LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Selectmen are opposed to adding a parking lot and amphitheater to the Mount Greylock Regional School building project.

 

The Mount Greylock Building Committee says the project has been trending under budget, with both bids and interest rates coming in low. The committee is considering using some of that expected savings on both a parking lot renovation and the construction of an outdoor amphitheater, two projects that had previously been pulled from the project to trim the budget.

 

"It looks like because so many of the trades had come in below where we expected them, there is room to put the parking lot back into the project," said School Committee Vice Chairwoman Carrie Greene said.

 

Williamstown Selectman Hugh Daley said the project was anticipated to cost the two towns as much as $35.3 million. But that has been trending under and even if the parking lot and amphitheater are added, right now it looks like the town's portion could drop to around $32 million. That would mean the towns are still bonding some $2 million less than anticipated while delivering more of a project. 

 

The School Committee also received a $5 million endowment from Williams College to be used for things outside of the scope of the project. The parking lot was eyed to come from those funds but Daley said if that can be included in the project, then that would free up money to create an endowment for long-term maintenance.

 

"The parking lot, we all know has to get done," Greene said, later adding that with the Williams College gift, "we want to preserve some of that funding for long-term maintenance of the building."

 

Lanesborough officials, however, say the parking lot project should come from the Williams fund, cutting the amount the towns will need to borrow and lowering the annual assessment Lanesborough would have to pay. 

 

"We are looking for as much relief as we can get. If this can come from the Williams College fund, that is relief," Town Manager Paul Sieloff said.

 

School officials have already borrowed $29.8 million and there will be a short-term borrowing at the end of the project, followed by another bond to close it out.

 

Daley added that by including the projects, it would save time because the same architects and construction companies could be used, rather than doing a completely separate parking lot project.

 

"We're going out to bid for the site and saying if we have the money when all of the trades are in, we can add it," Greene said.

 

Board of Selectmen Chairman John Goerlach said the amphitheater is "non-essential" but that the parking lot needs to be done. When the project was pitched to the town, the parking lot was supposed to be done with the Williams gift, he said.

 

Selectman Robert Ericson said just because there is money in the budget, doesn't mean it needs to be spent.

 

"What's wrong with saving money these days?" Ericson said.

 

Lanesborough representative on the Building Committee Mark Schiek said the projects won't add money to the budget since the other aspects of the project are coming in lower. The parking lot is estimated to cost about $600,000 and the amphitheater about $250,000. The projects are both in the very early design plans.

 

Sieloff added that the Williams gift can be used for the add-ons and that would still leave some $4 million for the endowment. But the school officials shot back saying there are other projects in consideration for that money, including the creation of a central office and bringing the playing fields up to Americans With Disabilities Act standards — two additional items that were pulled from the scope of the work. 

 

Daley said the move is a "strategic, smart buy" because it allows the committee to deliver more of a project and use Williams funds to protect that investment in the future.

 

"It sounds to me like you are borrowing taxpayer's money to create an endowment and costing us that 4 percent interest," Selectman Henry "Hank" Sayers responded.

 

Sayers said the town has been "nickel and diming" the budget this year because of the pressure the school project has placed on town finances. He's hoping "for some money back" if the project is under budget.

 

Finance Committee member Ronald Tinkham was a little more forward, saying the creation of an endowment is taking the decisions on capital projects away from townspeople. Previously, Lanesborough residents rejected the School Committee's pitch for a stabilization fund for capital projects. Tinkham said by creating this endowment, the School Committee will now have a pot of money available to do those without asking the taxpayers.

 

"This appears to be taking the vote of capital money away from the public and giving that to the School Committee," Tinkham said.

 

Neither side project has been added to the school building plans as yet. The building committee has asked for pricing and Daley says that decision won't be made until the committee has a better handle on the progress of the construction. If it turns out the project ends up costing more than the current projections show, those two projects could be moved out and paid for through the William gift.