The Bristol Select Board considered options for financing an estimated $8 million renovation of Bristol Consolidated School to present at annual town meeting next spring on Wednesday, Nov. 30.
Town Administrator Rachel Bizarro presented two bond options in the amount of $8 million from First National Bank to the select board.
The 15-year bond offers a lower interest rate of 5.30%, as opposed to 5.59% for a 20-year term. The 15-year would be a higher monthly payment of $70,915, but would save the town about $1.7 million in total interest, Chad Hanna, chair of the select board, said.
Board member Kristine Poland agreed, adding that she’d prefer the shorter term.
“Whatever we do, we’d want a fixed rate if we can get it,” Hanna said. “Because we can refinance whenever we want.”
Bizarro checked with the bank to see if the proposed interest rate of 5.30% can be locked in prior to the town voting on the bond question at annual town meeting in March. A representative of First National Bank indicated by email that the bank would likely hold a proposed interest rate pending town meeting approval.
The bids for the estimated $8 million BCS renovation project are due on Thursday, Dec. 22, after which the budget committee and select board will hold meetings to evaluate the bids. The bond question that would finance the project will have to be recommended by both boards in order to be included on the annual town meeting warrant, Bizarro said.
According to a presentation from the school committee to the select board on Oct. 19, the school would be renovated on the northeast corner of the main entrance and a cafeteria and multi-use community space would be added there.
Other additions and upgrades include two new classrooms, a larger technology and multi-purpose space, a new teacher’s room area, a new kitchen, new bathrooms, a new three-phase electrical system, energy-efficient LED lighting, a new phone system, and a new fire alarm and sprinkler system. The addition will be scalable and a second floor can be added on top for more space in the future, Darin Carlucci, chair of the Bristol School Committee, said.
The cafeteria will double as a community space that can be used for things like voting and can be separated from the main school with a different entrance. Three-phase power equipment draws less energy, the renovations will secure doors and windows, and the air circulation will be upgraded to meet American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, or ASHRAE, standards.
The Bristol Select Board will next meet at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 7.
