Proposed 5/6 School Will Get Local Options Review

By Tanjua Damon

To ensure that the proposed 5/6 school stays on schedule, a private firm will help town building officials with a “local options review” instead of waiting for a review by the state’s facilities unit, which has a backlog of projects to review.

The Newtown Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday night to hire Pierz Associates of Wethersfield to review the proposed plans. The local options review will cost approximately $19,000, which will be paid for with funds already approved for planning the new school, according to Director of Business Ronald Bienkowski.

The proposed plans are receiving a local options review because the State Board of Education Facilities Unit notified the school district that it cannot review the plans in the previously estimated 60 days. The delay would throw the 5/6 plan off schedule, according to school officials. The school district brought the plans to Hartford in early January. The review ensures that the project meets state codes and requirements.

Since the proposed school has such a tight schedule in order to bring it to referendum, it was decided to go ahead with the local options review.

The district expects the plans to be reviewed within 30 days by Pierz Associates and local building officials once a contract is signed, according to Mr Bienkowski. Once the plans are reviewed and signed off by local officials, the state has 24 hours to notify the district that everything is fine so construction plans can go out for bid.

A presentation of the 5/6 school was made to the Legislative Council February 7 during which the council was provided with information about the schedule and financial implications of the school’s construction. The proposed school is expected to cost around $33.2 million, according to David Vallerie of Strategic Building Solutions. The state will provide a 33 percent grant reimbursement of $11 million, leaving a little over $22 million for cost to the town.

The proposed school is 161,000 square feet, just under the 162,880 target, according to architect James LaPosta of Jeter, Cook & Jepson.

The plan would be to go out to bid in the middle of March, and bids should return in April, according to Mr Valerie. If approved by the voters, construction should commence at the end of June with occupancy in early 2003. A referendum vote would take place on June 13. Any delay in the schedule could add $500,000 to $750,000 to the project, Mr Vallerie said.

Additional meetings with the council were requested on April 4 and May 2 with a town meeting on May 16 before the referendum vote.

Finance Director Ben Spragg noted that the timeline indicated a short time between approval and the start of construction of the school. He will need at least 60 days to borrow the money. This should not be a problem, Mr Vallerie noted.