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CAPITAL EXPENDITURES COMMITTEE REPORT TO SEPTEMBER 21, 2016, STM 2016 -5
<br />Section 21C; or by any combination of these methods; determine if the Town will authorize the Selectmen to
<br />apply for, accept, expend and borrow in anticipation of state aid for such capital improvements; or act in any
<br />other manner in relation thereto."
<br />"DESCRIPTION: Bids for the Elementary Schools modulars are due in August. This Article is
<br />requested as a precaution in case bids exceed the amounts appropriated under Article 2 of the
<br />November 2, 2015 Special Town Meeting."
<br />[Town Warrant]
<br />That November 2, 2015 STM #1 total appropriation of $5,386,000 provided funding related to projects at
<br />the Diamond & Clarke Middle Schools, the new Hastings Elementary School, and six modular
<br />classrooms (modulars) to be purchased and installed at the Bowman, Bridge, and Fiske Elementary
<br />Schools. (The plan was, and remains, for 2 modulars at each of those schools.)
<br />The appropriation did not formally constrain a specific dollar value to any one of the covered efforts (i.e.,
<br />use of the total appropriation is fungible among efforts within the Motion's broad language). When
<br />building the total appropriation, one component was $2,915,000 for the purchase and installation of six
<br />modulars and another was $520,000 needed for Schematic Design of the new Hastings if that project were
<br />not accepted by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) for its support. (See this
<br />Committee's report to that STM.) Also, $85,000 had previously been applied toward the modulars under
<br />Article 2 of the March 23, 2015, STM #1.
<br />Therefore, subject to reallocation of the use of that STM #1 appropriation, the total, prior, appropriated
<br />allocation for the modulars project was $3,000,000. However, as MSBA did accept the Hastings project
<br />for its support, that $520,000 component for it became available to apply toward another of the other
<br />three uses cited in that Motion.
<br />The Town went to bid for the six modulars to be installed by December 19, 2016, but there were no
<br />bidders. The Town put out a second request for proposal with a relaxed delivery schedule of by
<br />May 15, 2017. That produced two bids; however, both came in over the available funds. The selected bid
<br />would raise the overall project cost by $1,430,000 —which would bring the total project cost to
<br />$4,430,000. That increase over the budget is attributed to higher - than - estimated square -foot costs and
<br />reconsidering locations from those planned when the modulars would have been acquired on a
<br />3– year – rental basis, but now are to be purchased units with a 10 -year design life. (The new locations,
<br />among other things, increased the square - footage of connectors to the main building and necessitated
<br />storm –water collection.) However, as the $520,000 remains available from the November 2, 2015
<br />STM #1 appropriation, the Town plans to use that $520,000 for the modulars; thereby reducing the need
<br />for a supplemental appropriation to the $910,000 being requested under this Article. This Committee
<br />endorses that approach.
<br />The Lexington School System (LPS) continues to face a severe space shortage in the elementary
<br />(K –grade 5) levels due to a growing enrollment. The projected enrollments for grades K -5 from the LPS
<br />are in Table 1. These projections are for enrollments as of October 1st of each school year and were
<br />produced November 15, 2015, by the LPS. The enrollment as of August 31, 2016, is 3,046 -67 students
<br />below the latest projection, but is within the expected variation from the projections. Enrollments
<br />typically grow over the first month of the school year; that is why the official enrollment data used by the
<br />State is the enrollment on October 14. Thus this year's enrollment is expected to be closer to projection by
<br />October 14.
<br />Table 1: Projected enrollments by school year for grades K -5.
<br />The school - system capacity as the bu'ldings are currently used is given in Table 2. (See the table title for
<br />the presumptions made in that data.) In this scenario, the additional space will just keep up with expected
<br />enrollment growth as seen by comparing the enrollment projections to the Capacity in Table 2. Note,
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<br />2016 -2017
<br />2017 -2018
<br />2018 -2019
<br />2019 -2020
<br />2020 -2021
<br />Median
<br />3,113
<br />3,169
<br />3,246
<br />3,296
<br />3,344
<br />High
<br />3,203
<br />3,285
<br />3,389
<br />3,467
<br />3,542
<br />The school - system capacity as the bu'ldings are currently used is given in Table 2. (See the table title for
<br />the presumptions made in that data.) In this scenario, the additional space will just keep up with expected
<br />enrollment growth as seen by comparing the enrollment projections to the Capacity in Table 2. Note,
<br />5
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