2022-04-11-AC-STM#2-rpt - Laserfiche WebLink

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2022-2 STM APPROPRIATION COXMTTEE 4 APRIL 2022 Under the guidelines of the FSA, this request would fund work by the school district to "document their educational program, generate an initial space summary, document existing conditions, establish design parameters, develop and evaluate alternatives, and recommend the most cost effective and educationally appropriate preferred solution" I. This Feasibility Study is a crucial phase during which potential alternatives are evaluated, including whether renovation or reconstruction is more suitable to the needs of the school district. The conclusion of this phase establishes the initial scope and direction of the project,which must then be approved by the MSBA. The project would then proceed to Schematic Design, in which the detailed scope, budget, and schedule for the project are developed. Once presented with a schematic design, the MSBA would then approve their level of participation in the project, in other words the percentage of qualified spending they would reimburse. This vote would happen no sooner than July 1, 2024 (the start of FY2025). At that point, the stage would be set for a town meeting vote to approve the full cost of construction, and a town- wide referendum to fund the project with debt that is excluded from the limits of Proposition 2'/2. Prior to the excluded debt referendum,this appropriation for the Feasibility Study will be financed using short-term debt. Following a successful debt-exclusion referendum, this appropriation would qualify as excluded debt for the project, all of which would ultimately be financed using long-term bonds. If no debt-exclusion referendum is approved,then this appropriation would become part of the Town's non-excluded debt. Article 4 Appropriate for Completing the Town's Comprehensive Plan Funds Requested Funding Source Committee Recommendation $75,000 GF Approve (7-1) This appropriation seeks $75,000 to complete the Comprehensive Plan (CP). These funds would be used to continue to fund the current consultants as they pursue the final steps need to finalize the CP so that it can be presented for the Town's formal acceptance. The CP is a plan developed and used by the Town to inform decisions on land-use policy, regulations, and by-law changes. The CP considers such areas as transportation, housing, economic development, open space, natural resources, historic sites, and public facilities. This plan is intentionally revisited on a regular basis and was last updated in 2002. The current update of the CP was initiated after a $302,000 appropriation was approved under Article 7 of the 2017 Annual Town Meeting. The Planning Board then appointed the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee to work with consultants, reach out to the community stakeholders, and develop the plan. Drafting the Comprehensive Plan has proceeded at a slower pace than originally anticipated due to turnover in the Planning staff and Covid-19 pandemic related delays. Some of the data gathered earlier in the process has become outdated and community priorities have also evolved, requiring these topics be revisited. At this time only $7,500 of the previous appropriation remains unspent. These funds would move the CP process through the following final steps as spelled out in the original scope: • Revise first draft • Prepare maps and graphics • Present final public forum in fall of 2022 • Incorporate input from the public forum In addition,the funds will support a presentation of the report as a set of webpages with interactive links in order to better engage the public. This will result in a completed document ready for formal acceptance. I MSBA Modules Overview: https://www.massschoolbuildings.org/building/modules overview 3