As Orleans Elementary School repairs climb over $4 million, elected officials make some decisions

ORLEANS — The Select Board and School Committee have scaled back spending plans to better manage a cascade of mandated construction at the Orleans Elementary School.

The School Committee has been looking at three major projects — a heating and air conditioning upgrade, new windows and roof repairs. They were set to present a plan for the window and roof work to the Massachusetts School Building Authority on Oct. 27.

Under building authority rules, if the building permit value exceeds 30% of the value of the building a requirement is triggered to meet the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board rules for accessibility for the entire building.

The school, half of which dates from 1956, has been depreciating and is now assessed at $5.7 million. The windows and roof alone would likely cost more than $2 million, requiring a full accessibility revamp of the school, according to Orleans Building and Facilities Manager Ron Collins.

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To avoid that, the School Committee asked the Select Board on Aug. 31, to pursue the heating and air conditioning upgrade instead, with an estimated cost from July of $1.4 million. In addition, $100,000 has already been allocated to do a detailed study of how much a full accessibility retrofit would cost the town.

The Select Board voted 5-0 to place the $1.4 million funding request on the Oct. 17 warrant.

“What the architect recommended is if you’re going to attack something at least upgrade the fresh air,” Town Administrator John Kelly told the Select Board. “And then give the voters the full cost (including accessibility compliance) when the roof and windows are addressed. I think the School Committee feels that looking at a longer range study of the future of the school needs to be done as well.”

“I think it screams for that,” Select Board member Andrea Shaw Reed said.

“Obviously I think we need a new school and we need to start putting that in the plans,” Select Board member Michael Herman added.

What are the elementary school upgrade costs?

The school's windows and heating system date from 1988. The core of the building, about 28,000 square feet, dates to 1956. A 25,000 square-foot addition was added in 1990, according to Collins.

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Orleans Assessor Bradley Hinote pegs the elementary school’s current value at $5,706,100. Collins said a building permit or permits totaling $1,738,830 (30% of the building’s assessed value) over a three-year period would require the accessibility upgrade. That type of upgrade means bathroom walls would have to be knocked down, soil excavated to move the plumbing, all doors inside and outside would be resized, the parking lot, driveways and sidewalks redone, 20 classroom sinks replaced and more. In addition the work would require upgrades to current building codes.

Collins has concerns about the plumbing and waste disposal system, which dates to 1956, the electrical wiring, also circa 1956, green community requirements to use less fossil fuel, the atrium skylights and storm water drainage, which now empties on the surface where it can form ice.

“Those, in addition to the accessibility, kicks into a very significant cost,” Collins said.

In architect Steve Habeeb’s report from 2013, all the modifications identified were over $4 million, Collins said.

Spending only $1.4 million for air conditioning and heating at the school has advantages, town officials say

Kelly said there is sufficient free cash to fund the $1.4 million for air conditioning and heating without issuing debt or requiring an override. The expenditure would require three quarters of the voters to approve it at the Oct. 17 town meeting because it is not on the capital plan.

“What if bids don’t come in below the $1.4 and if they do what if there are interactions with other work that create a lot of change orders and then you won’t have any money for it?" Select Board member Kevin Galligan said. “This is a 15-year measure. If you’re investing $1.4 million you want to get your return out of it.”

He did not want to invest the money and have the town decide they need to build a new school three years down the road.

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“Our 30% threshold right now is $1.7 million,” School Committee member Ian Mack said. “Next year that’s going to be lower. We have a project now that’s not going to hit 30% to replace these ancient air handlers. We can’t do many other projects now. We won’t be moving forward with a roof project. It has to be on hold until the capital accessibility study is finished.”

The study is needed to be able to get state funding, Collins said.

The School Committee expects to have the study and its costs estimate for the accessibility upgrade ready for March to present to the state building authority.

“We don’t know whether the solution is to take an existing building and bring it up to modern standards or are we talking about down the road needing to build a brand new building?” asked Select Board member Meff Runyon.

The study is the first step for the town, Kelly said.

Finance Director Cathy Doane pointed out that spending $1.4 million should raise the value of the school, thus raising the 30% trigger.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Orleans may spend $1.4 million on heating, air conditioning on school