Select board raises process concerns after school committee moves to extend Loop Road paving

Hopkinton's select board criticized the school committee's decision to advance a change order to repave the Loop Road as part of the Hopkins Elementary/High School construction project, saying the community should have a chance to weigh in at town meeting.

The exchange came at a joint meeting March 26 after school committee members said the repaving would capture construction efficiencies and avoid higher costs if delayed. The committee said the work falls within a previously approved town-meeting appropriation and that engineering core samples showed sections of the road had a thinner pavement profile than expected.

"The process by which capital expenses are approved and validated in our town and prioritization is given is through the annual town meeting," a select board member said. "I am incredibly concerned that this looks like a circumvention of that process." The comment echoed other board members who said they supported the paving in principle but wanted residents to have a formal opportunity to vote.

School committee members said legal counsel had confirmed the work lies within the original article's —4 corners— and that moving forward this summer avoids the additional cost and logistical complications of returning contractors later or delaying planned moves of modular classrooms. "To stop at the end of that and then pick up a year later seems quite silly," the school committee chair said.

A select board motion to formally support the school committee's use of existing funds was put to a roll-call vote. The roll call recorded individual positions (see actions); the board recorded one member voting in favor and multiple members voting against recording formal support, with members urging alternate processes such as a special article at town meeting if residents needed clearer visibility.

The meeting also identified points that could affect timing: the select board and school committee discussed whether conservation-permitting for adjacent parking lots would be triggered if the scope widened, and whether the warrant timetable and the need for a notice-to-proceed would allow paving to begin this summer. Presenters said final contract bids were still being collected and that a notice to proceed would be required to secure a summer window.

The two boards agreed to continue coordination. Select board members suggested exploring the feasibility of adding a special town-meeting article or scheduling additional public briefings so residents could review cost estimates and permitting implications before work begins.