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AC–STM2016-1&2016-2 PPROPRIATIONOMMITTEE The site analysis and conceptual design for a new school building done previously by DiNisco Design Partnership may prove useful during the feasibility study, but it is not clear at this point how that analysis might affect the overall schedule, and whether its availability will lower the cost of the feasibility study. The Feasibility Study module requires two votes by the MSBA to approve the basic design of the project. Note that this module determines whether the MSBA will fund a renovation or a reconstruction project. Once the basic design is agreed upon by the Town and the MSBA, the Schematic Design module can pro- ceed. Per the MSBA website, “the District and its team develop a final design program and robust sche- matic design of sufficient detail to establish the scope, budget and schedule for the proposed project.” The Schematic Design module will produce a Project Scope and Budget Agreement specifying the total amount of funding that the Town must secure to complete the project. This amount will be sufficient to fund (without MSBA reimbursement) the creation of construction documents, and all construction costs. The District must secure this funding within 120 days after the MSBA Board’s approval to proceed to the design and construction phases of the project. We anticipate that this request will be presented at the 2017 Annual Town Meeting, and that it will be contingent on voter approval of a Proposition 2½ debt exclu- sion referendum. Strictly speaking, the appropriation requested by this article will not be contingent on a referendum. However, the anticipated debt exclusion referendum to authorize borrowing for the construction phase will include the costs from the current appropriation. Once the full funding is secured, the MSBA will issue a Project Funding Agreement, specifying the rate of MSBA reimbursement for approved costs. The reimbursement rate is anticipated to be approximately 30% of the total project cost. The actual rate of reimbursement will be calculated based on economic con- siderations for Lexington, plus incentive points awarded for adherence to MSBA priorities. Town staff estimates that construction documents will require 6 to 8 months of work starting in the spring of 2017, and site preparation at Hastings could begin in early 2018, around the end of the 2017-2018 school year. Ideally, construction would commence in earnest at the end of the 2017-2018 school year, with a new building ready for occupancy by the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year. A definitive cost estimate for the project will not be available until the Schematic Design module is com- pleted, but the Feasibility Study module will provide a rough estimate. Previous estimates of the project cost for a 30-section school ranged from $55 million to $60 million. A 30% MSBA reimbursement would result in a reimbursement of about $18 million, with a net cost to the Town of $42 million, but these fig- ures are only rough indicators of the magnitude of the actual costs. As part of Article 2 at the November 2015 STM #1, Town Meeting appropriated $520,000 to be obtained from borrowing in order to fund the design of a new Hastings Elementary School in the event that the MSBA declined to support the Hastings project. Authorization to borrow those funds will be rescinded once it is determined that they are not needed for other purposes allowed under that appropriation. The Committee recommends approval of this request (9-0). 5