Do you have questions about the big school building project headed to a Special Town Meeting this spring? Or do you have an issue you’d like to raise or discuss with members of the committee overseeing the proposal?
This Friday morning, the Neary Building Committee (NBC) is giving you the chance.
The committee will hold “office hours” to talk about the project with any members of the public. The “hours” are actually just one hour this week, from 9:00 – 10:00 am on January 10th. They’ll take place at the Public Safety Building, in the Training Room. (That’s at 32 Cordaville Road.)
If the time doesn’t work for you, don’t worry. The committee will be promoting future opportunities to engage with them as they seek to secure support for the big vote. (In fact, I just posted yesterday about another upcoming option for seniors.)*
The flyer promises that more hours will be posted on weekends and evenings over the coming months.
The committee also has regular meetings which allow public comment. But the office hours format may be more comfortable for people who don’t like public speaking. Plus, it allows more back and forth and longer conversations.
*This winter’s Senior Center activities include a Coffee with Select Board Chair Kathy Cook on February 11th at 1:00 pm. The newsletter notes that as a member of the NBC, she’s also willing to talk about that project. Read more about that and other senior programs here.
Al Hamilton posted the following information, I believe it was back in November:
Al Hamilton
1 month ago
1. I was under the impression that there was little cost difference between a new 4 grade Neary and a 2 grade renovation of the existing Neary. I was wrong. Please note that the following cost estimates are still works in progress.
The current total cost of a new 4 grade Neary is about $113 million with taxpayers needing to provide about $84 million and the Commonwealth the difference.
The current total cost of a 2 grade existing Neary renovation would be about $60 million with taxpayers needing to provide a contribution in the $40+ million range. This estimate is far less refined than the 4 grade Neary estimate.
2. It was reported that the tax impact would be felt as a ramp with the full impact arriving in Fiscal 28 as the full project was bonded. The most recent estimate from our Treasurer was that the impact on the average home in FY 28 would be about $1,115.
3. The transition plan would involve putting 2 portable classrooms at both Woodward and Finn. The Pre-K program would revert to Southborough only the Northborough kids returning to their community.
4. Concern by residents was expressed about the proximity to the old Parkerville Landfill. I went back to the July 22 report by Pare, our engineering firm. They reported that there did not appear to be significant gas (eg methane) problems but were less sanguine about heavy metal groundwater contamination. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EtDJvh91Wb5p0yM9QHUo9tLBkHY4Y34e (See page 2 item III)
5. The Superintendent confirmed that our enrollment projects for the next 10-12 years are expected to be flat at about 1200 students K-8. Our current enrollment based on 23/24 data for grades 2-5 is about 530 students. The new 4 grade Neary would be designed for a max population of 610.
6. Concern was expressed that we had no visibility to the follow-on consequences of building a 4 school Neary. In particular, concern was expressed that the community will have to make significant investments as the use of Finn changes. Current, very, very rough, estimates vary widely based on the ultimate use of Finn and run from $14.7 million to $48.9 million. https://www.southboroughma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_02062024-5371
7. Similar to 6 above, concern was expressed that the voters do not good visibility to the total large capital project picture for the foreseeable future. This would include other school projects, playing fields, library addition, sidewalks, community center and others. There was a desire to see in some easy to digest format the cost, timing, and tax impact of all the major capital programs under discussion. This is not the responsibility of the Neary committee but rather Advisory, Capital Budget and the Select Board. This should be a priority for these boards. Providing the tax payers with the big picture regarding large capital projects is important to helping make an informed decision on this major project.
8. Finally, the question was asked if there were things that could be done to partially offset the cost of this project. This again is not the responsibility of the Neary Building Committee but Advisory, Select Board and School Committees.
It might be helpful to keep all these concerns in mind if anyone plans to go to the Neary Building Committee office hours!
Again, I will reiterate my thoughts: Why not make a proposal to subsume the two grades into the other schools before committing to build a new 4-year school building on that particular site, since there are citizens who are objecting to it. Move pre-school out of Finn, for example. Add a wing….
Why not make the Town’s future Recreation or Community Center reside at the much more central location, at the Neary School? So many of the Town’s events (Summer nights, Gobble Wobble, the Seniors’ walks) all take place in that area. Where is a proposal for doing something like that? Couldn’t part of the building be used for Pre-school, like they do now for after school?
Will there be an increase in home-schooling in the future that will potentially lower projected enrollment figures?
There are too many unanswered questions for me to vote yes for a new school.
Diane, thank you for the update. I don’t typically reply on the blog, but I feel strongly about this issue and the broader capital budget/tax impact on the residents. I attended the Dec 17th SB meeting and saw other residents who were visibly distraught over the real and likely risk of being priced out of their homes due to the estimated tax increases from the proposed 4-grade Neary school.
Anyone who follows the NEBC process should look at the YouTube minutes from last night’s SB meeting and the other proposed capital projects including $12 million for a library remodel and several additional million $$ for road work improvements. Further, Al Hamilton commented that there is potentially $100 million of future road/infrastructure maintenance costs.
I’ve not heard anyone say we don’t need to do something about Neary but spending more than $80 million on a new 4-grade school on top of everything else heading our way for future capital needs is in my humble opinion not the right thing to do and places a real risk on residents who can’t absorb higher property taxes.
I agree with Erik 100% that if these projects continue to be implemented the tax rate is going to to be out of touch for many citizens! My wife and I have resided in Southborough for 42 years and have enjoyed the town immensely. But now being a retired senior citizen with basically a fixed income we are getting to the point paying the ever increasing tax rate is becoming a real issue! We need to reign in this constant flow of projects and look at more feasible results.It almost seems like certain folks are trying to make it unaffordable for middle class and even upper middle class folks to continue to reside in this great town! Many towns that were once affordable are now out of reach to many families!