- From Templeton Residents Mull SchoolPlease think people. The average cost of an Elementary school in zone 1 (New England) was $306 per sqft. That works out to $50,700 or so per student.
Why is Templeton being asked to pay $511 a sqft and about $82,000 per student. The average elementary school building allows for 130 sqft per student. The Templeton plan calls for over 160 sqft per student. New educational information shows that large hallways are wasteful and counterproductive to a well balanced school.
If you want to see how others have spent money look at the link.
file:///C:/Users/Robert/Downloads/SPMConstruction2013.pdf
There are so many things wrong with the design of the new school for future teaching. One simple study shows that bullying drops significantly when large communal bathrooms are eliminated and bathrooms are attached to classrooms. The behavior and cleanliness of bathrooms also improves tremendously.
From watching the meeting all I can say is Wow. Who thought building a school that would require rerouting traffic with absolutely no parking for parents (parent teacher nights, etc) was smart. This school is sharing parking with the police station. Is this good for students/teachers/police or the town.
How does the school parking work with expanding the police station?
This school is to big, way overpriced and in a terrible location. It also places the burden on financing on Templeton even though fully 1/3 of the students will be coming from Phillipston. I will not support this school plan as is out of line with the reality for Templeton taxpayers and would not be ideal for our children.
See below for information from link above...
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Odd no mention of the question, was there any thought about this area being a historical area. No real answer given other than to say it has a flat roof and trees of our choice. Another flat roof like we have at gansett with problems.ReplyDelete
So when the school gets the go ahead all students for 2 years will go to another location,gansett as construction takes place.
We need a new school but 50 million and change the town center to fit it there? Almost 2 million will be spent to tear up Wellington and south rd to make the traffic work. Will the traffic studies done prove to be a flaw and like the calculators don't add up things correctly. No outdoor playground fields? The other proposals had multi fields and parking for a multi use building. For us to use this as a multi use building we will need a parking garage built or pave the common . The people at the presentation say the gym and caf. area could be used for multi functions. She just didn't tell people they needed to be bussed in to attend.When the Templeton arts and craft shows on the common happen where will the people park when the back school area get a new building put on it.With pre k and k along with 5 grades move to Templeton the traffic may be more then people are thinking. Just the parking for the pre k and k to park and bring kids inside will be more parking needed then allowed for all the school needs.no mention about handicapped drop off unload areas. We all know how many spots are there for handicapped now so why not now?
This project may not be a good fit for the town or the kids.
Templeton needs to get this right as we will live with the bill for it for 28 years.
The pitch for people to purchase a home in our town is to have a look at the new schools and how good they are.
If they can't park to look around the school they may not want to purchase a home or build here. Any business or other new building in town must have a parking plan and proof it is enough to make it work out for everyone.
I would rather build less of a school and do it with our own money than be under the thumb of the msba telling us what we have to build. The other option we are told is nothing,after November 1.- David,ReplyDelete
Did you look at the link I posted. I realize that is it based on 2013 data, but the average elementary school in zone 1 costs about the same as the MSBA alots for financing for the Templeton School and the town is still stuck with $20+ million in added debt.
We should be able to build a school in templeton for Less than $30 million based on the data from the link posted. Why are we being asked to pay $511? Doesn't seem to be any reason.
The school gets no field, no parking. As you mentioned it would not be a viable "public use" building due to lack of parking. I think this is a poor plan for Templeton. I would destroy the appeal of the "town" along with the budget. - David,ReplyDelete
Did you look at the link I posted. I realize that is it based on 2013 data, but the average elementary school in zone 1 costs about the same as the MSBA alots for financing for the Templeton School and the town is still stuck with $20+ million in added debt.
We should be able to build a school in templeton for Less than $30 million based on the data from the link posted. Why are we being asked to pay $511? Doesn't seem to be any reason.
The school gets no field, no parking. As you mentioned it would not be a viable "public use" building due to lack of parking. I think this is a poor plan for Templeton. I would destroy the appeal of the "town" along with the budget.*************************************Screenshots from SPM Construction 2013
Screenshot from SPM Construction 2014
My Name is Paul H Cosentino. I started this Blog in 2011 because of what I believe to be wrongdoings in town government. This Blog is to keep the citizens of Templeton informed. It is also for the citizens of Templeton to post their comments and concerns.
david smartOctober 10, 2015 at 8:53 PM
ReplyDeleteBob, after looking at the link you put up i was filled with questions i would have asked the other night at the forum.
What the per square foot amount is base on greatly changed the amount from a high of 528 per sf to a low of 406 per sf.
The amount of the site work included is questionable as is the changes to wellington and south road. What engineering costs are and are not included to do the changes roadwise. Many things other than a school are involved to do this where they want it. The new school being built on a pre used site like it is now will have many unknowns. If built on a never used area it could have a much lower risk factor and not need a contingencies of 2,531,290.00. with this available for the road work and all other things [surprises] will it be enough? Does the contractors bid include anything other than the actual building? Does Templeton get hung out to dry if the site is found to be a hazard area when they dig up the unknown?
People must plan on other tax increases and higher school budget like in the past we don't have control over.
Can we think the NRSD will freeze their budget and not want more year in and year out?The nuclear option that was used in the past my be toxic to this project. After all we have been lied to about being under effort. There is proof of that now thanks to our former member of the Advisory board Bernie Heiney. Like the facts about the chip boiler we are told what we need to hear to pass it! Most people will want this to pass with or without the facts.
My big fear is the kids safety getting out on the side away from the curb. Will we see children put in harms way?
Do we need to spend megabucks on roads that are like new? No more parking like we have had for events on the common.
We need a school and now have our backs aganst the wall to get it started by time allowed by msba.
David, My concerns are based on Templeton getting what it needs and can afford.
ReplyDeleteThis plan seems flawed in many ways. Its seems poorly designed, overpriced and over sized with to much spent on design ideas that have been proven be less than optional. The cost is ridiculous. Look at the data for this area. Why are we paying $100-200 more than the average and still not getting a functional school.
The idea that we could not find a better site that would allow for "parking" is asinine.
How are we simply going to deal with parent teacher nights????? Are parents going to be parking all over downtown?
How is this plan going to work with the police stations expansion plans? What do those plans do to the parking situation. Do we really want kids constantly distracted by police taking off with lights and horns blaring? Do we think its a good idea to expose children to unloading criminals. How do we feel about police being stuck behind buses, tied up in traffic jams created by parents when these officers are needed for an emergency? Remember, both roads leading away from the Police station will be full of cars at multiple times of the day.
Nothing about this plan seems to be sufficient for Templeton taxpayers.
many things you point out Bob are under the control of the MSBA who says they will pay for 1/2 of the costs or 63.11%
ReplyDelete1/2 of the total projected is 1/2 . 63.11 is the up to amount allowed. Why we would want solar panel brackets and have no plan in place for panels is mind control.
This plan has many questions needing to be asked.
So, let me get this straight. Projected total cost is 48 million...best case scenario. MSBA reimbursement is 22 million.
ReplyDeleteTherefore 22 million must be 63.11% of 48 million! Or 22 million is 50 % of 48 million? Must be that new math!
As we find like with so many other things. The numbers are not as we are told they are.
ReplyDeleteOnly certain things get the up to 63.11% MSBA reimbursment. I'm not sure if the brackets for the solar panels we don't get are covered or not. Do we think a flat roof will now work in Templeton? Is the money spent on solar brackets without any plan for solar panels a smart thing to spend money on? Would a solar provider even be allowed to come into Templeton and have a shot at the school project? I would think the TMLWP commission could step up and provide the school with panels and get the power bills lowered as a service to the community property. You know one community property to another community property. With no PILOT agreement known and no road projects announcement by the TMLWP commission what are they doing with all the extra revenues for this record year. Just the misc. income not to mention record low power costs should be reason to help the town out and with more than just a few LED street lights on the state property.How much have the TMLWP commission spent at the fernald school on new street lights?
How much?