Region 4 presents draft 10-year capital plan, lists $26.6M in needs and funding strategy

Superintendent Brian White and Finance Director Robert Grissom presented Region 4's draft 10-year capital plan to a joint meeting of the Grounds & Buildings Maintenance & Oversight Committee and the Joint BOE Finance Task Force on June 15 in the John Winthrop Middle School library. The packet, compiled in part by outgoing Facilities Director Fred Gerber, maps DRA study recommendations against work completed, projects in the pipeline and items not yet scheduled.

The draft shows combined escalated estimates of about $26,575,707 across operating/grant-funded work, capital reserve items and planned bonding. Grissom told the committee that the Region 4 package consolidates project lists for Valley Regional High School, John Winthrop Middle School and the three elementary schools and applies a priority/status framework to identify immediate health-and-safety needs versus lower-priority maintenance.

Key high-cost projects called out in the packet include a $5.324 million roof and flashing replacement at Valley Regional High School and a $3.871 million roofing and flashing replacement at John Winthrop Middle School, both identified as bond-funded candidates. Other significant bond or capital items listed were a $1.576 million controls upgrade at Valley Regional and chiller and mechanical replacements across multiple sites. The packet also enumerated smaller operating- or grant-funded items such as duct cleaning, stair-tread work and flooring replacement.

Grissom outlined proposed funding guidelines in the packet: use operating budgets for <$10,000 repairs, capital reserve for many $25,000–$500,000 items, short-term borrowing or referenda for $500,000–$1,000,000 needs, and bonding for projects above $1,000,000. The materials assign a funding source to each line item and show projected uses of the capital fund reserve over the plan horizon.

The Chester, Deep River and Essex elementary plans were included as school-specific appendices. The Chester Elementary appendix lists key needs such as roofing work, a $550,000 oil-fired boiler replacement and extensive building renovation items presented as a separate building-renovation total. Deep River and Essex also list multi-year needs ranging from mechanical upgrades to site and ADA work.

The packet did not include a motion or vote at the June 15 meeting; presenters provided the materials for committee review and said the Grounds & Buildings Committee planned to try to meet again in September. The meeting minutes record that the combined meeting adjourned at approximately 7:09 p.m.