Walpole committee approves $9.9 million vendor invoice as middle‑school project nears closeout

The Walpole Public Schools Building Committee voted to approve the vendor invoice package totaling $9,899,602 as work on the new middle school moves toward final closeout.

Committee members were told the construction contract is essentially complete and that contractors have closed the vast majority of punch‑list items. “Big picture…there are 3,208 punch list items that have been closed. So we are 98% complete with the punch list,” said Griffin, a representative for Fontaine, the project contractor.

The approval matters because the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) has paid about 95% of the grant reimbursement to date and is holding the final reimbursement until the MSBA closeout audit is complete. “Whenever the final audit is done by the MSBA…typically, that’s been taking 2 to 3 years to get through the closeout phase,” Griffin said. Town finance staff confirmed the municipality built the unreimbursed final percentage into the project cash flow.

Committee members heard a contractor update on outstanding work. Committee and contractor staff said 31 items are ready to close and about 17 require work; roughly 10 remaining items relate to the building interior. Fontaine staff said five interior items remain, three of which they expect to document as complete after taking photos during Friday’s site visit; two are signage swaps scheduled for the following Tuesday. Additional outside‑site work (landscaping, fence fabric, backstops and scoreboards) depends on the town’s paving schedule.

Committee members asked whether paving performed by Lynch, the town’s paving contractor, will be finished before school opens. Patrick (town staff) said the middle‑school stretch is part of a larger municipal paving contract and that scheduling is coordinated through the engineering department; he added: “I think this committee is seeing it from the perspective as it relates to the middle school project, but it’s all part of the paving contract for the summer.” Fontaine staff confirmed some remaining site work will follow completion of the town’s paving.

Committee members also received a short report on equipment and finishes: a small number of FFE invoices, irrigation and a post‑occupancy verification invoice were included in the vendor package. Locker deliveries for the building are tracking for Aug. 29, Griffin said.

On the vote, the committee approved the vendor invoice package. The committee also approved the minutes of the previous meeting in a separate roll call.

Next steps listed by staff include completing the remaining punch‑list work, coordinating site paving with the town so outside work can finish, submitting the final vendor invoice to the MSBA pro‑pay system and entering the MSBA closeout phase for the final reimbursement. Fontaine and town staff said they expect most building interior items to be wrapped up within days to weeks and to close out site items by the end of the month if paving is finalized.

The committee moved on to other business and set its next regular meeting for Aug. 12.