Westfield receives Green Repair Project monies toward school roofs

Date: 4/5/2011

April 6, 2011

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Editor

WESTFIELD — The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) notified the city on March 30 it had approved for $1.4 million in Green Repair Program funding for the replacement of the roofs at the Highland and Southampton Road elementary schools.

The grant was one of 41 projects for 31 districts, totaling more than $25 million, recently approved by the MSBA under the Green Repair Program.

The total projected cost of the re-roofing project, as listed in materials provided by the MSBA, is approximately $2.25 million. The grant represents a MSBA reimbursement rate of 62.74 percent and amounts to $694,514 for the Highland project and $717,302 for the Southampton Road project.

"We're looking at a reimbursement of $62.74 cents on the dollar, that's a tremendous rate," Frank Maher Jr., director of Operations, Maintenance and Food Services at Westfield Public Schools, said. "The MSBA will reimburse for the roof design and project manager, but the demolition and any abatements that need to be done is the city's responsibility."

MSBA spokesperson Emily Mahlman explained that cities and towns are reimbursed for grant-approved expenses as they submit invoices through an online MSBA program.

Maher said a $2.9 million bond to fund these projects, which he referred to as Phase I, was due to come before the City Council for approval on April 7.

Kevin Sullivan, School Committee finance chair, said the Highland and Southampton Road school repairs were among several Green Repair Projects, including boiler and window replacements at other schools, that Westfield is submitting to the MSBA.

According to Maher, the feasibility studies for those projects, referred to as Phase II, have been completed. "We're on to the design phase and then that has to be presented to the MSBA," he said.

Phase II projects include a new roof for Westfield Vocational Technical High School, four new boilers for that school and windows on the upper campus building, three new boilers for Westfield High School, two boilers for Highland Elementary School, two boilers for Southampton Road Elementary School and two boilers for Paper Mill Elementary School.