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Committees recommend loan resolution and Harvey Construction as construction manager for Concord middle‑school project
Summary
At a Jan. 14 joint session the board’s finance and capital facilities committees reviewed a phased borrowing plan for the middle‑school project, voted to recommend a loan resolution to the full board, and recommended awarding construction‑manager‑at‑risk services to Harvey Construction; committees emphasized options on term length and repayment structure and requested more market data before the final decision.
District project staff presented a timeline and financing options for the Concord School District middle‑school project at a Jan. 14 joint meeting of the finance and capital facilities committees.
Mr. Dunn, the administration’s project/financial lead, outlined a phased‑borrowing plan that would initially seek $80 million rather than issuing the full $168+ million at once. He explained trade‑offs among 20‑, 25‑ and 30‑year terms and described two repayment structures: equal‑principal (higher early payments, lower total interest) and level debt (consistent payments, higher total interest). “The most important item tonight will be the formal recommendation on the loan resolution because that’s the legal part that we need to do in order to get to the bond market,” he said.
Why it matters: the loan resolution authorizes the district to meet legal requirements and go to market so financial advisors and bond counsel can complete rating calls and produce realistic interest‑rate scenarios and bond premiums. Mr. Dunn said conservative market assumptions were used in the handout (he used roughly 3–4% as illustrative rates depending on term) and that more refined numbers would arrive after bond counsel, rating agencies and market engagement.
Procurement decision: administrators recommended Harvey Construction as the construction manager at risk, noting Harvey’s participation in the project’s preconstruction phase for about 18 months, its low fee proposal (1.95 percent), and prior local projects. The committees discussed benefits of early bid packages and timeline advantages offered by keeping Harvey on the preconstruction team. The committees voted to recommend that the board approve the loan resolution on the Jan. 20 special meeting agenda and to present the Harvey contract for board action on Jan. 28.
Board direction and next steps: members asked for a deeper work session in early February with updated market rates and for the actual AIA contract language to be provided before the Jan. 28 vote. Mr. Dunn said guaranteed‑maximum‑price (GMP) information would follow in September and that the district can return to the board on bonding decisions without repeating the full legal‑process steps each time; the initial loan resolution opens the credit line for phased borrowing.
The committees took the votes required to recommend the loan resolution (roll call, unanimous) and to recommend the Harvey Construction contract (motion passed). Both recommendations will go to the full board for formal approval on the scheduled special meeting dates.
The committees also voted to enter nonpublic session under RSA 91‑A for personnel and legal advice at the end of the meeting.
