Facilities committee chair Phil Taylor noted that some board members had suggested the committee put any work on the “consolidation option,” a proposal to combine Whitingham and Wilmington’s elementary schools at a single location, on the back burner. “The consolidation seems to be creating more barriers than solutions,” Taylor noted.
At Town Meeting, board members in both towns received voter approval to investigate and report on consolidating the two elementary schools. Initial estimates indicated that the consolidation could save the two towns $400,000 or more per year, money board members said could be used to pay for substantial improvements at the high school with no additional expense to taxpayers.
In April, a group of Whitingham citizens presented a petition to dissolve the Twin Valley joint contract. Although the petition didn’t directly address discussions about a potential elementary school consolidation, petitioners noted that the issue was one of the factors driving their effort. In Australian balloting, however, the dissolution question failed by nearly a three-to-one margin.
Board member Jack Kincella said he has heard concern from both Whitingham and Wilmington voters regarding the consolidation option. “People in Wilmington don’t want to lose the high school” he said. “And I don’t see people in Whitingham supporting any project at the high school in Wilmington over $5 million or $6 million. They’re looking at their $2 million credit.”
Under the terms of the 2004 joint school contract between the two towns, Whitingham secured the credit for any future high school renovation or construction. Also under the contract terms, Whitingham is responsible for about 40% of the cost of any capital improvement project at Twin Valley. Whitingham’s share of a $5 million project would be $2 million. After applying their credit, Whitingham taxpayers could avoid almost all of the cost. For any cost above the $5 million, Whitingham would pay 40%. “This option would largely fall on Wilmington taxpayers,” Taylor summed up.
“Is that value based on Wilmington’s willingness to pay?” asked facilities committee member Adam Grinold.
“It’s from the straw vote,” Kincella said, referring to the Town Meeting discussion. “Whitingham folks are not going to support a huge amount.”
“Do you want us to look at the $9 million option Dore & Whittier gave us?” asked Taylor. “The plan was to go back and value-engineer that.”
On Election Day in 2008, facilities committee members conducted a voter survey of three options: a major renovation and construction at the current high school facility that would cost about $15 million, a less extensive renovation for about $9 million, and a third option to move the high school to the Whitingham facility and move the middle school to the current high school facility. Wilmington voters overwhelmingly supported the minor renovation options.
Whitingham results were mixed, but the minor renovation received the most votes. When the committee began to consider the consolidation option, some board members expressed concern that the board and the committee were breaking an agreement with the public to move forward with the option they chose in November. Taylor and other board members countered that the Whitingham results didn’t indicate widespread support for any of the options.
Board member Jason Crawford questioned the value of pursuing the existing renovation plan, which included demolition of the 1900 section of the high school. “I have a hard time believing we’re going to do something for $5 million that includes tearing down that section of the building,” he said.
Taylor noted that the estimated cost of demolition was about $220,000, which, combined with the cost of construction, was substantially less than the cost of bringing the wooden structure up to code. “It’s a wooden structure that just needs to go away,” agreed Kincella.
“If you’re going to spend $5 million, do you want something that will shore it up for 25 years, or something that will last for 50 to 60 years?” asked Wilmington Town Clerk Susan Haughwout.
TVHS Principal Frank Spencer said Wilmington had made the mistake of paying too much for too little in the past. “One of the things we’ve learned from the 1980 construction is that it doesn’t pay to be pennywise and pound foolish,” he said. “In 1980, too many costs were cut, and they were just added on over the next 10 years.” Taylor said the committee was committed to a durable, 50-year project.
“If we could tear that building down and replace it for $5 million, that would be great,” agreed Crawford.
Taylor said his group would focus on new construction. “If it doesn’t work, we’ll come back to it.”
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