The project will need to be approved first by the MSBA and second by the Town of Swampscott in a Town Meeting and Debt Override Election. To prepare respective motions and ballots for Town Meeting and Town Vote in 2014, the School Building Committee, Owner’s Project Manager, Designer and MSBA must complete two main phases: Feasibility Study and Schematic Design as set forth by the MSBA.
The Feasibility Study phase shall include a study of all alternatives, including, but not limited to, a final design program, space summary, budget statement for educational objectives and a proposed total project budget. During the Feasibility Study the Town of Swampscott and its team will collaborate with the MSBA to generate an initial space summary; document existing conditions; establish design parameters; develop and evaluate alternatives, then recommend the most cost effective and educationally appropriate solution to the MSBA’s Board of Directors. The School Building Committee will solicit input on possible schemes during the month of September, 2013, in evening public forums and in their regular posted meetings. On September 24th, based on community input, the School Building Committee will make a decision on a scheme, which will become the “preferred solution”. The MSBA’s Board of Directors must approve the “preferred solution” for a project, before that “preferred solution” can advance into the Schematic Design phase.
The Schematic Design phase begins with the Board’s approval of the Town’s “preferred solution” and concludes with the Board’s authorization of the Executive Director, to enter into a Project Scope and Budget Agreement and a Project Funding Agreement, with the Town of Swampscott. These agreements will be for a specific project scope, a project budget and a schedule, including the reimbursement rate of eligible cost for which the MSBA will participate in.
During Schematic Design, the Town of Swampscott and the project team will collaborate with the MSBA, to develop a robust Schematic Design, of sufficient detail, in order to establish the scope, budget and schedule. The scope, budget and schedule will then be used to evaluate the basis for the Proposed Project, to secure approval of the Proposed Project by the MSBA’s Board of Directors, and to obtain Department of Elementary and Secondary Education approval of the Proposed Project for the Town of Swampscott’s special educational program.
The Schematic Design shall include information gathered during the Feasibility Study, including a site development plan, environmental assessment, geotechnical assessment, geotechnical analysis, code analysis, utility analysis, schematic building floor plans, schematic exterior building elevations, narrative building systems descriptions, MA-CHPS or LEED-S scorecard, outline specifications, cost estimates, project schedule and a proposed total project budget.
If the MSBA’s Board of Directors approves the Proposed Project, the Town of Swampscott must then secure local funding within 120 days of the MSBA’s Board Vote, via a Town Meeting and Town Vote.