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On Thursday February 13, 2025 a public forum was held at the Town High School on Wilson Whitty Way I attended, admittedly my first attendance of this project. Although I have followed the process.
A rather short but very informative presentation with most of the key stakeholders for the project management being introduced. The slide show had detail with a preliminary cost amount of $290 Million for a new & relocated school on the same lot it now stands. The alternative was a refitting of the existing school at a cost of $250+/- Million & $107 Million to repair. Following the one hour presentation a question & answer session coincided with tours given by High School Students, I chose the tour 1st. Having worked on so many of these municipal projects over the almost 4 decades of school projects my goal was to observe the existing structure as best was allowed.
“Stunning”, “unbelievable” an “I can't believe” would be descriptive of not only my comments but most in the group of 20 or so within my group. Only 2 toilets in the woman's locker room where showers haven't worked in years! Boys locker room, where like the girls, showers hadn't operated for years. Classrooms with no windows to the outside world we live in simply isn't conducive to 21th century best learning practices in a town like North Attleboro where I was born an breed.
Structurally the building appeared in very good condition. As for the lack of windows, virtually every classroom would have access to the outside if big beautiful windows were installed by knocking through the wall. The functionality of virtually every mechanical system from plumbing to heating & air conditioning would need a complete replacement due to their life expectancy being exceeded by about 20 years in my opinion.
What was discussed during presentation was the arduous process these projects always take, an quit honestly our town should be thankful if not proud of those who have taken part in the noble effort thus far. As is often the case in these municipal projects, interests of the taxpayers can be waded aside in an effort to create something for the greater good.
Rarely have I worked on a project of this magnitude at such a low cost. Unforeseen cost due often arise that become the taxpayer burden either through litigation or subsequent contractual missteps. Things such as the permitting processes, suitable ground for structural erection or ecological impacts. Many issues I'm sure having been mitigated. One particular cost increase comes when only 80 or 90% of projects include complete 100% designs prior to ground breaking day. Taxpayers must have contractual protections against such hidden costs.
Our Town is at a crossroads. We collectively must determine how best to resolve an obvious need for the betterment of our children's future learning environment. On the one hand there are the hard core dedicated public servants all in on procuring votes for a new build, while on the other are those moderately leaning towards refurbishing the existing structure despite the added time but at a reduced cost to their pocketbooks.
Only one Town Council member Mark Gould has proposed at the very least a 1% cut to the taxpayers cost of funding the Towns budget as an alternative to help paying for a new school. Ironically, yet not surprisingly, no other Council member saw strength in his proposal. Some you may witness from video footage shaking their heads in disagreement with, what I thought was a reasonable and fiscally responsible proposal. In fact he stuck his neck out for the taxpayer to put a motion before the Council to do something for the already over-taxed taxpayers. Something often overlooked by employees of the taxpayers.
It remains up to the towns people which way to proceed and on April 1st their voices will be heard. In a town of 22,000 registered voters that historically sees a big fat 3 maybe 4% turnout in April elections. This April 1, 2025 election remains historic no matter which way the voters swing.
James Lang
Chairman