Government

Town Manager Presenting Budget Monday, Council Voting on School Project Funding Tuesday

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The Town Council will consider approving the funds to build the new Hosmer and Cunniff elementary schools Tuesday night. Here is a rendering of what the new Hosmer will look like. The Watertown Town Council will have back-to-back meetings this week, beginning with the presentation of next year’s Town Budget on Monday, and then councilors will hear a presentation about and are expected to vote on the funding for the construction of the new Hosmer and Cunniff elementary schools. Budget Presentation

Town Manager Michael Driscoll will present the Fiscal Year 2021 Town Budget Monday at a special Town Council meeting that will begin at 6 p.m.

The budget had been scheduled to be presented in April, but was delayed due to the uncertainty of some of the Town’s revenue due to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The budget meeting will be conducted online, and the public watch and participate in a number of ways:

Join the virtual meeting online at: https://watertown-ma.zoom.us/j/91777824276Join in audio-only mode on the phone — 877 853 5257 (TollFree) or 888 475 4499 (Toll Free) and enter Webinar ID: 917 7782 4276#Watch the meeting on WCATV (Watertown Cable AccessTelevision) on the air at Comcast Channel 99 or RCN Channel 13, and online at https://wcatv.org/government-channel/

Council Discusses School Projects

The $103.45 million in funding for to construct new schools at Cunniff and Hosmer elementary schools will be the main agenda item at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting.

Around Town

Online Meeting to be Held on Cunniff School Construction

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The latest rendering of the new Cunniff Elementary School, with the solar array in the parking lot. Construction will soon begin at Cunniff Elementary School, and school officials will host a meeting to discuss the construction activities around the Westside school. Town Council President Mark Sideris said he had hoped to have the meeting in person, but could not do so due to the COVID-19 restrictions. The meeting will be held on Zoom, and the public can participate by joining the meeting on Zoom or by phone. Also, they can tune in on Watertown Cable.

Schools

Elementary School Projects Preparing for COVID-19 Issues; Will be Highly Energy Efficient

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The latest rendering of the new Cunniff Elementary School, with the solar array in the parking lot. Watertown will build two new elementary schools and, despite an estimated $1 million for additional costs of construction during the COVID-19 outbreak, the project came in under budget. The new Cunniff and Hosmer elementary schools will have enough solar panels to make them net-zero-energy buildings. Wednesday night, the School Building Committee voted to approve the hiring of Brait Building Corp. to construct the new Cunniff and Hosmer elementary schools.

Building for the Future

Bids on Elementary School Projects Under Budget, But COVID-19 Creates Additional Costs

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The latest rendering of the new Cunniff Elementary School, with the solar array in the parking lot. The bids on the construction projects at two of Watertown’s elementary schools came in millions of dollars below budget, but the requirements for working in the COVID-19 world will mean some added costs. Hosmer and Cunniff schools will start construction in June, and the bids were recently opened, said Town Council President Mark Sideris. The project budget estimated the cost of the two schools at just over $100 million including the cost of adding solar on the school roofs ($5 million), Sideris said. “The good news is low bidder came in at $92,335,000 and all the solar came in at $2.6 million,” Sideris said.

Schools

Progress Being Made on School Building Projects, But it May be Slowed by Social Distancing Orders

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Watertown School officials continue to work on the school building projects at the three elementary schools and the high school during the Coronavirus outbreak, but they may eventually hit a roadblock due to restrictions imposed during the outbreak. Town Council President Mark Sideris wrote an update to the School Building Committee about the progress of the School Building Projects. Progress could be slowed by the social distancing requirements, particularly limiting the number of people who can gather in one place. “Work on all projects is still continuing even though we are not meeting as a committee,” Sideris wrote in the letter. Work at Hosmer and Cunniff is planned to start in late June, right after the school year ends, but the School Building Committee had to postpone community meetings at both schools where they planned to update the communities on the projects.

Around Town

Cunniff Elementary Moving to Waltham Site Next Fall, Speeding Up New Building

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When Cunniff Elementary School students return to class in September, they will attend classes at a different campus, in a different city. The move will allow the current school to be torn down and replaced by a new building sooner and will save the district money. Cunniff’s temporary home will be the St. Jude’s School, a former parochial school in Waltham. Watertown school officials came to an agreement with the Boston Archdiocese to lease the school during Watertown’s school building project, known as Building for the Future.

Building for the Future

School Building Committee Looking at Costs of Creating Net Zero Energy Schools

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An example of a rack that holds photo voltaic panels. Similar racks are planned to go in the parking lots of Hosmer and Cunniff schools in an effort to generate electricity. Architects designing Watertown’s new elementary schools are searching for enough space to place solar panels to make them net zero energy schools, however the biggest challenge to meeting the energy efficiency mark could be the project budget. Scott Dunlap, project architect for the three elementary school projects, showed the School Building Committee plans for Hosmer to place enough photo voltaic panels to cover the school’s energy use, while at Cunniff architects still need to find space for more panels. Lowell School will be renovated, so designers are not seeking to make the school net zero.

Cunniff School

Architect Lays Out Timeline for 3 Elementary Schools; Committee Has Concerns About Impacts

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Hosmer Elementary School will be the first elementary school in Watertown to begin reconstruction. While the 2019 calendar has not yet reached Thanksgiving, the start of construction at Watertown’s three elementary schools is just around the corner. Scott Dunlap, project architect with Ai3 Architects, provided a basic timeline for the move toward construction at Hosmer Elementary School, the first of three schools to begin the reconstruction process. The Design Development process will be completed later this month. In the spring the project will be bid, and construction will begin over the summer break, Dunlap told the School Building Committee on Nov.