Timberlane plans to spend $25 million on school renovations
The Timberlane Regional School District is deciding how to use funds from a $25 million lease-purchase agreement to improve and repair the district’s seven schools.
The 20-year agreement was approved in March by residents of Plaistow, Atkinson, Sandown and Danville. The project was aimed at immediate repair and maintenance of his five elementary schools, middle school, high school, Timberlane Performing Arts Center and administrative offices in the district.
This is a calculated decision as the school board, trustees and building committee consider which building improvement projects should be prioritized and are most needed.
The board heard from the building committee at its last meeting about the estimated cost of some needed renovations.
This year, the committee recommended the restoration of Atkinson Academy’s historic bell tower. His two parts of this project cost him an estimated $270,000.
This year, heating, ventilation and rooftop air conditioning system units at four elementary schools were replaced using lease money. School officials are currently considering ways to update air conditioning controls and move work on external ductwork indoors, which could save energy in the future. Boiler updates are also planned in the future.
Repairs to the roof at Timberlane Regional High School were also discussed. Officials said they hope to restore part of the building from the front to the rear wing in this next phase.
Other work at the high school could include replacing the 17 energy recovery ventilators on the roof, dehumidifying them, cleaning ductwork and upgrading controls with valve replacements.
Phase 2 improvements to the high school could cost a total of $8.5 million, representing 34 percent of the $25 million purchase agreement.
Once completed, various repairs to the high school were expected to account for 38% of the contract. — Angelina Berube/Eagle Tribune
Temple talks about housing solutions
After five months of collecting feedback from Temple residents about the type of housing they want, planning consultant Ivy Vann said the project will increase homebuyer choice without unduly impacting the town’s rural character. presented some of the most popular choices on Monday’s forum. night.
Vann said Temple’s housing is almost entirely single-family, with only a handful of other options in the entire town. However, approximately 72% of Temple’s population is made up of mostly one- and two-person households, the town’s median age is 47 years old, and 46% of residents are over 50 years old. is. As residents get older, they are likely to look for smaller homes. Alternatively, there are one-story homes you can retire to, but those are not common. The median home price in Temple is currently $450,000.
In an exercise where residents choose the type of infill they most want to see in Temple, Vann said a common choice is a residence that “looks like a home,” preserving Temple’s current aesthetic while also adding It is allowing more units, such as residential units (ADUs), duplexes, and dividing existing large buildings into several smaller apartments or units.
To encourage more ADUs, Vann said the town could allow both attached and single-family apartments, allow up to two ADUs per lot, or allow property owners to choose between He said it may not require residents to live in the unit. He said the town will assist homeowners with ways to finance ADU construction, as some banks will allow homeowners to leverage future rent when applying for a loan for home construction. He also said that it is possible to create a document to do so. Some towns create revolving loan funds that are repaid interest-free for people who want to build their own ADUs on their own property, or have plans that are pre-approved for people who want to build free-standing his-or-nothing ADUs. I am creating it.
Preservation subdivisions, a type of development that clusters homes on large lots and preserves the remaining open space, were also a popular option for residents. Vann said there are positives and negatives to this model. Preservation of green space is often cited as a goal for the town, but she said this type of development should be carefully sited to avoid crowding out the potential for future growth the town hopes to see.
Mr. Vann said that while the infrastructure saves money in the long run because multifamily housing requires less frontage and therefore requires less road maintenance, it is equally expensive for developers and difficult to construct. He said it is often more complicated. To attract developers, she said, if developers use this type of model, the town can offer a “density bonus,” meaning they can move more homes closer together.
Vann described several models that allow for the creation of multiple units built together, such as pocket neighborhoods and different types of farm housing that allow for multiple units.
A pocket neighborhood is a group of eight to 14 homes clustered around a green, with each home often sharing resources such as septic tanks, water, and even heating. Vann said the key to such development is finding the right location in the city and allowing it there.
A farm is a group of separate buildings that are not all the same size and may include large houses with multiple units or other converted buildings such as former barns or cottages on the same lot. Vann said there are several examples of this type of construction in the area, many of which wouldn’t be recognizable as such from the street. Another similar model is the connected farm, which Vann characterized as “big house, small house, back house, barn.”
Vann said towns could generally consider allowing multi-unit buildings in all districts, but could create an acceptable format, such as the farm model, or base it on numbers. He said design standards such as allowable building footprints can be established without any restrictions. of units. Towns can allow buildings of a certain size or shape, or define specifically what buildings look like and where parking can be located.
While Monday’s forum concluded a series of housing discussions with the general public, members of the Planning Commission’s Housing Opportunity Program Grant Steering Committee will be conducting one-on-one or small group discussions with townspeople who wish to continue the dialogue about their housing needs. We recommend that the discussion continue. About temples and the solutions they support. Anyone interested in meeting should email committee co-chair Pam Kingston at pam@kingston-assoc.com.
The commission also continues to meet to discuss zoning solutions and updates to the town’s master plan, with its next meeting scheduled for Jan. 8 at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall Annex. — Ashley Saari/Monadnock Ledger-Transcript
Concord City Council approves purchase of vacant office building for new police headquarters
Concord Police Headquarters will move into the vacant Concord Group Insurance Office as early as next year, pending a good inspection, after the City Council voted to approve a $4.1 million purchase and sale agreement. is.
Deputy City Manager Matt Walsh said the move will allow the department to move to a larger site while maintaining its central location in the city.
But to 5th Ward resident Tracy Knabstedt, this feels like a hasty purchase she’s seen made in the city before.
It goes something like this: The city buys the property at a high price. The city council then votes to spend more money on asbestos assessments. This is followed by asbestos abatement, which costs more. In that case, the location will need a new roof. And after all that money was poured into the site, the City Council changed course and decided it was best to demolish the building and start anew, he said.
“What’s the guarantee that this will be a good deal for the people of Concord?” he asked. “The taxpayers of Concord are going to keep paying and paying. Personally, I don’t think it’s worth it.”
The office building on Bouton Street was built in 1957 and was home to Concord Group Insurance for more than half a century before moving to Bedford earlier this year.
Walsh said the city was interested in purchasing the site directly from Concord Group, but did not intend to hold onto the site long enough for the city to conduct a thorough inspection and evaluation.
In exchange, Steve Duprey agreed to buy the building for $3.5 million and will now sell it to the city for $4.09 million.
Mr Duprey said his profit from the sale would be zero and jokingly asked the council to amend the purchase price to make $1 more.
The additional $500,000 in sale price covers short-term financing costs, closing costs, bank fees and interest on the vacant building.
“I haven’t made a dime,” he said. “Doing this takes a lot of time and effort, and comes with potential risks and strain on my goodwill. I do this work because I love this city.”
The city plans to close the facility by June 12 after conducting a cleanliness inspection of the building, Walsh said.
However, that’s just the beginning of the expense. The city allocated an additional $27.5 million for the design and construction of a new police station. The city did not provide a cost estimate for converting the existing building into a police station. This includes detention facilities, reservation areas, security measures and ports of entry. These financial decisions will be made at a later date.
The Bouton Street building, which fronts North State Street, would allow the police department to expand its headquarters and has been a topic of discussion on the City Council for several years.
A 2021 city study recommends the station be nearly 28,000 square feet, nearly 6,000 square feet larger than the current facility. The new building will provide approximately 38,000 square feet of space.
As a result, the city may consider moving the public prosecutor’s office to a new site. The current police department headquarters on the Green Street campus could also be repurposed for other city departments.
The City Council unanimously approved the sale, but Ward 5 Councilwoman Stacey Brown recused herself because her husband is a city police officer. — Michaela Tofighi/Concord Monitor