Mendon‑Upton presents three-part $34M capital package including Nipmuc roof, building upgrades and fields plan
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Summary
District staff presented three proposed capital projects — a roof and HVAC replacement at Nipmuc, building systems and repairs across four schools, and a fields and grounds upgrade including an artificial turf front field and track — and outlined costs, partial MSBA reimbursement and next steps toward town‑meeting votes.
District staff presented a three-project capital package to the Mendon‑Upton Regional School District School Committee during the meeting, seeking voter authorization at upcoming town meetings to borrow for roof, facilities and fields work.
The package is organized as three separate warrant articles: a roof and rooftop HVAC replacement at Nipmuc Regional High School; a facilities project addressing building management systems, card access, paging, data cabling, flooring, sidewalks and other repairs across Nipmuc, Misco Hill, Clough and Memorial schools; and a fields-and-grounds project that focuses on Misco Hill and Nipmuc fields and the Nipmuc front field (proposed to include a track, permanent lighting and artificial turf).
District presenters said leaks and aging materials at Nipmuc have reached the point of replacement. The roof project covers EPDM (flat) roofing, asphalt shingle sections and related rooftop HVAC and vent equipment that must be removed and replaced. Presenters said cost estimates vary because earlier assessments date from about 18–24 months ago and the team applied escalation factors for anticipated price increases. The presentation listed several figures from the assessment and subsequent refinements: an estimated construction cost range for the full roof work, designer and OPM fees and contingencies that the presenters said bring the authorization amount to roughly $10,000,006.57 for that warrant article; they said roughly $4.3 million of roof-related costs may be eligible for reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), leaving a projected district net cost the presenters described as “just under $4,000,000” after current reimbursement estimates. The presenters cautioned reimbursements will be determined by MSBA during the project review and that actual contractor bids are still to come.
For building systems, presenters described obsolete building management (HVAC controls), aging paging and time-clock systems, and original data cabling that the district said no longer meets device demands. Work across the four buildings would include improved card access for exterior doors, auditorium seating and carpeting replacement, concrete and curb repairs, and—in the oldest building elements at Misco Hill—electrical switch gear and transformer replacement. The facilities package was presented with a working total of about $11.6 million (including designer and OPM fees) in the current cost estimate.
The fields-and-grounds article would address compacted and uneven game fields at Misco Hill, regrading and irrigation for baseball, softball, soccer and field‑hockey areas, and accessibility and storm‑water issues on the back fields. At Nipmuc, the front-field proposal includes regrading, a running track, permanent lighting, ADA-compliant access and an artificial turf playing surface plus a retaining wall along Pleasant Street. Presenters showed photos of ponding, steep drops into wooded areas near play surfaces and examples of short fences and inappropriate field orientation; they said the proposed changes are intended to improve player safety, field use and community access. The current cost estimate for fields-and-grounds was presented at about $12 million (refined from initial consultant estimates after adding required retaining walls and OPM/design contingencies).
When the three warrant articles are summed in the presentation, the district put the authorization total at about $34 million. Presenters said they expect roughly $4.3 million in MSBA reimbursement for the roof element and that Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding and local fundraising could reduce the towns’ annual tax impact. The presenters also displayed a table of per-household, annual tax impact scenarios across a range of home valuations, showing combined worst‑case annual effects in the several‑hundred‑dollars-per-year range depending on a property’s assessed value and possible CPA offsets. The presentation noted that each warrant will require a separate town‑meeting vote and separate authorization to borrow.
Presenters emphasized that much of the capital work follows a years‑long planning process: a facility assessment by a consultant, a building committee with industry representatives, periodic construction and preventive projects, and community surveys. They also said projects follow state procurement rules and that state law requires hiring a construction project manager (owner’s project manager, OPM) for public projects above certain thresholds.
District staff and committee members discussed alternatives including phased work, contingency planning (for example, National Grid involvement if transformers are replaced), and potential use of solar-plus-battery for backup power at Misco Hill. Committee members asked about the consequences of nonapproval; presenters replied that deferred work increases maintenance costs, creates safety risks (leaks, trip hazards, flooded fields) and limits the district’s ability to host events or meet activity demand. Presenters said the warrant language and more condensed presentation will be ready for the towns’ May warrant cycles, and the district website and flyer will be updated with FAQ and cost‑impact materials for voters.
The district identified next steps: finalize schematic designs and cost estimates with the design team and Habib & Associates, file required MSBA documentation, prepare warrant language for May town meetings, and continue public outreach via the district capital website and flyers.
