Committee refers $500,000 design request for Paloma Everett High School reuse to full council, asks administration to check ARPA eligibility

The Committee on Ways and Means voted March 20 to refer to the full City Council, with no committee recommendation, a request to appropriate $500,000 for design and ancillary costs associated with potential reuse of additional space at the Paloma Everett High School.

City staff said the $500,000 would pay for substantive design work—more detailed than the prior feasibility study—so the city could produce construction specifications and more definitive cost estimates before requesting full project construction funding. “The $72,000,000 was based upon a feasibility study. The feasibility study is not the same thing as having actual design work done,” a staff presenter told the committee.

Committee members asked whether the $500,000 would cover multiple rounds of design and community input; staff said the contract would follow standard design‑services practice of presenting options, receiving feedback and then refining designs. Committee members also asked whether leftover ARPA funds from an earlier roof appropriation could be repurposed to pay for the design. Staff said the roof project bids came in under estimate and that some bid contingency remains, but that ARPA eligibility for a different use was not yet determined. The administration agreed to ask the city’s ARPA consultant to analyze whether the $2.5 million in available ARPA contingency could be used for this design work and to report back to councilors.

A motion to refer the request to the full council with no recommendation carried in committee; the referral moves the question and the administration’s ARPA ruling to the full council for final action.