Committee votes to submit $276.45 million schematic-design budget for regional vocational-technical school to MSBA

The School Building Committee voted to submit a total project budget of $276,449,480 to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for the regional vocational-technical school schematic-design package.

Kevin Youron, the project presenter, told the committee the team had reduced the building’s gross footprint from about 260,000 square feet at preferred schematic to roughly 249,000 square feet at schematic design and identified several value-management decisions that contributed to lower costs. "We've been able to reduce that by roughly $1.7 million," Youron said, citing reconciled cost estimates from the architect, an independent estimator and the construction manager.

Youron walked the group through the MSBA Form 31 budget framework: an estimated budget column, exclusions that MSBA will not reimburse, the resulting eligible basis, and the MSBA grant calculation. He said much of the project's ineligible costs stem from MSBA per-square-foot caps and existing caps on items such as furniture, fixtures and equipment and certain site or abatement work.

Committee members asked about the makeup of the difference between total project cost and direct construction cost. "That is soft cost — a combination of OPM fee, designer fee, furniture, technology, miscellaneous costs and contingencies," Youron said in response to a question from Jim Coughlin.

On incentives and reimbursement, presenters said the district’s base MSBA reimbursement rate is 55% and that the project team is pursuing incentive points for maintenance/capital planning and energy efficiency. The team stated those incentive points would increase the district’s reimbursement rate; final grant and eligibility determinations will come after MSBA’s review.

The committee discussed contingencies. Presenters and the construction manager defended carrying a 5% construction contingency and a modest owner contingency as industry-standard for a large new-construction CM-at-risk project, while multiple members asked whether larger contingency cushions would be prudent. Presenters warned that increasing contingencies would raise the district share and potential tax impact.

After discussion, a motion to submit the total project budget to MSBA no later than Aug. 15, 2024 was made, seconded and approved by roll-call. The roll call recorded 'yes' votes from committee members present and participating remotely; the chair declared the motion carried.

Next steps outlined by presenters include finalizing the full schematic-design report for internal review in late August, submitting the schematic-design package to MSBA, and pursuing Board of Directors approval of the schematic package in late October ahead of town-level votes in January 2025.

Action recorded: committee approved submission of the total project budget to MSBA for the schematic-design phase. The MSBA review in August–September will determine final eligible costs and grant amounts.