated again to $15,695,443, an increase of $670,699 since the SD phase. Again, we managed costs to the same level as the SD estimate with even more aggressive value engineering. At the end of July 2021, we received the working budget for the 70% CD Phase. The costs for the project have escalated to $19,364,872. In July, a reworked Environmental Assessment was submitted to NIFA for approval. Given the sharp escalation and given the fact that we have trimmed down the project considerably through value engineering, it has become clear that it is not possible to reduce the budget without a major change in scope. The university administration is aggressively exploring several avenues to obtain additional funding to cover the cost escalation. We anticipate to receive more concrete plans regarding financing the overage in the coming month. Concurrently the project team is also looking for options to reduce the scope of the project. We anticipate that the project schedule will be delayed and at present, we are looking at an August 2023 time frame for completion of the project. All other projects under this plan were put on hold to facilitate operationalization of the AgREc project.
Publications
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Progress 03/15/19 to 03/14/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience includes: faculty, staff, students, farmers and the general community. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information about the AgREC was disseminated through local media outlets including an interview by a local television station. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Review of bid proposals and selection of contractor will occur by end of April, 2020. This would be followed b requests for approval of the contractor by NIFA and the Maryland Board of Public Works. Project implementation is expected to commence later in summer 2020 with the design component running to April 2021.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In June 2019, UMES requested NIFA to add a new objective: To support the establishment of an Agricultural Research and Education Center (AgREC) on the UMES' campus. Establishment of the AgREC was the main objective under the FY2013 plan. However, due to increased construction costs, it had become necessary to link the two plans in order to ensure that this objective could be fully accomplished. During the reporting period activities focused on this objective with the submission. The University System of Maryland Board of Regents approved the revised estimated costs for the construction of the AgREC on November 20, 2019. The University of Maryland College Park proceeded with posting the call for bids for the design/build proposals on February 13, 2020. A pre-bid meeting was held on February 26, 2020. Proposals were due on March 23, 2020. All other objectives were placed on hold as efforts were focused on accomplishing this major objective.
Publications
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