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Date: 4/25/2023
AMHERST — Moving toward the May 2 special election vote on funding for the new elementary school project, the Elementary School Building Committee met on April 14 prior to a public presentation event on the University of Massachusetts campus on April 20.
Following approval of the debt exclusion order by the Town Council earlier this month, the funding issue now heads to the special election.
Chair Cathy Schoen provided updates on the educational and outreach efforts for the project to construct a singular school site to house students currently attending the Fort River and Wildwood Elementary Schools.
Schoen made note to the board regarding the expansion of the project website as well as the number of community presentations planned and the recent expressions of project support.
“The League of Women Voters has come out in favor of the project which they basically never do,” Schoen said while also outlining the support for the planned construction’s environmental sustainability.
“The Climate Action people are out talking about the school in terms of the net zero features,” Schoen said.
In addition to increased media outreach, Schoen ran down the recent series of community activities including the April 20 presentation at UMass.
Timothy Cooper, a design team member with Boston-based DeNisco Design, Inc. outlined the potential need for subcommittees for the project, including issues covering; Sustainability, Site Design, Playground Equipment, Interior Design, Building Design and Art.
“All of these different aspects of the project are going to need different voices, different people,” Cooper said.
Town Manager Paul Bockelman, while in agreement with the categories of concern, questioned the feasibility for individual subcommittees addressing each one.
“That’s going to be a really onerous task,” Bockelman said, citing the necessity of publicly posted meetings and providing minutes from the agendas.
A suggestion was made to the board to combine the categories, folding several into a smaller number of subcommittees.
Following up on discussions of the project’s Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, Architect Donna DiNisco informed the committee that a playground specialist will be joining the design team.
“The playground … takes on a life of its own. It literally is going to an intense, time-consuming evaluation,” DiNisco said.
Continuing into the design plan progress, DiNisco said most of the decisions are expected to be made over the next four months.
“We really do know where the building is going to be sighted … now’s the time to refine the design,” she said, adding that another cost estimate will come towards the end of design development.
Shifting further into financial matters, the committee followed with approval for current project invoices for payment.
The next committee meeting date before the May 2 vote was scheduled for April 28 where the expectations and focus for the project subcommittees will be reexamined.