Recent News

Aug / Sept 2010

We have been busy with the Design Development Phase of the project. In this phase we have had a series of meetings and interviews with Tahanto staff and  experts in various construction disciplines, and many design decisions have been made. We will continue to develop the design through September. We still hope to break ground in early spring 2011.

Activities currently underway:

•	We have decided to use a traditional construction delivery method known as Design-Bid-Build instead of the CM@Risk method. While the CM@Risk method had many positive aspects, we decided that the premium cost for using the method was outside of our budget, and the benefits were not strong enough for our particular project to warrant its use.
•	We have had many interviews with teachers and staff from Tahanto, and many design revisions have taken place. The form and layout of the building hasn't changed much, but many details have been worked out. Refinements have been made to the cafeteria, locker rooms, child development area, administration, media center and multi-purpose room. We have also reviewed exterior building materials.
•	We have begun to evaluate options for HVAC, lighting fixtures, wiring details, plumbing fixtures, fire control systems, and alternative energy sources such as solar. There are a lot of exciting technologies in all these areas that we will take advantage of.
•	We have done the necessary borings and test pits to evaluate the soil conditions for the foundation and septic system. Preliminary indications are that there are no issues at either location.
•	We have met with various town officials including the Conservation Commission and the Fire Chief to keep them up to date on the project.

We have also successfully completed our financing for the bulk of the project. The interest rates we secured were much lower than anticipated even a few months ago. This will have a very favorable impact on the tax rate increases in both towns!