The Westerly Public Schools building subcommittee voted Oct. 30 to recommend that the district pursue a stage-2 submission to RIDE listing five years of capital improvements, and it recommended hiring Downs Construction to provide owner's project-management services for that submission.

Chair opened the discussion by describing the stage-2 process and the potential benefit: the district could be eligible for a minimum 35% reimbursement on eligible projects listed in the five-year plan. "To me, this is a no brainer," the Chair said, urging members to proceed so projects already planned would be eligible for reimbursement.

The committee discussed a fee proposal for continued project-management support from Downs Construction to assist with the stage-2 application and related pre-submission work. After discussion, members moved and seconded a recommendation to the school committee to utilize Downs Construction for OPM services for the stage-2 submission; the amount stated on the record for that OPM recommendation was $40,095. The committee also voted to recommend that the school committee issue an RFP for design services to be included in the stage-2 submission. The committee recorded the stage-2 submission deadline on the calendar as Feb. 15.

Separately, the committee authorized a hydraulic testing report for Dunn's Corner — a modeling task requested by the town's water department because the project adds fire-protection demand. The Chair said the testing is similar to the report prepared for State Street and noted the testing informs town-wide capacity planning. The committee approved C & E Engineering's proposal for the hydraulic report; the fee given in the discussion was $4,820 and the motion carried with no opposition.

All formal motions recorded at the meeting were approved unanimously. The Chair said the recommendations will go to the full school committee for ratification, since this building subcommittee can only make recommendations and not award contracts.

What’s next: The school committee will consider the building subcommittee's recommendations at its next available meeting; meanwhile, the building subcommittee will pursue a design team and finalize materials needed for the Feb. 15 stage-2 submission.