More than six months after school building committees picked architects to design two new schools, city councilors have endorsed the picks.
Though the contracts won’t be signed until the city completes the purchase of property on Matthews Street eyed for one of the 900-student schools, officials expect the deal to go through within a couple of weeks.
Councilors agreed to hire the Hartford firm of Tai Soo Kim, Partners and Architects for $2.14 million to draw up the detailed plans necessary to move ahead with the school slated for construction on the former Crowley dealership site on Pine Street.
The Massachusetts-based Drummey Rosane Anderson, Inc. was tapped for the West Bristol school. It will earn $1.8 million for its work.
Superintendent Philip Streifer said the school building panels each thought it best to hire different firms for the two projects, on the assumption that it would be best to have a firm focused on a single school.
City Councilor Mike Rimcoski, who serves on the Forestville School Building Committee, was the only councilor to vote against either architect.
Rimcoski renewed his plea for colleagues to award the Forestville contract to DRA as well because it would cost taxpayers $350,000 less.
With the economy struggling and a new fiscal year about to begin, he said, “I don’t think we’re starting out right by blowing through $350,000” for no good reason.
Ken Cockayne, the only other Republican councilor, said he would normally agree with Rimcoski but in this case, he said, councilors should take the advice of the committee members who actually slogged through the many applications from different firms.
Councilor Kevin McCauley said the Crowley site for the Forestville school offers a unique challenge because Greene-Hills School and Peck Park are next door and must continue operating during the construction period. That takes expertise, he said, that Tai Soo Kim offers.
Rimcoski said he plans to use the council’s votes against hiring DRA for both projects to his advantage during the municipal election campaign this year.
DRA was not the low bidder on the West Bristol site either, officials said, so they’re not sure why Rimcoski favored it there.
With a push from state Rep. Frank Nicastro, a Bristol Democrat, the state Department of Education has told city officials that the June 2010 deadline for beginning construction on the new schools can be waived.
Nicastro said the city merely has to ask for the waiver and it will get it.
Superintendent Philip Streifer said the extra time will help.
“With all these pieces falling together, we’ll be in very good shape,” Streifer said.
Hoping to save money on construction costs, officials are eyeing a faster timetable for completion of two new schools in Bristol. But it’s an idea that may not pass muster with the mayor.
Because contractors are desperate for work, officials said, the price tag for public buildings has come down sharply in recent months, opening the door to potential savings by speeding up the $132 million project to construct two kindergarten to eighth grade buildings.
“We think it’s appropriate to try to take advantage of that,” said John Smith, a Board of Finance member who serves on the West Bristol School Building Committee.
Current plans call for finishing the new schools in 2015, with the bulk of the construction work carried out in the last couple of years before the doors open. That timetable was set to push off costs for as long as possible.
Mayor Art Ward said he doubts the money will be available to shorten the construction schedule.
“They need to be mindful of the economic conditions,” Ward said. “It’s time for heed rather than haste.”
William Smyth, the acting assistant superintendent for business, said that the weak economy has driven down the cost of construction.
“It’s a good opportunity for the city to realize savings,” Smyth said.
Roger Rousseau, the city’s purchasing agent, said there is an opportunity “to take advantage” of the lower prices to help out taxpayers who will foot the bill.
Smith said that bids on municipal projects around the state are coming in at least 8 to 15 percent lower than expected in recent weeks because of the intense competition for the work from firms that are struggling to find business
“The city’s going to save some money” if it acts more quickly to do the bulk of the project, Smith said.
Rousseau said the more the city can do soon, the more it will help hold down costs in the long-term.
At best, the city could not start most of the construction until 2011 – and even that is problematic given the difficulty Bristol has had in securing both locations for the schools.
It has cut a deal for the former Crowley property on Pine Street to house one of the buildings, but officials are still negotiating with property owners for the other parcel eyed for a school on Matthews Street.
The state, which would pay 73.9 percent of the tab, has told the city it has to start the work by June 2010 or it could lose the state aid. Officials are angling for an extension,
Both the Forestville and West Bristol school building committees threw out construction manager bids based on the existing timetable. Members said the positions would be bid again with the tighter construction schedule.
The purchase of two sites chosen for new schools may be completed soon.
School officials said that deals to buy land for the proposed 900-student schools in Forestville and on Chippens Hill are nearly resolved.
“Hopefully the sun will shine on this issue,” said school Superintendent Philip Streifer.
The city is pushing the $130 million plan to create two new kindergarten to eighth grade schools that would replace four older buildings. The project is slated for completion in 2015.
Tom O’Brien, a Board of Education member, said the city is likely to finish the purchase of the former Crowley auto dealership next week. The Pine Street site is next door to Greene-Hills School, one of the four targeted for closure.
O’Brien said there is only one issue to resolve before the $2.25 million deal can be completed.
The other school site, on the corner of Matthews Street and Clark Avenue, should also be in the city’s hands soon, officials said.
Chris Wilson, who serves on the West Bristol School Building Committee, said it’s in nearly the same place as the Forestville committee that includes O’Brien.
The West Bristol site’s price tag isn’t as clear, but records submitted to the City Council last fall showed preliminary estimate that the 27 acres would cost $1.7 million.
The state would pick up 74 percent of the tab as long as the project isn’t derailed for failing to come in on time.
There is a June 2010 deadline for beginning construction that almost certainly won’t be met. The city is eyeing a possible extension to give it another year to get started
In an unexpected move, the city's Planning Commission unanimously rejected a proposal this week for the city to buy one of two Matthews Street houses adjoining the parcel where it plans to put a new 900-student school.
School officials are seeking to buy the house at 735 Matthews St. and knock it down as part of the proposed $130 million plan to construct two new kindergarten to eighth grade schools by 2015.
Since the school on Matthews Street wouldn't necessarily use the slightly less than an acre lot in its design -- leaving most or all of it as meadow or perhaps someday ball fields -- the planners said it made more sense to leave it in private hands.
On the other hand, the board agreed 3-2 to support the purchase of the Starlite Market beside Greene-Hills School for inclusion in the Forestville school project.
They said the $350,000 price tag was worth it to beautify the new school site and provide more room for buses and cars.
The planning rejection of the idea of buying the house on Matthews Street -- buying about 27 acres beside it already has its approval as well as the City Council's -- doesn't necessarily derail the idea. Councilors can overrule it as long as they can muster five votes for the purchase.
But planners said they didn't see the rationale for spending city tax dollars to create a meadow where a house now stands, particularly in such tough economic times.
City Planner Alan Weiner said Friday that because the lot wouldn’t qualify for state reimbursement of almost 74 percent of the cost, the city would wind up paying for the house and its demolition in order to create a little extra buffer for the school.
He said planners believed that buying the house simply wasn’t worth it.
Officials had also eyed the purchase of another house, at 747 Matthews St., but have agreed to let it remain in private hands. Planners didn’t weigh in on that one.
It's likely the issue will be taken up by councilors at their next regular meeting, on Tuesday, March 10.
The Board of Education plans to build two new schools and to close four aging ones: Memorial Boulevard Middle School and three primary schools – O’Connell, Bingham and Greene-Hills.
The other proposed site is next door to Greene-Hills School on Pine Street.
The Starlite Market purchase would be reimbursed by the state as part of the project there.
Note: This updates an earlier blog post, since removed, that erred about the property rejected by planners. I'm sorry for the previous mistake.
To ease the sale of Matthews Street property eyed for a new school, the city aims to erase an old right of way that has complicated the deal.
“Realistically, that section of the highway should be abandoned,” said Andre Dorval, the attorney hired by the city to handle the negotiations.
Sometime in the past, Clark Avenue cut across a portion of the 17-acre parcel sought for a new 900-student school, officials said, but the road shifted west and no longer requires the old right of way.
But as recently as 1976, the City Council indicated the .4-acre right of way could be needed for an intersection fix or, more improbably, a “mini-park.”
The city’s hearings and assessment committee this week agreed unanimously to give up all but a little sliver of the land – which may be used to straighten the junction of Clark and Matthews – and to recommend the council endorse the move in March.
At this point, it appears the city is close to making a deal to buy the property.
Dorval said negotiators are “relatively close” to settling on a fair price and that the differences that remain are “smaller scale.”
He said the city is “staying with the appraised value” in its talks with the property owner’s lawyer. It isn’t clear if the city might have to nudge up the price to complete a deal.
The city doesn’t yet own either of the sites it has proposed to build kindergarten to eighth grade schools on – the Matthews Street parcel and the former Crowley dealership on Pine Street.
School officials have said since November that the purchases have to be made quickly in order to give architects time to do their work before a state-imposed June 2010 deadline for beginning construction.
With every passing day, meeting that deadline looks less likely.But officials are pursuing the possibility of getting an extension to give them more time.
Dorval said that even if the deal falls through, it makes sense for the city to abandon the unneeded paper road.
He said, too, that if the school is built, straightening the intersection is going to be needed.
Dorval said that the angle there now would be tough for a bus to make at all. The construction period on a new school “would be the opportune time” to fix that junction, Dorval said.
The historic house at the corner would not be included in the deal. It would remain on about a 1.5 –acre lot, with the school erected downhill and to the east.
The city plans to buy another dozen acres to the east of the initial lot so that it would have more room for parking, ball fields and perhaps even future expansion of the building.
The city plans to build the two schools by 2015, with the state picking up 74 percent of the tab. It would close four older buildings.
The city expects to buy about $1.1 million for the 17.6-acre lot on Matthews Street that officials are eyeing for a new school, records show.
Though school Superintendent Philip Streifer said that officials aren’t sure of the cost for the 851 Matthews Street site, paperwork submitted to the City Council shows an expected cost of $1.06 million for the property.
There is also a chance the city will choose a more expansive school site by purchasing a neighboring 12-acre parcel for about the same price per acre.
It would likely cost about $750,000 – of which only about half would be eligible for the 74 percent reimbursement promised by the state for the entire project.
Purchasing both parcels would likely hit city taxpayers for about $600,000, with the state picking up the other $1.2 million for the land buys, assuming the school is built.
Streifer said the owners of both parcels are willing to sell.
City land records show that Sahlin Diann is the owner of the 851 Matthews Street lot, which is appraised by the city for $738,700.
Streifer said he would like to see the city buy the land before Jan. 1 to make sure that Bristol’s school project remains in the pipeline if the General Assembly should try to save money by delaying new projects that haven’t gotten at least that far by the end of 2008.
A public hearing on the proposed school site is likely to take place within a few weeks, probably just before a joint session of the City Council and the West Bristol School Building Committee that recommended the parcel after a previous site, off Barlow Street, was shot down.
City Councilor Frank Nicastro said the Matthews Street site is “a hundred times better” than the sand pit proposed earlier. But he stopped short of saying he would support its purchase.
The Board of Education hopes to build the two schools for students ranging from kindergarten to eighth grade. Each would house 900 students.
The new buildings would replace Memorial Boulevard Middle School and three aging primary schools O’Connell, Greene-Hills and Bingham.
The project has to be underway by June 13, 2010 or it won’t be eligible for state aid. But the current plan calls for only minimal work on the project until 2013, with a projected opening of the new buildings in the fall of 2015.
A $130 million plan to build two new schools that looked battered and perhaps beaten a week ago now appears likely to win final approval with little trouble.
City councilors are poised to back the proposed West Bristol school site off Matthews Street.
“It looks like it would work and it would be feasible,” city Councilor Kevin McCauley said.
With Mayor Art Ward’s backing, the site near the corner of Clark Avenue and Matthews Street appears likely to garner the support of at least five of the seven City Council votes, enough to assure its passage even if the Planning Commission gives it a thumbs-down.
McCauley said he’s glad “more of us are on the same page” for the proposed site.
The last parcel recommended by the West Bristol School Building Committee – a sandpit off Barlow Street – was gunned down by planners.
Though the planning panel doesn’t have the last word, any project that it doesn’t support cannot pass muster unless there’s a two-thirds vote by the council. That provision was enough to kill the Scalia pit site because the council’s support fell short of the required margin in the wake of the planners’ choice.
That left school backs scrambling for an alternate site to go along with the one on the former Crowley auto dealership property on Pine Street.
City Councilor Craig Minor said that he’ll “go along” with the new site recommendation for the west side of town even though it’s even further from the West End, where many of the children who would go to the 900-student school live.
“We’re not going to get it in the West End,” Minor said.
Ward said the new site offers better accessibility and infrastructure than the Scalia location did.
Plus, he said, “at least this is flat.”
Minor said that his support for the new site is contingent on school officials finding a way to preserve an 18th century house that sits beside the Clark Avenue and Matthews Street junction.
“We need to save that house,” Minor said.
It appears that two other councilors, Ken Cockayne and Cliff Block, will also support the new location for the proposed school, which would lock in five votes in its favor.
The other two council members, Frank Nicastro and Mike Rimcoski, opposed the Scalia site and may not be satisfied with the new one either. Their backing isn’t necessary, however.
It’s likely the council will the site at its November meeting.
Ward said there won't be a special City Council session on the issue, as some had said. The issue will come up instead at the October 14 council meeting, where councilors will ask planning for its formal recommendation.
That won't come until later in October, leaving the council’s November 12 meeting as the most likely time for councilors to endorse the location.
There is at least one potential hitch that could still derail the $130 plan to build two new schools for kindergarten to eighth grade.
Some critics are weighing the possibility of forcing a public referendum on the plan, a move that would require gathering more than 3,000 signatures from city voters. If they try – and get the signatures – then the electorate would have the last word.
The overall plan calls for construction to start in June 2010 and the doors of the new schools to open as soon as 2012. When they do, the Board of Education will shut down three aging elementary schools and historic Memorial Boulevard Middle School, which once served as the city’s sole high school.
*******
