With Permission
A proposal to spend $88.2 million to renovate and expand Walsh Intermediate School appears to be on the fast track. Commissions, boards and committees are scheduled to discuss and possibly approve the proposal during the next 8 working days.
In a letter dated Jan. 2 and sent to town officials, legislators and members of the Board of Education (BOE), school Superintendent Hamlet Hernandez said educators look forward to working with town leaders to bring the Walsh project to fruition.
“This project is long overdue and we have worked diligently, deliberately and transparently to move the project forward so an application can be filed (ED049) with the State Department of Education this year,” Hernandez wrote explaining the need for the speed. The BOE must file the entire application before the end of June.
With Permission
According to a cost summary sheet provided to town officials, the so-called hybrid school building, which includes renovations and additions, would cost $88.2 million under the current revised gross project cost. The estimated state grant the town might receive in the future is about $30.2 million. That would mean the revised estimated net cost to the town by 2019, the time the school project is expected to be completed, is $58 million.
If the public wants to be heard on the bonding for Walsh and other building projects and the impact on the taxpayer, then the time to do so is starting this week.
Meeting Schedule
There will be a special meeting of the Board of Finance (BOF) tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Branford Fire Headquarters.The BOF meeting will be televised live by BCTV tonight (Monday) and repeated on air but the joint BOE and Representative Town Meeting (RTM) committee meetings are not scheduled for BCTV coverage. See the meeting schedules and locations below.
According to the agenda, the BOF will consider and act on a resolution to appropriate $88.2 million for the renovation and expansion of Walsh; and recommend the resolution for adoption by the RTM.
The town, which holds a triple A bond rating has been preparing for a number of building projects. In 2013, Finance Director Jim Finch outlined how the town would pay these costs over a ten-year period and how much the mill rate would rise. Click here to read story.
This Wednesday, two committees of the RTM will hold a special joint meeting. The Education Committee and the Ways and Means Committee will meet at 7 p.m. at the Community House on Church Street. According to the agenda, the committees will hear a presentation from Finch regarding the town’s “financial capacity to support future capital projects” including Walsh; a combined Community House/Senior Center; a new Public Works building, and possible renovations at the Blackstone Memorial Library, and the John B. Sliney Elementary School.
The agenda also states the RTM committees will hear a presentation from the BOE regarding proposed renovations and additions to Walsh, and possibly make a recommendation to the full RTM on the $88.2 million appropriation.
The RTM committee meetings are important because most of the lengthy discussions are now held at that level, before any recommendations are made to the full RTM. The RTM can re-refer items back to committees any number of times for additional information and discussion. Whether it does so remains to be seen.
The Board of Selectmen is scheduled to meet Wednesday at 6 p.m., but an agenda has not yet been posted.
On Thursday, the Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission is slated to hold its regular monthly meeting. The meeting notice includes a new business item “to review, and if appropriate, approve the proposal for the renovation and expansion of Walsh Intermediate School project pursuant to section CGS 8-24 of the General Statutes.” The P&Z meets Thursday at 7 p.m. at Canoe Brook Senior Center.
The full RTM is scheduled to meet Wednesday, Jan. 13, at 8 p.m. at Branford Fire Headquarters.
The tenth item on the RTM agenda states “to consider, and if appropriate, approve a resolution for funding of $88.2 million for the Walsh Intermediate School project (contingent upon the outcome of the Jan. 4, 2016, Board of Finance meeting.)”
Although all these meetings are scheduled within eight working days, the Walsh allocation proposal could stall at any meeting if board or commission members need additional time. Since the Republicans hold the majority on the BOS and the RTM and First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove is pressing for passage, it is likely the Walsh budget proposal will pass.
This is the third modernization proposal for Walsh in the past 17 years. The other two never progressed this far.
The current process began last summer when Cosgrove hired the DTC/Perkins Eastman firm of Stamford to conduct a feasibility study. Click here to read about the feasibility study.
Several presentations were made over the past few months and the BOE conducted a public hearing Dec. 2. Click here to read about the hearing.
At its Dec. 16 meeting, the BOE voted to recommend design and educational specifications for Walsh. The board favored a hybrid option which includes a new two-story academic wing and retains the current gyms and pool. Total costs are estimated at $88.2 million, which would be reduced to about $58 million after state reimbursement. Click here to read about that.
Efforts to upgrade Walsh have been ongoing for years. The school was built in 1972 as an open-concept building with few interior walls. Some walls and half-partitions have been erected over the years, but parents have continued to complain about noise levels and other issues, especially in the fifth-grade wing.
A master plan and feasibility study were compiled in 1998 by Kosinski Enterprises.Click here to read about the 1998 report. In 2013, Silver/Petrucelli & Associates completed a study which estimated it would cost $109.8 million to renovate and expand Walsh—an estimated $97 million after state reimbursement. The BOE unanimously voted to recommend the Silver/Petrucelli plan in 2013, but the town objected to the high price-tag.
Marcia Chambers Contributed Reporting
###
