Design-development update: wetlands, Fano Drive parcels and MSBA timeline drive site revisions for Stoughton school

Architects and project staff told the Stoughton Public Schools Building Committee that newly acquired parcels south of Fano Drive expanded the project’s disturbed area and require additional wetlands investigation, stormwater design and parking/driveway revisions.

Presenters said the earlier wetlands survey is roughly 2½ years old; because the town acquired parcels that had not previously been surveyed, a wetland scientist flagged edges in the field, the surveyor picked up those flags for the computerized survey, and the new survey work led to the additional charges captured in the DRA amendment. A presenter explained that the civil engineer’s scope is driven by the area of disturbance — clearing, stormwater management and other impacts — and that including the Fano parcels increased the disturbed area by about 40% compared with earlier schematic work.

Project staff reported that Vertex negotiated with WT Rich and that a Centimeters subcommittee authorized Vertex to issue a notice to award WT Rich for the preconstruction phase for $219,000; staff said they expect to review that notice with town staff and bring WT Rich to introduce itself to the committee at a future meeting. Staff also said estimates from the contractor are due in late September and that the building committee will review reconciled cost estimates at its Oct. 8 meeting ahead of the October design-development submission to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA).

On permitting, staff said the project will submit an application to the Conservation Commission (a Notice of Intent) and a site-plan-review package to the Planning Board in early October. Because Park Street is a state highway and the project proposes a new intersection and curb cut there, the project team said it will submit materials to the MassDOT for review; preliminary indications from the MassDOT review work cited in the meeting suggested traffic volumes alone might not meet the agency’s threshold for a full signal, but designers noted strong local support for a signal from safety and school-access perspectives and said different intersection options will be priced (signal, pedestrian push-button crosswalk, left-turn lanes).

Staff described stormwater and floodplain implications: widening Fano Drive and adding detention areas will increase runoff that must be treated; because work affects an intermittent/perennial stream and FEMA-mapped floodplain storage, the project will include compensatory flood-storage measures and wetland replication where required by state regulations.

Committee members discussed sidewalks, school crossings and Safe Routes to School, noting that Park Street lacks continuous sidewalks on the side nearest the proposed school and that early-release days historically increase pedestrian activity. Staff said the DOT will not engage in substance-level review until formal materials are submitted but encouraged the committee to include sidewalk/sidewalk-connection considerations in discussions with the town and the state separate from the school project’s core scope.

Staff said the team will post key reports and the design-development cost estimating set to the committee SharePoint as components are finalized, and will prepare renderings and public-facing materials in advance of town meeting outreach.

Committee members also asked architects to preserve certain tree stands and a rock knoll where feasible; the design team said it will do targeted tree surveys, flag significant trees for protection, and require contractors to fence and protect those trees during construction.

No full-committee vote was required for the WT Rich preconstruction notice; committee members reported the Centimeters subcommittee had authorized the notice to issue.