Quashnet project could cost Mashpee $6.5M – Cape Cod Times (subscription)

State, town meeting to consider their shares of funding.

MASHPEE The towns share of Quashnet Elementary Schools roof, window and door-replacement is projected to total $6.5 million, according to detailed estimates provided by the design team Monday.

The plan to provide badly needed upgrades at the school has expanded in scope since an effort to replace windows and exterior doors was put on hold earlier this year. The delay came after crews discovered that the roof and the insulation structure around the windows also needed to be replaced. That work, as well as legally required accessibility upgrades, is expected to come in at $10.48 million, according to Siva Sivalogan, of exPERTcon, the firm hired by the town for the project.

Quashnet School was built in 1978 and the roof was replaced in 1990. An addition was completed in 1992. All windows and soffits are original.

The selectmen on Monday gave Sivalogan the OK to present the plan to the Massachusetts School Building Authority, the state agency that is projected to reimburse the town at a rate of 37.95 percent for the project. The authority will consider the proposal May 21.

The board also voted to place the funding request for the towns share on the warrant for the May 1 annual town meeting. The request will likely be in the form of a Proposition 2 debt exclusion to fund a 20-year bond for $5.8 million, according to Town Manager Rodney Collins.

Several board members wondered Monday whether the town might be able to complete the project for less by declining to participate in the state building process. Collins said that was unlikely. Either way, board Chairman Andrew Gottlieb said, the town has nothing to lose by moving forward with the state approval, as there are still several more opportunities to back out of the plan should another option become more attractive.

The total cost breakdown is: $3.8 million for the windows and doors; $400,000 for accessibility upgrades; $668,981 for the soffit replacement; and $4.3 million for the roof. Other costs include the feasibility study, which already has been funded by the town, plus administration, engineering and state-required contingency funds, according to Sivalogan.

Responding to concerns about the cost, Sivalogan outlined several areas that are driving the cost of construction. Among them are changes in state code that call for impact-resistant window glass and increased insulation and roof resistance. Other factors include the need to do much of the construction in the summer, the need to hire a general contractor and the markup charged by off-Cape contractors to work on the Cape.

If all goes according to plan, construction would begin in April 2018 and run through November of that year, Sivalogan said.

According to Gene Raymond, of Raymond Design Associates, the project would replace 86 percent of the buildings exterior, essentially rendering it new.

Im totally comfortable saying youll have a service life of 40 years, he said.

Follow Chris Lindahl on Twitter: @cmlindahl.

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Quashnet project could cost Mashpee $6.5M - Cape Cod Times (subscription)