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08/15/2017 04:00 PMThe start of school is just around the corner—and so is the referendum on the plan to rebuild the first of two Madison Elementary schools. With the referendum set for Tuesday, Sept. 26, the initial plan for the construction of a new Ryerson Elementary school recently received a needed Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) approval.
PZC was asked to consider and act on a resolution pursuant to the Connecticut General statute requiring that town planning & zoning review municipal improvements. The resolution was unanimously approved on July 20.
Madison’s discussion about a long-term plan for its public school facilities began 2 ½ years ago in response to growing concerns over declining enrollment, the age of the district’s buildings, and the need to ensure the buildings could support the structural vision of the district. The Board of Education (BOE) settled on a five-school model (closing Island Avenue Elementary) in October 2016, but with the state budget crisis and growing concern over equity between elementary schools, the final arrangement within a five-school model had been a moving target. On April 18, the board voted to move one of three options forward to other town boards and ultimately the voters.
The board voted five to four on party lines under the Republican majority to move forward with Option Three, a plan to address a total rebuild of Ryerson Elementary School and a renovation of Jeffrey Elementary School over the course of two referenda, rather than Option Two, which would have addressed Ryerson and Jeffrey in the same referendum, or Option One, which involved a rebuild of Ryerson and a more gradual renovation of Jeffrey over a 10-year plan.
Under Option Three, a Ryerson project will be submitted to the state this year, but the Jeffrey project won’t be submitted to the state until 2019 and minor capital improvements will be completed at Polson Middle School over a 10-year period. This option is the most expensive and has a longer overall timeline, but does still address the concern of equity (all elementary students will have new schools under this plan) and could have some bonding advantages.
To complete Option Three, the total estimated project cost comes to $65.8 million with an estimated district share of somewhere between $55.2- and $59.4 million and would be divided between the two referenda. The first referendum would likely take place this fall for $33.2 million and the second would take place in 2019 for $32.5 million.
Renovation rates from the state are more difficult to nail down for Option Three. While the Ryerson project, submitted to the state this past June, would be subject to the 2017 reimbursement rate for new construction of 17.5 percent, rates are very likely to change after this year due to proposed legislation. If they do, Colliers International, the board’s project manager, is only estimating a 15 percent reimbursement rate from the state for renovations if a Jeffrey project is submitted in 2019.
The timeline under Option Three is also the most extensive. A new Ryerson would be designed and constructed from late 2017 through summer 2020 and the Jeffrey renovation would be designed and completed from summer 2019 through to summer 2022. Jeffrey would still be offline for two academic years, but the town and the district would not have to manage two construction projects simultaneously—possibly three with the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library renovation also on the docket for the coming years.
The resolution presented at the PZC meeting was general by design, according to Planning and Economic Development Director Dave Anderson, who said the commission would see more detailed plans if the project is approved at referendum.
“Tonight you are just being asked if the general plan for the school kind of falls in line with our land use and Plan of Conservation and Development,” he said. “If everything goes through at referendum and they are successful in getting the necessary financing from the state, you guys would see the actual plans for the physical improvements building as a special exception application in the future.”
Addressing the commission, Madison Facilities Manager Bill McMinn said this project has been in the works for a long time and numerous studies have been done over the years to ensure this is the best plan. As it sits now, the 38,000 square foot Ryerson building serves grades K to 4 and houses 242 students. The new building will be K to 3, house 333 students, and consist of 61,000 square feet on two floors, with parking, fields, and playgrounds.
Looking at what lies ahead for the project, Charles Warrington of Colliers International said for now it is a bit of a waiting game.
“Right now in summer we are in kind of a hold pattern, but we are going to be proceeding with assisting the BOE and the planning committee with architect selection,” he said. “Hopefully if the referendum passes we can execute contracts and get started right away.”