Belmonte repairs vote on tap today

SAUGUS – The Massachusetts School Building Authority will make its final vote on the Belmonte Middle School repair project this morning in Boston, and Daniel Tavares, Senior Project Manager for Skanska U.S.A. Building Inc. – the company designing the renovation – said he?s confident the project will be approved.?I?ve yet to be at a board meeting where they rejected anything,” said Tavares. “We?ve had brief communication back and forth with what was submitted and any follow-up we need to do. At this point, we?re not anticipating any surprises or else we would have known by now.”Repairs planned for the school include improvements to the heating, air conditioning and plumbing systems, upgrades to the windows and building facade and new interior lighting along with electrical and energy efficiency improvements.Today?s vote is expected to approve the final design and scope of the repair project, which is currently budgeted at $20 million, 53 percent of which will be reimbursed by the MSBA. But Tavares said that amount can change if a series of alternates to the project aren?t approved.?We feel pretty confident that what we submitted for the budget will be accepted,” said Tavares. “What we?re not 100 percent sure of is what will fall in the ineligible column. They may reimburse all of (the alternates) or they may reimburse none of them. That would adjust how they tailor their funding agreement with the town of Saugus.”Replacement of vinyl asbestos tiles, new lockers and new data infrastructure are all alternates to be added to the project only if funds are available.The project will be paid for if voters pass a debt exclusion, which would see the tax levy for the average-price home increase by around $60 starting in 2016 and steadily decreasing over the course of 20 years. That vote will be held in November.School Committee member Arthur Grabowski said while today?s vote is important, November?s town debt exclusion vote will be the deciding factor.?(Today?s vote) would give us the approval of everything we?ve done so far,” said Grabowski. “Now it?s up to us to get it passed in November.”The Board of Selectmen and the Belmonte Middle School Building Committee will hold a joint public information session at the Town Hall auditorium on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected]. You can follow him on Twitter at @MattTempesta.