White River Junction
The potholes and frost heaves that have characterized the parking lot surrounding the high school, middle school and career center have drawn criticism for years, and sparked March Town Meeting voters to approve a bond to fund the fix on a 762-513 vote.
During a presentation to the School Board last week, Project Manager David Laurin and school officials discussed the range of possibilities for the project, which could increase the total amount of available parking by as much as 55 spaces, to 410, and pave over Tenney Field, which occupies the corner of Highland Avenue and Hanover Street.
Tenney Field is used by middle school students, but Superintendent Tom DeBalsi said it’s not ideally situated, because students have to cross heavy traffic areas in order to get to it. The plan could include adding field space elsewhere on the campus to offset the loss of playing space, he said.
One of the big unknowns, Laurin said, is soil composition. That’s important, because clay-choked areas with poor natural drainage need more extensive and costly drainage solutions, which could put some features out of financial reach.
“We don’t know if that’s feasible or practical or in the budget or not,” Laurin said, according to CATV video of the meeting.
In 2014, the discovery of a heavy clay soil was the primary reason the price tag on a track and field proposed for the school campus skyrocketed from an $800,000 early estimate to $2.6 million.
Soil borings will be done in July in all of the areas considered for construction, said DeBalsi.
Proposals to add or reduce the amount of impervious blacktop would trigger an Act 250 amendment review process.
But much of the discussion centered around the ability to minimize the daily free-for-all that happens every morning before school begins, as buses, cars and pedestrians navigate the chaotic space around the campus.
“We plan on having a lot more definition to the parking lot,” DeBalsi said. “Right now, there is nothing defining where cars can go and where buses can go. There aren’t any islands or curbing.”
Possible solutions presented by Laurin included creating separate lanes for buses and cars, and making a faculty-only parking lot in the space between the middle school and the pool.
“Mostly we’re trying to control the parking and not have it as helter skelter as it is,” he told the School Board.
Improved traffic flow could help problems caused by a double set of traffic lights at the Hanover Street entrance to the campus. Cars trapped between the two lights frequently cause long delays on Route 5 and Hanover Street, with school buses sometimes backed up for as much as 20 minutes as they wait for a chance to enter the school grounds.
Before the bond was passed, school officials were targeting this summer for the project, but a new timeline won’t see ground broken until next year.
DeBalsi said on Monday that he hopes to have two or three alternative plans to present to the public in the fall.
The delay in construction work was foretold by area residents who expressed criticism of the project timeline before the bond came up for the public vote.
During a Feb. 2 public hearing on the bond, engineer Skip Nalette and former School Board member Russ North, a CPA, said that the summer timeline was not realistic, because of the length of time it would take to get a permit, and because contractors would already be booked for the summer by the time the project went out to bid.
At the time School Board member Peter Merrill assured residents that the project would get done before the new school year.
“If the bond is passed by the public, it will be done this summer,” Merrill said.
On Monday, North said he never expected that the project would be done this summer.
“I’m not surprised,” he said.
But, North added, he would rather see the project done right in 2018, than rushed through this year.
“I’m glad they’re doing it and will exercise prudence in a large project,” he said. “I hope they will take it as a lesson learned on an aggressive timetable for future projects.”
DeBalsi said on Monday that doing the work this summer no longer makes sense.
“We honestly thought it was feasible to begin work this summer but several factors made it less desirable,” he said.
One reason he gave was the tenor of the discussion during Town Meeting season, when school officials were asked to incorporate more public engagement in their capital projects.
“I wanted to make sure that the various stakeholders, most importantly the taxpayers, were given ample opportunity to have a say in what the ultimate design will be,” DeBalsi said.
He also said the busy construction season would make it difficult to get a good price for the work.
While the School Board has considered fixes to the parking lot at various times over the years, the push that led to the current project began in fall 2016, when the School Board and DeBalsi first publicly floated the idea of a 2017 bond that would put in proper drainage and underlay, and redesign the lot to address traffic flow problems.
In December 2016, DeBalsi told the Board that Laurin recommended a $60,000 engineering study to learn more about the scope of the project, but the School Board did not act on that recommendation.
With financing costs, the bond will cost a total of $2 million at an annual payment rate of $96,000 per year.
The School Board also learned recently about another significant unexpected bill — a 25-year old motorized stairlift that provides handicap accessibility to the basement of the middle school is not working, and needs to be replaced with an elevator, at an estimated cost of $262,000.
The basement includes the only instructional space big enough to hold the 87-member band.
DeBalsi told the School Board that $68,600 would come from the district’s impact fee fund, $140,000 from a construction reserve fund, and the balance from surplus funds left over as the school transitions into the 2018 fiscal year on July 1.
DeBalsi first sought to repair the lift, but learned that it was not possible, because it occupies too much of the width of the stairwell, and is therefore out of code.
“It also lacks the required safety railings that are required on today’s lifts,” DeBalsi said on Monday. “Due to the height clearance in the stairwell, it would be impossible to add the railings now.”
DeBalsi said the new elevator will take nearly three months to arrive.
“We expect work to go into the beginning of the school year and perhaps throughout the first quarter before the new elevator is completely operational,” he said.
In the meantime, he said, the band will use the gym for classes and practice.
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.