Pell Committee Continues to Talk Cost-Saving Measures

During its first meeting of 2012, the Pell Building Committee went over two agenda items Tuesday night at the The committee discussed potential for value engineering throughout the project and reviewed updated budget documents.

Under representative James Farrar, the committee continued to strategize on how to close a $2.8 million budget gap.

HMFH architect Laura Wernick said they were close to hitting the $2.8 million mark, but have fallen about $140,000 short.

“We haven't hit the target yet, but we're very close,” she said.

The budget is currently estimated at $30,955,432, or almost $1 million over the $30 million bond.

Construction documents are scheduled to go out to bid on Jan. 16. One of the three lowest bidders will be selected to construct the school.

Other cost-saving measures may be feasible if the city decides to waive certain building and fire permit fees, which have already been factored into the potential savings.

“For a project of this size, those dollars are substantial,” Farrar said.

Farrar also suggested a subsurface drainage retaining system, which is estimated to save approximately $400,000.

The committee unanimously voted to recommend to the to raise the building itself by six inches, which would incur savings by needing less arsenic removal on the site. Raising the building would leave 3,099-cubic yards of soil on the site, which would no longer need to be removed.

Another option presented by HMFH would be to elevate the playground to the second floor level, which would preserve even more soil on site. By bringing in extra soil to lift the play area to the second floor, the would be eliminated.

However, scrapping the bridge would come at a higher price, Wernick said.

The hard top would have to be divided in two and be made larger to accommodate all of the children, she said, and there could be handicap accessibility issues. They would also have to construct 13 foot retaining walls, which drew safety concerns from the committee.

Superintendent John H. Ambrogi said that at first he was excited to have an alternative to the bridge, which he did not favor, but liked the idea of the high retaining walls even less.

School Committee member Sandra J. Flowers offered insight on the original purpose of the bridge, which was for “emergency egress.”

The committee should think of fire drills and getting everyone out safely, Flowers said.

“The whole point of value engineering is to think outside the box,” Farrar said.