School Officials Hope Track and Field Will be in Place Next Fall

School Superintendent Kevin Case told the Board of Education Tuesday night that officials hope the new track and multi-purpose field at Canton High School is in place by next fall but cautioned that everything must fall into place for that to happen.

School and town officials met Tuesday and on Wednesday night (Nov. 14, 2012), the Board of Selectmen will likely refer the project to the Permanent Municipal Building Committee for oversight.

That committee anticipates discussing the issue during a Nov. 19 special meeting. It will also get a engineering scope from engineers Milone and MacBroom. The project will again be discussed at a Board of Selectmen meeting on Nov. 28, Case said.

The hope is to get the project through the town’s land-use boards by the end of March and out to bid in early April so construction can begin at the end of May or in early June, Case said.

“It’s a very aggressive timeline,” Case said. “In an ideal world this project will be completed a year from now but there are many factors involved that we may not have control over.”

Board of Education Chairwoman Beth Kandrysawtz agreed, stating that board members should caution the public that there are no guarantees.

With the land-use boards, for example, there noticing and hearing requirements. That would be one factor where all the pieces would have to come together.

On Election Day, voters approved the $3.615 Million track, multi-use field and parking lot improvement project by a vote of 3,034 to 2,112. The estimated cost of the project was $4.1 million but funding for some components, such as lights, scoreboard and bleachers, will be raised separately. As proposed, lighting would also require changes in, or a variance from, the town's zoning regulations, town officials have said.

Also passed by a margin of 3,992 to 1,149 was a $3.2 Million project for partial roof replacements at the Community Center and all three schools ($2.3 Million after federal reimbursement).

Both projects will be funded through the sale of municipal bonds, which is essentially the town’s way to borrow money and pay back with interest over time.

The town may potentially ask voters to approve more capital projects this spring and the first bonding sale would not be until August.

On Tuesday, however, Case said the town does have enough in its reserves to begin funding some of the track project so, should everything else fall in place, it could begin in the summer.

In addition, the hope is to have the portion of roof up for replacement at Canton Intermediate School done this summer, Case said. The others would come later.