Design team gives high-level cost ranges; district warns town share depends on MSBA eligibility

Brian Jarvis, the owners project manager, told the committee that two independent cost estimators produced conservative conceptual ranges to compare options at the PDP level: base repair/code-upgrade options for the subject schools were estimated roughly $64'70 million; 470-student options ranged about $119
42 million; 705 options ranged about $152'01 million; and 1,065 options ranged about $198'50 million.

"Those ranges do come align well with where the MSBA school projects are currently as far as what's in their pipeline," Jarvis said, but he emphasized that the figures are high-level: estimates include escalation to a 2029'2030 midpoint, soft-cost multipliers and contingencies, and they do not yet break out all indirect or ancillary costs such as field replacement or off-site mitigation.

Presenters stressed that MSBA will only reimburse eligible costs and that eligibility rules (site cost caps, instructional-space focus, and square-footage caps tied to the accepted enrollment) mean the district's out-of-pocket share can vary widely. "The difference between that option range and the next option in theory is going to be non-reimbursed by the MSBA," one presenter said, adding the town could face tens of millions of dollars in additional expense depending on the option chosen and what MSBA declares eligible.

The district said it will refine estimates in PSR and schematic design and provide the community with projected town-share figures before any town debt-exclusion vote.