Smithfield Council OKs RFP for school message board, approves emergency work on special‑needs classroom

The Smithfield Town Council on July 15 authorized a request for proposals for an electronic messaging board at Smithfield High School and approved two emergency school building projects: reconstruction of the wall between an ISE (intensive special education) classroom and the greenhouse and replacement of the classroom floor.

The items were advanced under the state School Building Authority emergency‑project process; councilors voted to fund the wall work in a revised “alternate 1” not to exceed $40,000 and approved alternate 2 — replacement of the ISE room floor — not to exceed $28,000. The council also voted to advertise an RFP for the messaging board at Boyle Field.

The projects were presented by Colliers Project Leaders and the school department. Patrick Robler of Colliers told the council the revised scope reduces the town’s request to $40,000 because the ramp and certain demolition originally contemplated were moved out of the immediate scope. Robler said the combined contractor and design estimates come to $39,910 (Red Oak estimate $36,000; SLAM design/administration $3,910), which is below the $40,000 not‑to‑exceed figure.

Robler: “With the budgetary price from Red Oak at $36,000 and the proposal price from SLAM at $3,910 we come in at $39,910.”

Council discussion focused on timing, transparency and process. Several councilors pressed that the school building committee and the school committee had not formally voted on the revised scope before it came to the council, and asked whether the council’s vote tonight would preempt the committees’ action. The council was told the building committee had reviewed the matter in recent meetings and that the school committee planned to consider the package at its next meeting. One councilor said the memo provided to the council misstated that the school committee had already “evaluated and recommended” the proposal; other members called that an unacceptable error.

Resident Tom Hodgkins pressed for more documentation on cost breakdowns and the chronology of when scope changes were identified. Rich Anatolian, who said he represented a graduating class that pledged funds toward a scoreboard, told the council those funds and the school committee’s fund balance could be used toward the messaging board and that the town would evaluate other funding sources depending on bids.

Robler and school staff told the council the emergency work is being advanced now because the ISE classroom renovation is already underway and state emergency funding procedures impose tight timelines and a potential 35% reimbursement; delaying work could put those reimbursements at risk. Council members who expressed concern nonetheless approved the motions after an amendment to set the alternate 1 figure at $40,000 and after a stated condition that final administration continues to follow school‑committee review.

The council also authorized the school department to reissue an RFP for an electronic message board at Boyle Field. School staff said the project previously came in over budget and the committee will rebid to seek a lower cost; estimates mentioned in the discussion varied, with one participant saying bids could be between $20,000 and $50,000 but that the RFP is needed to find a market price.

What happens next: the school committee is scheduled to review the package at its next meeting; contractors will be asked to bid under the revised scopes, and the town will proceed with purchase orders or change orders consistent with the council’s approvals and school‑committee review.