With Pell School Approved, Building Committee Moves Forward with Plans

Two days after in favor of the $30 million Claiborne Pell School bond, members of the building committee gathered at the School Department's headquarters on Thursday to get started on the planning.

"Welcome to the first Build Pell meeting!" School Committee Chairwoman Jo Eva Gaines proclaimed at the start.

The meeting was more than just supporters, though. Several members of the Alliance for Neighborhood Schools in Newport were also in attendance, sticking to their commitment to stay involved in the process, even if they didn't agree with the plan. Superintendent John Ambrogi reached out to the group requesting their involvement, and said Thursday that the plan is to get many parents' input along the way.

Thursday's meeting mostly consisted of a presentation by Alteris Renewables, a Northeast-based solar and wind energy installer. Two representatives from the company showed attendees several types of solar panels on the market and explained how they might work at Pell. While members of the building committee also expressed interest in discussing wind energy options on Thurdsay, the Alteris representatives said their company had determined that the Pell site wasn't large enough to accommodate the type of wind turbines it provides. Alternative wind options may be available from other companies, they said.

Alteris Renewables has installed solar panels on several other educational institutions, including the Wheeler School in Seekonk, New England Institute of Technology in Warwick and Yale University. The company representatives explained that the panels would largely be maintenance free and that they would be warrantied for 25 years. A popular option, they said, is for larger projects to enter into a power purchase agreement, which means that a third party would own the system and that the school district would pay them a low rate per kilowatt hour. This agreement would mean the third party is ultimately responsible for any repairs or upgrades.

The discussion with Alteris was just a preliminary one intended to give the Building Committee a better sense of what options exist.

Also in attendance was Pell School architect Laura Wernick, a principal of HMFH Architects of Cambridge, MA. Wernick provided a general timeline for how the Pell project will proceed, noting that the first step is to work on the schematic design of the school.

"We need to make sure the drawings really work for teachers and faculty," she said.

Wernick said she plans to set up meetings with groups of teachers over the next few weeks to start discussing how the school's plans can best fit their needs. Completing the schematic deign, she said, should take about two to three months, with a community meeting scheduled at some point to also walk through the plan with parents and other residents.

From there, Wernick said there will likely be a 10- to 12-week period of design development, when they work on much more detailed drawings of what's happening in the classrooms, storage areas and all other spaces of the building. Then comes the development of the construction documents for contractors, a process that should take them into late July or early August. The drawings will then be put out to bid, Wernick said, and construction could start in October. She estimated that from there it would be a 20-month period, starting with hazmat and demolition of Sullivan School and then moving onto the construction of Pell, ultimately finishing by May 2013.

Wernick said she'd like to really get going on those meetings with teachers before Thanksgiving, and that a meeting with parents should be scheduled shortly thereafter.

The group briefly discussed the best way to format future meetings with the public. Melissa Pattavina, a member of the Alliance for Neighborhood Schools, admitted that forums that include presenters at the front of the room are sometimes intimidating, and that it'd be better to create an informal setting where everyone feels comfortable speaking.

"Make them a little more casual, like this," Pattavina said. "We're actually having a conversation."

In addition to any official public meetings planned throughout the process, Wernick also noted that the building committee meetings, like the one Thursday night, are held every few weeks. The group also discussed keeping its Let's Build Pell! website up online so that it can be updated with new information as it becomes available.