Neary Building Committee presses design team for cuts as town share falls to about $78 million

The Neary Building Committee on Feb. 10 reviewed a new schematic design packet and a detailed financial update for the proposed Neary School, and instructed designers and project managers to seek further cost reductions before the committee’s scheduled vote on the schematic design next Thursday.

Committee members were presented with a current town-share estimate of roughly $78,000,000 for the project, down from about $84,000,000 in August, and were told the total project cost that will appear in the MSBA submission is approximately $110,000,000. Committee members and consultants discussed several levers to lower the town’s bond request for Town Meeting and the MSBA submission: confirming federal and state credits for a proposed geothermal system, reducing the project’s grossing factor from 1.5 toward the MSBA-recommended 1.44, and trimming a series of scope and cost items including a $1.25 million allowance for premium contaminated-soil disposal and a $600,000 allowance for acoustical screening of rooftop equipment.

Why it matters: the committee must finalize a schematic design and cost estimate for the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) by late next week; the estimate will be used to determine the MSBA grant amount and will be presented to Town Meeting in May. Committee members said lowering the projected town share…