The possibility of building a new Middle School in Watertown moved a step closer to becoming a reality at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. The Council also approved funding for projects at City parks, the library, Police Station, and for Watertown’s Treaty Day celebration.
On June 9, the Council approved a $3 million transfer of funds from the Middle School Stabilization Fund to pay for the design development of a possible Middle School. City Manager George Proakis stressed that the Council is still deciding whether or not to proceed with the project.
“We are moving the middle school project into the design development phase, which is what follows the schematic design phase,” Proakis said. “This covers the design process of that. We are continuing to move along design and do tests of the financial estimates for the particular project to determine if or when is the right moment in time to pull the trigger on doing the middle school project.”
During design development, architects take the concepts of the schematic design and develop more detailed plans to get a better idea of how much the project would cost to complete.
“We’ll get more refined and better numbers and be able to continue to refine them as they fit in our capital plan, and where the project fits in our capital plan,” Proakis said.
City Auditor Megan Langan said most, but not all, of the money will go to Ai3 Architects for the design development of the school.
“The architect has determined the exact cost for this phase is actually $2.92 million,” Langan said. “The requested $3 million is also providing the necessary contingency to cover concurrent project management services from Vertex, while we move forward through this next phase.”
City Council President Mark Sideris said the design development will help the Council make a final decision.
“When we’re done with this phase, we will be coming before the City Council with a cost estimate done by two cost estimators to tell us what the middle school will cost,” Sideris said. “And at that point, I would suggest that the Manager will put on the agenda for discussion on: do we do this or not. This is going to get us to a point which the City Council requested to get us a better cost to make sure, or to firm up what the cost would be.”
Sideris was asked how long this phase will take. He said the results should be in front of the School Building Committee, the group overseeing the project for the City, either in July or August. The School Building Committee’s recommendation would then come before the City Coucnil
Park Projects
The Council also approved a transfer of $754,600 from the FY26 City Council Reserve to pay for a variety of projects, including improvements at Filippello Field, Casey Park, and Moxley Field.
The biggest expenditure is $400,000 to accelerate design and installation of pickleball courts at Filippello Park. The project was slated for the FY30 in the capital plan, but it was moved up, Langan said.
“It has been a very highly discussed topic within the community, so we have the funding and we’re hoping to be able to accelerate that project interest into Fiscal (Year) 27 with these funds,” Langan said.
Another $116,000 will pay for new multi-sport playing surfaces for the multi-sport rinks at Casey Park and Moxley Field.
Councilor Nicole Gardner noted that neighbors of Casey Park complained of noise from the rink, and asked if this would help reduce the sound. Proakis said the City has installed insulation in the boards around the rink in an effort to reduce the sound.
“I know there was some work to be done to get that quite right, we went and had to push the contractor to fix a couple things to get it done right,” Proakis said.
Sideris added he visited Casey Park and described the surface of the floor of the rink as “horrible,” and said he is glad the work is being done.
The Watertown Free Public Library received funds to pay for the $46,000 cost of recarpeting the lobby of the library.
The Council also approved $52,000 to be transferred so the Police Department can replace a battery used if power is lost. It is called a UPS, or uninterrupted power supply, Proakis said.
“It provides instant backup power, and when you consider that you’re running a dispatch center out of there, and the data systems that police need in order to run dispatch and everything else,” Proakis said. “Typically when you’re running a UPS battery replacement is you’re looking to ensure the Police Department has constant uninterrupted supply.”
The transfer also includes $15,600 to cover the cost of dinner and a light show during the 250th Treaty Day Celebration. The event marks the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Watertown, the first treaty signed after the United States declared independence. The celebration will take place on July 18 at the Mosesian Center for the Arts.
The cost of a $35,000 weatherization and safety improvement project at the Sterritt Lumber site, which was purchased by the City was also part of the transfer, as well as $40,000 for a regional BMS regional server requested by the Department of Public Building.