In a process that will culminate in a straw poll on the best option for the two towns to pursue, the Twin Valley Facilities Committee plans to disseminate a summary of each of the three options along with a list of the “top 10” frequently asked questions regarding the choices.
The committee will also hold two informational meetings to discuss the issues, the first at 7 pm on Wednesday, October 15 at Whitingham Elementary/Twin Valley Middle School, and the second at 7 pm on Monday, October 27, at Twin Valley High School in Wilmington. Constituents from each town are encouraged to attend either, or both, of the informational sessions.
The straw vote will take place during the presidential election on Tuesday, November 4. Voters will be encouraged to stop outside polling places in the two towns to weigh in on the three options.
Board members noted that the options are no longer labeled “option one, option two, and option three.” Facilities committee chair Phil Taylor said the committee stopped using the labels in an effort not to prejudice voters. “We were just trying to make it random,” he said. “I deleted all references to one, two, and three so it doesn’t seem like there’s a favored option.”
One of the options is to move the middle school to the Wilmington facility, and move the high school to the Whitingham site. The facilities committee estimates the option would cost from $17.9 million to $21.8 million. The project wouldn’t be eligible for state school construction aid. Under the current construction aid moratorium, only construction projects that result in a reduction in the number of school buildings are eligible for state aid.
A second option calls for renovation or new construction at the current high school facility. That option carries the lowest price tag, estimated at $7.8 million to $10.7 million. The project wouldn’t be eligible for state aid.
Another option is to close the Wilmington facility altogether and create a middle/high school at the current Whitingham Elementary/Twin Valley Middle School site. The total cost is estimated at $19.4 million to $23.7 million but, because the option would reduce the number of school buildings, it would be eligible for state construction aid. According to the facilities committee’s estimates, the project would be eligible for about $7 million in state aid, for a final cost of $12.4 million to $16.7 million.
Taylor said the actual cost for each of the projects could be lower than the estimated price tag, which is based on standard formulas for square footage. In particular, he said, the renovation option could be substantially lower. “I think if the renovation option was chosen, it would signal that people were looking for the low-cost solution,” he said. “But with any of the options, we’d be value-engineering it for the lowest cost.”
The “Whitingham option” involves a number of unknowns, including the cost to Wilmington taxpayers of maintaining or disposing of the old facility. It also raises questions about a $2 million credit to Whitingham for construction that was in the original contract.
Twin Valley School Board Chair Ed Metcalfe asked if there should be a question asking voters if they’d like to investigate more than one option. Taylor suggested that, rather than putting the question to voters, the board should decide what to do in the event that two options garner significant interest from voters. After the straw vote, he noted, the committee may recommend asking voters to approve the expenditure of about $20,000 for engineering and design for the winning option. “What do we do if the vote is split?” he asked. “Do we investigate both options?”
“What if the vote is split between the two towns?” asked board member Tom Manton. “If the vote is close we may want to look at funds to value-engineer a couple of the options so we can bring better information, and a better sense of the true cost, to the community.”
Board member Jack Kincella said he didn’t think there would be a tie vote “I think if one option wins, that should be the option.”
Additional information will be available at www.tvfacilities.org as soon as the Web site is completed.
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