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Somers board hears $63.9M bond update; phase 1 to go to State Education Department in December
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Summary
District staff and contractors described a three‑phase plan for the $63.9 million voter‑approved capital program, with a phase‑1 submission to the State Education Department scheduled for December 2025 and construction targeted for 2026–2027. Trustees raised questions about worker vetting and schedule risks from long lead times.
Representatives from Triton Construction and H2M Architects updated the Somers Central School District Board of Education on Nov. 4 about the district’s voter‑approved $63,900,000 capital bond and the three‑phase schedule for work across district buildings.
John Hansen of Triton Construction described the construction manager’s role as overseeing the project, coordinating stakeholders and keeping the work on budget and on schedule. "Our goal here for the district... is to oversee the project in totality and make sure that all the players are performing what they're supposed to perform, and ensuring that we maintain the budget that we set out to maintain and the schedule that we look to maintain for the district," Hansen said.
Michael Landier of H2M said the $63.9 million sum is the maximum authorized by voters and outlined a high‑level distribution of work across schools: elementary playgrounds and envelope repairs, intermediate school site work and casework upgrades, middle‑school fire alarm and HVAC work, and high‑school boiler replacements, artificial turf and track work. Landier said some items were shifted to phase 1 for priority — notably the high‑school fire alarm — and that the design team plans to submit phase 1 documents to the State Education Department (SED) in December 2025. He said SED typically takes two to three months to review, which would allow bidding in spring 2026 and construction to start in 2026 with an October 2026 targeted completion for the phase‑1 scope.
Presenters cautioned that schedule estimates include contingencies and that long lead times for mechanical and electrical equipment, turf and fabricated stonework could affect dates. The team described continuing owner‑architect‑contractor meetings, user‑group sessions with staff and students (including a recent playground meeting incorporating student input), and plans to stage work to limit disruption of the academic schedule.
Trustees asked how worker vetting and security will be handled. The presenters said contractors will use the district’s visitor access systems and aim to separate construction workers from students and staff; if separation is not possible they will adjust work hours or perform tasks outside academic sessions. "Our goal is to keep a separation at the end of the day between students, faculty, construction workers at all times," a presenter said.
What happens next: the design team will complete phase‑1 documents, submit to SED in December 2025, return to the board with a more detailed update in February 2026, and proceed to bidding and construction pending permits and market conditions.
