Somers board reviews roughly $64 million capital project; officials say bond proposal will be tax-neutral

At an April 8 Somers Central School District Board of Education workshop, district staff and consultants from H2M Architects & Engineers and Triton Construction presented the draft scope, budget and schedule for a proposed capital project that the district plans to present to voters in May alongside the annual budget.

Consultants said the project, shaped from a multi-year building condition survey, targets infrastructure and facility repairs across the district rather than large new construction. Highlights described by presenters included roof replacements, building weatherization (window and masonry work), HVAC and unit ventilator work, electrical panel and fire alarm upgrades, flooring and classroom finishes, drainage and paving, retaining walls, and playground replacements. Select school-specific items cited were a new entrance canopy and playgrounds at Primrose, an artificial turf play area and renovated tech labs at the middle school, and track and locker-room upgrades at the high school. Presenters also showed a per-classroom allowance of about $25,000 to address highest-need rooms (casework, flooring, finishes) as projects proceed.

Consultants said the estimate has been reduced from an earlier higher list and that the draft package now under consideration is about $63,900,000 of work, with roughly $62,000,000 proposed for voter-approved bond financing and about $1.8 million from existing capital reserves. District staff described the proposal as structured to be "tax neutral" for the local share by aligning new debt with state building-aid reimbursement; presenters cited an estimated building-aid rate of about 39% on the proposed work and said that, because older debt is falling off, the district expects the net local share to stay consistent.

Michael Lanterra of H2M and John Hansen of Triton walked through renderings for a middle-school turf area and new playgrounds, conceptual tech-lab layouts and sample classroom upgrades. They outlined the public engagement and schedule: two public building tours (April 23 and May 13), a second public bond presentation on May 6, and a public vote scheduled for May 20 (polls 7 a.m.–9 p.m.). If approved, staff said design would begin immediately with anticipated permitting and approvals this year and construction starting in the summer of the following year and continuing through the subsequent summer.

Asked about construction inflation and material risk, presenters said the project budget includes escalation contingencies and that the construction team will use standard bidding strategies to mitigate market volatility; they said some highly disruptive work would be scheduled for summer months and that many system upgrades (for example, fire-alarm work) can be accomplished outside school hours.

The presentation included contact and outreach details; staff directed residents with questions to capitalproject@somerschools.org and posted project materials to the district's capital-project web page.

— Ending — District leaders encouraged community members to attend building tours and presentations before the May vote and said additional Q&A material will be posted online as needed.