Northborough panel hears $5.6 million plan to recover Peaslee (Z) School roof, with ADA and solar-ready work included

The Town of Northborough Financial Planning Committee on Jan. 15 heard a presentation on a proposed project to address extensive roofing problems at Peaslee (Z) School, with a schematic total project budget of $5,600,000, the project team said.

Tom Ellis, the owner’s project manager for the work, said the schematic budget submitted to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) lists roughly $5,360,000 in construction and associated hard/soft costs and includes both construction contingencies and owner contingencies. "Right now, we're looking at a total project budget of $5,600,000, including all the contingencies," Ellis said during the committee presentation.

Why it matters: Committee members pressed the design team about which pieces of that figure are recoverable through MSBA reimbursement, which elements are driven by state accessibility rules and which are optional. The answers will affect whether the town asks voters for debt exclusion at a town meeting and the projected long-term debt service.

Design recommendation and condition findings: The design team said three options were considered: restoration (a liquid coating), recovery (remove ballast/membrane/underlayment and install new underlayment and roofing), and full replacement (major construction and a full metal roof). The team recommended roof recovery as the cost-effective option that would extend useful life about 30 years. The designers reported active leak evidence: infrared scans showed about 2% of the roof with wet insulation and interior ceiling damage at some locations. The roof area is about 60,000 square feet, and several flat roof membranes are past typical service life, the presenters said.

ADA triggers and cost breakdown: Members repeatedly asked what spending thresholds would require Massachusetts Architectural Access Board (MAAB) or building-code-triggered accessibility upgrades. Design lead Steve Wachorm said the primary threshold is roughly 30% of the assessed building value; at that threshold a full accessibility/code assessment is required, and the estimated ADA work on this project is in the $350,000–$400,000 range. The team agreed to deliver a concise decision tree showing which incremental expenditure levels invoke specific accessibility obligations so the committee and public can see what is mandatory versus discretionary.

MSBA requirements and procurement: Committee members were told MSBA requires roofs be made "solar ready" to qualify for reimbursement; solar-readiness and code-related accessibility work are treated as eligible costs within the MSBA budget format. Staff emphasized that the MSBA phase now is feasibility and that, if the project advances, construction would be competitively bid in the public procurement process, which could reduce final contractor costs compared with the schematic estimate.

Fiscal context and next steps: Finance staff said the town would likely finance the town share of the project with long-term debt (staff estimated a likely 20-year bond term for a roof) and that the town’s broader capital plan and other large projects (recent fire station construction and a proposed school project) factor into the committee’s review of debt capacity. The project team and staff agreed to provide the committee with a PDF of the presentation, a clear breakout of ADA-triggered costs and a public-facing executive summary of MSBA-eligible versus town-only costs. The committee will review those materials and discuss the item again at an upcoming meeting ahead of any town meeting warrant or debt vote.

Next procedural step: The team expects an MSBA meeting in February and will return to the committee with the requested cost breakout and an executive summary for public distribution.