Belmonte rehab plan hits hiccup

SAUGUS-The School Committee’s plan to seek state funding to rehab the Belmonte Middle School hit a bump in the road that will sideline the endeavor for a year.When the committee put together a subcommittee to update and re-submit a Statement of Interest to the School Building Authority they thought it would be a simple task.School Committee member Wendy Reed said she anticipated simply restating the needs of the school and the wish to be considered for funding, which is essentially what the SOI consisted of last year.Not so fast.Reed said they had to apply for an application and when it came just days ago, they learned they needed a whole lot more information than they could gather in the next three weeks. They also realized they would need some help.”Now they want architectural drawings and much more information,” said committee member Rick Doucette. “We’ll try and work toward next year. We can’t get it together for this year.”To be considered for funding this year the SOI would have to be submitted by Nov. 15. It would also have to have the approval/support of selectmen.The committee is focusing on a rehab of the existing building, not a rebuild. Doucette said the building had “a good envelope” but it also has some serious deficiencies.One major deficiency is the fact the 43-year-old wiring system can’t support 300-plus computers. Doucette said the building needs to be rewired.”Then we’ll need ceiling tiles because they will have to feed the wiring through the ceiling,” he added.Nearly eight years ago the crawl spaces under the classrooms were filled in with cement in an attempt to deal with air quality issues. The result is the only place to run wires now is overhead.Another issue for the school is old, ineffective windows, drainage and Doucette said he would like to see the heating system switched from oil to gas.”The main thing is how are these deficiencies affecting the kids,” he said.While the committee works to finalize the SOI, Reed said it’s also time to press people into duty.”This committee has been the two of us,” she said indicating Doucette. “We can’t do this by ourselves.”When the committee first decided to form the subcommittee to go after funding Committee Chairman Joseph Malone sent letters to Town Manager Andrew Bisignani, selectmen, Finance Committee and Town Moderator Robert Long asking them to join, or designate someone from their board or office, to join Doucette and Reed in their quest.So far they have had no response.Tuesday, however, the School Committee plans to cross the street and address selectmen in person.”We thought this would just be a rewrite of the old SOI,” Doucette said. “Now we’ll have one ready for next year, just in time for (the state) to change the requirements again.”