Essex school building committee says a spring revote would add about $4.5 million, and its mailer is on hold over campaign finance rules

If voters turn down the Essex Elementary School borrowing on Nov. 16 and the project comes back in the spring, the delay would add about $4.5 million to its cost, the Essex School Building Committee was told Oct. 27. About $550,000 of that would pay the project team to keep working through a second vote.

What happened

• The committee approved three invoices totaling $145,230.83 and the minutes of its Oct. 13 meeting, both by roll call with every member voting yes, from the meeting video.
• The owner's project manager said the state school building authority approved another $300,000 for the feasibility study, raising that budget from $1.5 million to $1.8 million, and that current contracts run through the December vote.
• The committee settled on three messages for the weeks ahead: why the school is the size it is, what happens if the vote fails, and what the building means for students.
• A planned mailing of a project booklet to every household is on hold because the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance had not cleared it, the superintendent said.

The cost of waiting

The project manager from Dore and Whittier said the contracts with the design team cover the work through one vote. If the town meeting or the Dec. 10 ballot vote fails and the same project goes to a spring town meeting, the district would need to appropriate money for five or six more months of the team's time. Because a school move works best in summer, the schedule would slip a full year, which is where the roughly $4.5 million in added cost comes from. She said she prepared the same answer for Manchester's Select Board, which had asked. (Read how Manchester's board put off its recommendation.)

If the vote passes, the district signs a new contract with the project team around Jan. 1 and the construction budget is built as the job goes to bid. About $97,000 left in the feasibility budget would move to the overall project budget after the vote.

What members are hearing

Members said the questions they hear most are why the school costs so much more than Manchester Memorial, why it is not smaller, why the state's share fell from 36 percent to about 22 percent, and whether Manchester voters remember that Essex voted for the Memorial School. Andy Oldeman, who also sits on Manchester's Finance Committee, said that committee voted 4 to 3 against recommending Manchester's senior center article, and that he has heard some residents tie their school vote to the senior center. (Read the Finance Committee's vote.)

Superintendent Pam Beaudoin said the district's FAQ page has a side by side room list showing that Essex has two classrooms per grade to Memorial's three, so the Essex building is smaller. Charlie Hay said that, adjusted for inflation, most of the cost difference is the site, which has ledge. One member said a renovation would get no state money at all, so a rebuild of about $54 million with no reimbursement would cost the towns only about $7 million less than the new school, without solving the building's problems. The chair grouped the questions into three messages: why the school is the size it is, what happens if the vote fails, and the student experience.

Booklet, video and the campaign finance office

Beaudoin said the district ran its booklet past the state's campaign finance office and was told, as of that day, it could not be mailed, because the Dec. 10 ballot date is already set and the mailing could be seen as promoting a ballot question rather than informing town meeting. Posting the booklet, a one page handout and a three part explainer video on the district website is allowed, and people can ask for copies. The district asked for a second opinion and planned a press release and word of mouth in the meantime. The committee also discussed a signed letter from its members and the School Committee pointing voters to the FAQs.

What happens next

• Tuesday, Nov. 3, 11 to 11:30 a.m.: committee members answer questions at the Essex senior center, facts only, since it is town property.
• Wednesday, Nov. 4, 6 p.m.: the last community meeting on the design at Essex Elementary School, with child care. (Details.)
• Tuesday, Nov. 10: the committee's next business meeting, with more meetings planned for Nov. 24 and Dec. 8.
• Monday, Nov. 16: both towns' town meetings, which the committee noted may take up the school article at about the same time. Members were asked whether they would speak at their own town's meeting.
• Thursday, Dec. 10: the ballot votes in both towns.

Where to find the records

• Essex Elementary School Building Project, on the district website, with the FAQs
• Meeting video, on the public access channel

Earlier coverage: Essex school building committee sends its design to the state (Oct. 17), the schematic design vote, and the community meetings schedule (Oct. 26).

How we did this: Cape Ann Current watched the meeting online and checked names against the committee roster on the district website. These are our meeting notes, not the committee's minutes.